MAS ABOUT MAS
Pat Jordan’s “After Fidel, Mr. Mas?” (May 3) did a fair job of exploring the complex issue of the different factions within the Cuban-American community. Regarding the exiles’ departure from Cuba, however, Castro did not “throw out the exiles in the early ‘60s.”
When it became obvious to many of us that Castro had betrayed the revolution, he tried hard to prevent the exodus that followed. We and our parents left our families, our friends and the country that we loved by our own choice because there was nothing anyone could do to effectively oppose Castro. With the help of the former Soviet Union, he held the most important mandate: military power.
Our painful but courageous decision to emigrate is diminished by the erroneous statement that Castro threw us out.
On a simpler issue, some of the Spanish words in the article were misspelled. Revolucione should have been revolucion. Another word used, quincena, refers to a period of 15 days; the word you wanted was quinceanera, the 15th-birthday celebration traditional to Latin cultures.
TATY AND JORGE VALLADARES
Agoura Hills
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