Readers React: In Cuba, Obama makes history. He’s done a lot of that as president.

To the editor: Whether you agree with it or not, President Obama’s visit to Cuba is truly historic, the first by a U.S. president since 1928, opening up doors to a country just 90 miles from the U.S. that has had frigid and acrimonious relations with us since it declared itself communist in 1961. (“‘This is a historic visit and a historic opportunity,’ President Obama says in Cuba,” March 20)

Though Obama has been much maligned by many in the U.S., in addition to reopening relations with Cuba he has accomplished such important things as becoming our country’s first African American president, establishing a historic nuclear deal with Iran, instituting our country’s first universal healthcare system and appointing our nation’s first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.

Kenneth L. Zimmerman, Huntington Beach

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To the editor: Obama’s trip to Cuba is a commendable effort to change the relationship of the two historically hostile countries.

Many critics of his administration think he should emphasize human rights violations, such as the 2 million-plus people behind bars, the thousands of people rotting in jails who have not been convicted of anything but are too poor to make bail, the continued existence of the death penalty, the unarmed black men and women who are killed with impunity by police, the existence of for-profit prisons, the unequal penalties for blacks convicted of a crime versus whites, the thousands of women who are being deprived of their reproductive rights, the legacy of slavery and the 30,000 people deprived of their right to life every year because of gun violence.

Yes, Obama should bring up these human rights violations with the Cuban leadership.

Sam Platts, Sylmar

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To the editor: I was struck by Cuban defector Leonid Castro’s words that closed this article. He said that in Cuba, prices get higher but salaries don’t. (“President Obama is coming to Cuba today. So why are so many Cubans leaving?” March 19)

He may find that’s exactly the same complaint many Americans have about the United States. The American dream may not be easy to achieve, as there are many U.S. citizens who are not even living it.

Vickie Casas, Los Angeles

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