Why would I go to Cuba? Because it is a beautiful place, and a society that has done far more for the common person in the street than almost any other society in Latin America. I met some of the brightest, most highly motivated people there that I have ever met in my life. I was struck by their sense of equality, their absolute lack of racism, their sense of brotherhood, their patriotism, the deep convictions of their religious beliefs, their mental and physical health and good spirits, their excellent education.

If the USA had not chosen to isolate them and set out to cripple their economy for the last 40 years, they would be far better off materially. As it is, they are desperately short of money, and also short of many goods, but they are not short of what it takes to make a good and courageous life.

The land you mention that was "stolen" was taken from rich families and big American companies and was given to the peasants who had worked it for generations...with almost no pay, no medical care, no educational facilities, and little or no hope of ever getting them...until Castro's revolution succeeded.

You are troubled by their lack of "political freedom"? Ha! You should have seen what it was like under Batista. Read a few history books about Cuba. Batista was as corrupt and brutal as a dictator can be...and the USA supported him. Why? Because he played ball with American interests. What did they care if his soldiers and police terrorized, murdered, and raped people on a regular basis? Business was good! The sugar companies were raking in cash from their virtual slave labour in the fields, and the whorehouses and casinos were making record profits. The Mafia loved the place....prostitutes and casinos everywhere, plus beautiful beaches...what could appeal more to the criminal mind? That was before Castro. He threw them out. For that he has been embargoed, not for having political prisoners. Every dictator in the world who is a client of the USA has lots of political prisoners, and you don't hear a peep about it from Washington.

I would support Cuba, based on what I have seen with my own eyes, as enthusiastically as I would support any society anywhere in the world that has thrown off rich foreign colonial oppressors and achieved true independence, and then freed and educated millions of people who were nothing more than serfs under the pre-revolutionary system.

America talks about "freedom", but does not export it or encourage it in the world. Amercan exports economic rape and oppression. This is not what ordinary American people want or intend...but it is what their government is in fact doing...and not telling them about.

- LH