Letter to the editor

Posted

Reader responds to travel article on Cuba

Dear Susan Hudson,

I hardly know where to begin to address your write up in the May 25 Ponte Vedra Recorder on travel recommendations about “Exotic Cuba.” You start by suggesting “forget about anything you have heard about Cuba. Make your mind completely blank.”

Yes, you’d have to have a completely blank mind to forget the thousands of innocent people executed by Fidel and Raul Castro, Che Guevara and their henchmen! Did you also mean to forget the men and women who were and are still imprisoned for daring to disagree with the regime? Forget Cubans earn an average of $20/month and eat using ration cards or the black market and could never afford to visit The Floridita or eat at paladares. It is all for tourists. Apartheid in its finest form. 

By the way, the lovingly maintained cars from the 1950s is not purposeful as a tourist attraction; and yes, behold the imposing Che sculpture, a constant reminder of the sadistic murderer! The comment that tops it for complete disregard for the millions who suffered under the regime is the mention of Santiago de Cuba, where “Fidel Castro started his revolution…The building is still there and you can even see some of the many bullet holes.”

Imagine that! How can anyone want to miss where Castro began his terror over the Cuban people! You continue with the observation that the city is also the “family home of the Bacardi family, famous for their rum.” Did you know or choose to omit the fact that Fidel Castro expropriated (that means stole) the holdings of large landowners and all major companies, including Bacardi? Now, that is something for tourists to be in awe of! How great is that? 

It is not my place to judge you for visiting Cuba while there is still repression. It is my duty to set the record straight and let the readers know that the Cuba you describe is a sham. It is a beautiful island ruled by a despot who only wants your money.

Maria Sullivan

Ponte Vedra Beach