José Martí.

There must have been something fundamentally wrong about Martí’s sentiments when he expressed in his letter to Manuel Mercado May 18, 1895, and I quote:

"I have lived in the monster and I know its entrails; my sling is David's."

David's?

Martí was not clear. What could he possibly have been calling by the name of "monster"? A nation, a government, a culture?

The lack of transparency has spread too into the Cuban psyche and the valid battle for independence got mixed up with ill-intended sentiments of anti-Americanism and even Martian Communist undertones.

Cubans independent spirit has been brainwashed for decades with sentiments of anti-Americanism.

Obama, in his visit, was having somehow unrequited love from Cubans. They didn't welcome him with open cheerfulness.

They saw him showing love, but they observed him from a distance, in quiet skeptic introspection from the ruined windows of their pauperous conditions.

Obama symbolises a power that goes beyond him and since Cubans have been indoctrinated to be weary of such power, the best he got out of their love for him felt like a half baked Buddhist Monk detached love.

Cubans wanted to engage with Obama's cheerfulness and wise words, but most of them kept their distance in a meditative hesitant state, while a few came to shake hands.

The roots of Cubans hesitations to freely shake hands with Americans runs deeper than Fidel Castro's revolution brainwashing.

Cubans will have to brainwash themselves from José Martí toxic anti-Americanism without dethroning him as a National hero.