By Nancy San Martin

  Former President Jimmy Carter is expected to address a crowd at the University of Havana during his upcoming trip to Cuba with a 20-minute speech that will be
  broadcast live on Cuban television, according to a tentative schedule released Wednesday.

  The contents of the speech, slated for Tuesday, were not made public. But Carter will likely talk about the historically troubled relationship between Cuba and the United States and make some recommendations about how to make it better. Carter, who speaks some Spanish, also may choose to address Cubans in their native language, though organizers would not confirm what language the former president will use.

  Carter will be the first president in or out of office to visit Havana since President Fidel Castro rose to power in 1959.

  Carter, who served from 1977 to 1981, is traveling to Cuba as founder of the Carter Center at Emory University in Atlanta. He received permission for the
  unprecedented May 12-17 trip on April 5, three months after Castro sent Carter a formal invitation.

  In preparation for the trip, Carter has met with dozens of Cuba watchers -- from agricultural groups and former diplomats to academics and a variety of Cuban
  Americans.

  Among the many issues Carter has been urged to address in Havana is a dissident movement known as the Varela Project, a drive to collect 10,000 signatures and force a referendum on government reforms away from the current model.

  It is not yet known if Carter will make reference to the Varela Project during his speech at the university, but organizers have said that he intends to be ''frank'' about
  human rights issues while in Cuba. Castro also has publicly stated that the former president is free to make all the criticisms he wants to.''

  Other highlights of the trip include meetings with religious leaders and human rights activists, as well as, visits to farms, cooperatives and health facilities.