Just making some renovations [By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn]

No fortune-teller would have predicted that fifty-four years of tension and mutual hatred between the United States and Cuba could have been replaced by normalization of the bilateral relations. On December 17, 2014, people around the world were surprised to hear from U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro, announcing that they would discuss the possibility of re-establishing diplomatic relations.

President Obama's motivation of coming to the negotiation table with Cuba includes the following factors:

First, the United States clearly understands that the sanction, which is called embargo by the United States and "el bloqueo" (blockade) by Cuba, the longest punishment in human history by a big country against a small one, has failed to reach its goal of overthrowing the Castro leadership as well as the socialist system in the Caribbean island nation.

Second, the international community, including the United Nations, is opposed to the U.S. attitudes towards Cuba. Remember that the United Nations General Assembly has passed 23 resolutions calling on the United States to end its sanctions against Cuba.

Third, the United States wishes that normalizing its relations with Cuba would help improve U.S.-Latin America ties as almost all the other countries in the western hemisphere had been urging the United States to change its mind.

Last but not least, re-establishing ties with Cuba would mean many good business opportunities for U.S. travel agencies, airlines, investors, traders of agricultural and industrial products, etc.

For Cuba, the motivation of normalizing its relations with the United States is easy to understand. The Caribbean nation is so close to the United States, the most prosperous and powerful nation in the world. Consequently, better relations with its rich neighbor can bring in capital, goods and technology. As the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping once said, those who have had good relations with the United States have more opportunities to develop their economies.

It seems that both the United States and Cuba are anxious to move forward towards the end of normalizing their relations. After only half a year, the negotiations came to a satisfactory end on July 1 when the two countries announced that they would re-open embassies in each other's capital as soon as possible. But it does not mean that every obstacle has been removed.