Obama lands in Jamaica in first US presidential visit since 1982

Barack Obama became the first sitting US president to set foot in Jamaica since 1982 on Wednesday - and made some time for the late reggae legend Bob Marley.

After a hotel stop, Obama headed to the Bob Marley Museum - the former home of the superstar musician.

The US president - accompanied by aides, including National Security Adviser Susan Rice - took a brief tour of the Kingston landmark.

"I still have all the albums," Obama was heard to say, as he checked out a wall of framed records and awards.

Bob Marley, Jamaica's musical export with a global following, died of cancer in Florida in 1981.

The museum is a large house with walls painted red, green and yellow and a statue of Marley playing his guitar out front among the palm trees.

One Love was being piped from the speakers as Obama emerged through the front door along with his museum tour guide.

The first visit by a sitting president since Ronald Reagan's visit 33 years ago comes as the Caribbean island nation is navigating a fiscal crisis.

Late on Thursday, Obama heads to Panama, where he may have a landmark meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro during a meeting of the Summit of the Americas.

Breaking Cold War ice

The image of US and Cuban presidents sitting across from each other at the 35-nation summit for the first time after decades of Cold War-era animosity will be the highlight of the gathering in Panama on Friday and Saturday.

While the meeting will mark a major milestone - no Cuban leader has attended the Summit of the Americas - the two sides have yet to reopen embassies, and lingering differences have been evident at negotiations that started in January.

Cuba's inclusion on a list of state sponsors of terrorism has been a major sticking point in negotiations to restore full diplomatic ties, which were downgraded back in 1961.

The White House indicated this week that the State Department was in the "final stages" of deciding whether to recommend Havana's removal from the list. Congress would then have 45 days to decide whether to override Obama's decision.

"We're trying to get it done quickly," a US State Department official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

AFP - AP - Xinhua