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On May 12, 2002, eight years ago, former president Jimmy Carter visited Cuba and met with Cuban President Fidel Castro. The visit made Carter the first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since the Cuban revolution of 1959.
Carter had discussions with Castro and was permitted to address the Cuban public uncensored on national television and radio with a speech that he wrote and presented in Spanish. In the speech, he called on the US to end "an ineffective 43-year-old economic embargo" and on Castro to hold free elections, improve human rights, and allow greater civil liberties. He met with political dissidents; visited the AIDS sanitarium, a medical school, a biotech facility, an agricultural production cooperative, and a school for disabled children; and threw a pitch for an all-star baseball game in Havana.
This link has a collage of photographs of Carter's visit. The text of his televised address can be found here. Carter's report about the trip can be found on the Carter Center website here.
Castro apparently took no offence to Carter's criticism of Cuba's human rights violations. Castro said he wouldn't mind hearing criticism from his guest. "We only want him to see the county," Castro said. "He can criticize all he wants."