I found Dan Warren’s Dec. 25 column regarding Cuba to be strange at best, stupid at worst. Comparing feuding families in Scarborough to Cuba is nonsensical. How did you come up with such a silly idea? It read more like two columns and that you were just dying to get the family feud gossip into print.

On the other hand, your embracing President Obama’s initiative to “normalize” relations with Cuba seems too cute, too toeing the Democrat party line, and totally incorrect. I guess you approve of throwing away the accumulated knowledge of JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter (well, OK, Carter had no accumulated knowledge), Reagan, Bush, Clinton (well, OK, Clinton was president just to increase his bimbo count, if you know what I mean), and Bush II.

You jump from Castro taking over Cuba in 1959 to “1961 brought a U.S. trade embargo…” You might want to be a bit more honest there rather than portraying the U.S. as the wrongdoer. After all, the U.S. supported Castro as a “freedom fighter” during the revolution only to have him come out as a Communist after he had full control of the island. Many, many people were jailed and/or executed and all property was seized by the government. And then he paid us back for helping his revolution by allowing nuclear-tipped Russian missiles to be installed in Cuba.

Then there is your confused statement regarding the embargo, “Method awkward and clumsy (top-down actions rarely “take” with the masses)”. What does that mean? I read it as you saying the embargo was “forced” on the American people. How old were you in 1961? I was 19 and along with everyone I knew, I supported JFK and our government and our stance, vis-a?-vis, Cuba. The vast majority of the American people approved of it. Or have I misinterpreted your statement?

Your idea of changing Cuba by going there and buying things is absurd. Right now the Cuban people are living under two tyrannical dictators, Fidel and Raul, who have no intention of giving up their power. They have informants literally on every street corner. If anyone questions what is going on in Cuba or says anything that can be even remotely construed as anti-government, it is reported. The offenders are taken away to be re-educated. Some are returned to society, some are never seen again.

Speaking of which, the last reliable number I read was 15 to 20 years ago in William F. Buckley Jr’s National Review magazine. At that time the estimate was that Fidel had ordered the execution of at least 19,000 people. By now that number certainly far exceeds 20,000.

You believe it is a good idea to prop up these bloodthirsty dictators? Is that what you truly think or are you just going along with the lies President Obama puts forth? What would you say to family members of people executed by Fidel? What do you intend to do to make whole the thousands of former Cubans living in Miami who lost all their property? For that matter, what about all the remaining Cubans themselves who had their property confiscated?

Propping up these dictators just 90 miles off our coast is a really bad idea. Curiously, Obama seems more comfortable dealing with those types than he does dealing with people who believe in freedom. Look at how poorly he treats Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a man dedicated to freedom.

Our generation did not fail with Cuba, as you allege; the Castro brothers did. Our current president is failing with the American people and his stance towards Fidel and Raul will only make things worse for the poor, downtrodden, average Cuban.

As I said at the beginning, I do not understand your column or your stance toward Cuba. Are you underinformed or a Democrat? But I repeat myself.

Harry White

Scarborough

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