Tribute to Castro

In response to “Mandela Lauds Castro as Visit to Cuba Ends,” Part A, July 28:

South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela called Fidel Castro and his Communist revolution “a source of inspiration to all freedom-loving people.” I wonder if the black people in South Africa know what is waiting for them if a Castro-like leader ever takes the reins of that country. Obviously, during his visit, Mandela did not get the opportunity to visit any of the many prisons filled with thousands of inmates who committed no crime except expressing the desire to live in a free country with human rights for all--something Mandela has been fighting for in his own country.

To deny that Fidel Castro is the most vicious and inhuman dictator that the Cuban people have known in its history, is to deny that there is apartheid in South Africa. Mandela, in his speech, indirectly made a reference to the United States government, calling it “vicious and imperialist.” The least he could have done was to respect the government that allowed him to come here last year.

GINA PEREZ, San Gabriel