Hail the conquering Cubans

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Much has been written over the years about the contributions of Cuba to the Caribbean environment and the world around it. Speaking the language, and having lived many years in Florida, naturally I’ve known a lot of Cubans who’ve immigrated to the US. In fact, my first high school Spanish teacher was formerly a Cuban doctor who was having trouble getting licensed. I even went to college with the son of a Methodist bishop who had fled as Castro ran the Batistas off the island.

After getting to know them, I dare say I’ve never met one who wanted to go back to Cuba as long as its communist dictatorship was in power. Not one.

Having lived near an Air Force base in central Florida during the 1963 Cuban missile crisis, I learnt firsthand what facing a nuclear Armageddon would be like, watching atomic bomb-loaded planes take off towards the island to force the removal of Russian nukes and missiles in our hemisphere.

I’m sure that the Cuban people who travel worldwide on medical, construction and whatever missions today are no doubt some of the best people in the world at what they do – but the reality is that they are still the slaves of a communist government, and there is simply no way that freedom-loving people anywhere can, or will ever, justify any support for Cuba’s regime until it is gone. And that’s not my word – it’s the word of every free Cuban living in my country, and there are tens of thousands here, none of whom are looking to return to Cuba. End of story.

ED MCCOY

Bokeelia, Florida