A warm Jamaican welcome awaits United States President Barack Obama – and the first family, whom we hope will accompany him – when he arrives here for a one-day state visit on April 9, 2015.

Jamaica House, in announcing the visit yesterday, said President Obama and Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller will hold bilateral discussions on a range of issues of mutual interest.

The president will also hold discussions with Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) on Caricom-USA issues, including security and trade, at an encounter to be co-chaired by Mr Obama and Caricom Chairman Perry Christie, the prime minister of The Bahamas.

The president and the Caricom leaders will afterwards head off to Panama City for the Sixth Summit of the Americas to be held from April 10 to 11.

We completely understand the strict protocol that is involved in a visit by a head of State, and especially by the president of the most powerful nation on planet Earth, not to mention the security nightmare that is par for the course.

In fact, although the visit has been dubbed a state visit, it seems to us that it is more a Caricom event and a precursor to the Summit of the Americas. In this case, the president’s itinerary is crafted and approved by the White House and there is hardly any room to divert from it.

Still, we are hoping that there will be an opportunity, no matter how brief, for the people of to Jamaica to see President Obama live and in the flesh.

Without doubt, the first black US president will be among the most beloved of international visitors to come Jamaica, in the category of the likes of Mr Nelson Mandela. It would be too bad if he merely arrives at the airport and meets with Mrs Simpson Miller and the Caricom heads on-board Air Force One, followed by a quick departure.

All too frequently, what is called a state visit is no more than a brief official working visit in which there is no opportunity for the people to see the visitor who is supposed to be coming to greet them.

Clearly, we don’t know how much room there is for negotiations on this itinerary, which President Obama has probably already signed off on. But hope springs eternal.

In welcoming the visit, Prime Minister Simpson Miller noted: “The Government of Jamaica is delighted that President Obama will be visiting Jamaica at this time. It will mark the second time since our Independence that a sitting US president will be visiting Jamaica. We view the president’s upcoming visit as an affirmation of the strong ties of friendship and cooperation that have united our two peoples for centuries. We are confident that through fruitful dialogue and exchanges during the visit we will succeed in further strengthening the close relations that exist at the bilateral level between Jamaica and the USA, and between the USA and Caricom.”