article_snippet.sent: (CNN)All eyes are going to be on the new kid finally allowed to play and the big kid who for so long wanted nothing to do with him -- Cuba and the United States in the same diplomatic playground.
article_snippet.sent: Now it's time to see how they play and who they play with -- especially Venezuela, which often falls out with Washington for crushing dissent at home and supplying Havana with billions of dollars in oil.
article_snippet.sent: With the historic thawing in relations between the U.S. and Cuba, Washington now has urgent business to discuss with Havana.
article_snippet.sent: We have really big issues with the Cubans that do need to be solved," said Ambassador Vicki Huddleston, who served as the chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.
article_snippet.sent: Ambassador Vicki Huddleston, who served as the chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana added "The Cubans are typical of "The Cubans negotiating style.
article_snippet.sent: You think it's going to be easy because We have said 'We are going to have good relations with you' and "The Cubans say, 'That's not exciting for We and it is for you.'
article_snippet.sent: So "The Cubans are hard negotiators as "The Cubans always have been.
article_snippet.sent: While President Barack Obama is not scheduled to meet Cuban leader Raul Castro, U.S. officials said there will be opportunities for "interaction" between the two leaders.
article_snippet.sent: President Barack Obama had said President Barack Obama had hoped a U.S. Embassy would reopen in Havana before the summit, but Cuban officials have said Cuban officials cannot imagine a full restoration of diplomatic ties until Cuba is removed from the U.S. State Department list of countries that support terrorism.
article_snippet.sent: It would be difficult to explain that diplomatic relations have been resumed while Cuba has been unjustly listed as a state sponsor of international terrorism," said Josefina Vidal, the general director of U.S. affairs at the Cuban Foreign Ministry and lead negotiator in the talks.
article_snippet.sent: The State Department has sent a recommendation to the White House that Cuba be removed, paving the way for the White House to announce the White House intent to de-list Cuba as early as this week, two administration officials told CNN.
article_snippet.sent: Deceased Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was a friend and admirer of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
article_snippet.sent: Deceased Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's successor Nicolas Maduro continues to send Cuba tens of thousands of barrels of oil each day, despite Deceased Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez 's own economic turmoil.
article_snippet.sent: In exchange, Cuba sends doctors, military advisers and sports trainers to Venezuela.
article_snippet.sent: In Cuba's state-run media, criticism of U.S. policy towards Venezuela has overshadowed the improvement in U.S.-Cuba relations.
article_snippet.sent: In March, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro published a letter criticizing the U.S.' "brutal plans towards" Venezuela and the Cuban government promised "unconditional aid" to help defend against American threats.
article_snippet.sent: American remains to be seen how much Cuba will risk American warming relations with the United States to back up VenezuelaVenezuela.
article_snippet.sent: But apparently there is little doubt among the Cuban people on what the Cuban people should do.
article_snippet.sent: A poll of 1,200 Cubans released on Wednesday found that 97% of the people surveyed by Miami-based polling firm Bendixen & Amandi on behalf of The Washington Post and Univision Noticias/Fusion supported improved U.S.-Cuban relations.