The POPE arrived at Jose Marti Airport in Havana last night amid scenes of quiet jubilation. He spoke of his joy that "this happy and long-awaited day had finally arrived". And in what was seen as a reference to the US trade embargo on Cuba, as well as human rights restrictions in Cuba, he said: "May Cuba open itself up to the world, and may the world open itself to Cuba."
During the flight to Cuba on the papal jet, the Pope sent out the type of message which President Fidel Castro had been hoping for, telling journalists aboard the plane he would urge the US to "change" its 36-year-old embargo on Cuba. "I will tell them: change, change," he said.
Security at the airport complex was tight and access by the public was severely restricted as Pope John Paul II began his first ever visit to Cuba.
As the Pope stepped onto the tarmac, a piece of Cuban earth was raised to his lips so he might kiss it. With temperatures in the high 20C, a tired-looking Pope was met by the President Castro, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, Archbishop of Havana, and a group of children.
While he greeted them, the chant in Spanish of "John Paul, John Paul, Cuba Waits for You" went up from people looking on. Using a stick, the Pope walked with President Castro to a podium where he was introduced to dignitaries. Formal greetings were exchanged following a 21-gun salute.
Dr Castro said Cuba, "this land you have just kissed, is honoured by your presence". He praised the Pope for preaching respect for other religions and for acknowledging errors of the Catholic Church over Galileo, the Inquisition and the Crusades, as well as crimes committed during the conquest of the Americas.
Greeting the Catholic Church faithful in Cuba, the Pope said: "You are and must be the principal agents of your own personal and national victory."
President Castro defended the 1959 Cuban revolution which brought him to power. "Today, Holy Father, genocide is attempted again when, by hunger, illness and total economic suffocation, some try to subdue this people that refuses to accept the dictates and the rule of the mightiest economic, political and military power in history," Dr Castro said.
Formal greetings concluded, the Pope set off for Havana, receiving along the way a welcome which was more in the usual exuberant Latin-American style.
Crowds cheered and sang as they waved Cuban and Vatican flags and called out greetings to the Pope in what some said locally was the greatest welcome ever given a foreign dignitary to the country.
Signs in Spanish at the airport entrance read: `Welcome to His Holiness, Pope John Paul 11" and were erected at intervals along the route to Havana.
People cheered the popemobile the full 30 km from the airport to the papal nunciature where the Pope will be based during his four-day stay.
Some people wore baseball caps in the yellow and white Vatican colours, chanting "Juan Pablo, Juan Pablo". The Vatican standard hung from every second pole en route to the city, alternating with large Cuban flags.
Today, the Pope goes to Santa Clara, about four hours from Havana, where he will say Mass before returning to meet President Castro at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana this evening.