Letters to the Editor: Cuba would thrive in certain industries if the U.S. would lift its sanctions

To the editor: There is no perfect government in the world (witness the poverty and homelessness in the good old USA). However, in his column, guest contributor Anthony DePalma avoids the elephant in the room: the U.S. sanctions on the people of Cuba, widely condemned as violating international law (“The Cuban people’s resilience is a strength but also a trap,” Jan. 15).

I concur with DePalma’s praise for the resiliencies of the Cuban people. As part of my graduate studies, I had the opportunity to study in Havana in the summer of 2004 and, in the process, interviewed dozens of people for and against the revolution.

Imagine if the U.S. imposed similar strict economic sanctions on Mexico — you would likely have tens of millions of Mexicans attempting to cross the border. Were the sanctions on Cuba to be lifted, we might see Cuba thrive in the areas of education, medicine, agriculture, tourism and infrastructure.

Salvador Jimenez, Los Angeles