Washington - The new course of the U.S. policy towards Cuba will have its great first test when President Barack Obama participates in the Summit of the Americas in Panama, an article from The New York Times states today.

In that meeting, the statesman expects to stress his decision of ending more than 50 years of the U.S. isolation regarding the Caribbean island, states the text.

Even before Obama boards the presidential airplane today, officials from the White House stated that the administration was close to make a decision on Cuba's exclusion from the list that, according to the State Department, sponsors international terrorism.

This unilateral relation is one of the main obstacles for the process of normalizing bilateral relations, and the economic, commercial and financial blockade Washington has maintained against the Caribbean nation.

According to The Times' article, signed by journalist Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Cuba's elimination from that list could facilitate the way towards the restoration of diplomatic ties and the opening of the embassies in the respective capitals, a crucial step in reducing tensions between neighboring countries.

On December 17, 2014, Washington and Havana announced the intention of re-establishing diplomatic relations and advancing towards the normalization, occasion in which President Obama said he gave instructions to review Cuba's inclusion in that list.

Delegations from the United States and Cuba held many rounds of talks between January and March, to move forward the restoration of diplomatic ties and advance in other issues of interests of the bilateral agenda.

The most recent meeting was held on March 31 between representatives from both countries at the State Department's headquarter of in Washington, where they discussed concerns and methodological aspects aimed at advancing the debate on human rights, which was proposed by the island.