Submitted by John McAuliff, Mar 4, 2008 21:47

Even if I thought this comment was an accurate description of Cuba today, it is non-responsive.

The freedom of Americans to travel should not be conditioned on whether a very small but powerful group of embittered exiles (a minority even in their own community) give permission. Or should Chinese, Vietnamese, Russians, North Koreans, Burmese, Saudi Arabians, etc. now living in the US be able to stop us from traveling to their homelands? Does Rogelio Perez Leiva think Americans should also be barred from traveling to those countries which do not have legal or political systems like our own or does he agree with the Bush Administration that such a proscription should apply only to Cuba?

What does he think about Cuban Americans? Should they be limited to visiting a narrow definition of family members once every three years as favored by George Bush and Hillary Clinton? Or does he agree with Barack Obama that there should be no restrictions on their travel and remittances? They are certainly not seeing people the regime wishes and virtually all the money they bring into the country goes to their families.

In fact other Americans are not limited to contacts with officials. Anyone who visits who does not choose to stay at an isolated resort can tell you Cubans are frank in their criticisms of the regime--and of the embargo and of hostile Cuban Americans who sustain it.

What does he think about Cubans speaking out against the restrictions on staying in resort areas, including in the student challenge to Ricardo Alarcon which can be seen in full on a Cuban web site? Doesn't that suggest Cubans are less repressed than he believes?

This foreigner only policy in resorts is wrong, but in practice it is not very different than the economic discrimination practiced at private resorts elsewhere in the Caribbean. It also does not apply, incidentally, to public beaches near Havana and elsewhere in Cuba where foreigners and Cubans mingle freely.

However this is a situation in which all I can say is ignore what people say, myself included, and go. See for yourself, make up your own mind, and wonder what the real motivation is of those who seek to prevent you from doing so.

The strength of our system is in its openness. Unfortunately those who have been acculturated in a closed system, be it Batista's or Castro's. mistake control for strength.

John McAuliff

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