U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Cuba to discuss human rights.

In a statement before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry said that his visit will take place "in the next week or two."

"I may be down there in the next week or two to have a human rights dialogue, specifically," he said.

In his speech before the committee, Kerry said that human rights issues still pervade the island nation.

Kerry also headed to Cuba in August 2015 to raise the U.S. flag at the American Embassy in Havana, the Cuban capital.

Kerry Welcomes Cuban Minister in Washington

Last week, Kerry welcomed the Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca, and the members of his delegation in Washington, D.C.

The meeting occurred at the headquarters of the Department of State during the last day of the Cuban representatives' four-day visit to the United States.

The meeting aimed to move forward with the process of normalizing relations between the United States and Cuba. It also focused on the interest of American companies to set up shop in the island nation. Malmierca said that the existing financial, economic and commercial barriers are considered the main hurdles in the thawing of relations.

In December 2014, President Barack Obama declared his administration's plan to reestablish diplomatic relations with Cuba after more than 50 years of severed ties. Diplomatic relations were formally reinstated on July 20, 2015.

Barack Obama to Visit Cuba

Malmierca's meeting with Kerry took place hours after the White House announced Obama's trip to Cuba scheduled on March 21-22. He will be accompanied by the First Lady Michelle Obama on the trip, which makes him the first American president to set foot in Havana in nearly 90 years.

"The president hopes to press forward on the agenda of speaking to the people of Cuba about the future and obviously he is anxious to press on the rights of people to be able to demonstrate, to have democracy, to be free, to be able to speak and hang a sign in their window without being put in jail for several years," Kerry said of Obama's visit.

The president said in his weekly address that he will meet with his Cuban counterpart, Raúl Castro, during his visit. They will discuss business and easier access to trade and the Internet.

"I'm focused on the future, and I'm confident that my visit will advance the goals that guide us -promoting American interests and values and a better future for the Cuban people, a future of more freedom and more opportunity," Obama said.