Castro and Cuba, past and present

Re “Fidel fatigue,” Current Aug. 13

Since the illness of Cuban President Fidel Castro, I’ve been reading about Cuban exiles longing for his death and the return to their beloved Cuba and the good old days before their riches were stolen. Doesn’t anyone in this country have any knowledge of history anymore? Go rent “The Godfather: Part II” for a pretty good account of pre-Castro Cuba. I was there as a young American tourist enjoying its decadence. Does anybody remember that then-dictator Fulgencio Batista and Havana were owned by the Italian Mafia and mob boss Meyer Lansky? That the rich Cuban citizens who were robbed by Castro had corrupt deals with U.S. industry? I’m no fan of Castro, but my God, America, learn world history so you can make intelligent decisions about our policies in the world.

IVAN GOLDIN

Blue Jay

*

Edward Gonzalez correctly states that Cubans have endured a highly repressive totalitarian state under Castro (Current, Aug. 13). A recent example is the refusal of Castro, despite the urging of even Argentina’s leftist President Nestor Kirchner, to allow Hilda Molina, apparently because she has been critical of Castro, to leave Cuba to visit her family in Argentina. She has been barred from leaving for 12 years and has never seen her grandchildren. In defense of Castro, some refer to Cuba’s acclaimed public health benefits. But if that validates Castro’s government, slavery would then be justified if the slaves received similar benefits.

JOHN F. HAGGERTY

Woodland Hills

*

I noticed four articles about Castro in Sunday’s Current section and all negative. Don’t you think it would be more balanced to have at least one article about a few positive things that happened under Castro? The rest of the world is not so negative about Cuba, only the U.S. because of the strong anti-Castro Miami Cubans. Let’s get some balance please.

LYNN THOMPSON

Redondo Beach