Japanese Reparations

* In “An Enduring Indignity” (Feb. 24), it is suggested that during World War II about 2,200 Latin Americans of Japanese ancestry were abducted from their home countries and sent to internment camps in the United States. The operation was part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s controversial Executive Order 9066, which created camps to hold Japanese Americans.

In 1988, the U.S. government apologized for this historical mistake and granted redress payments to American survivors. Now Latin American Japanese want and deserve a similar apology and compensation. They are entitled to it not only because they were unjustifiably held prisoners in concentration camps, but also because they were illegally abducted.

The U.S. government has an unequivocal moral and historical responsibility.

NESTOR FANTINI

Northridge