Letter to the editor

I fail to see what motives this country has for the continued travel bans and trade restrictions that were imposed on Cuba over forty years ago. The only ones who have been adversely affected have been the Cuban people. Fidel Castro has never missed an after dinner cigar nor has he suffered a single moment of deprivation of any kind. We do business with a lot more devious characters than Castro every day, It seems to me that lifting travel restrictions and allowing two way visits would go a long way towards creating a friendly atmosphere between our peoples and give Cubans an opportunity to make comparisons between the two political systems. Castro has painted the United states as the aggressive intruder bent on forcing its will upon a much smaller nation. An aggressor who backed a mafia controlled dictator (Batiste) before Fidel toppled his regime. Fidel Castro is no saint and will probably never survive his illness to rule again, and this country has a lot more important issues to deal with, so it would make sense to normalize relations and give the Cuban people a fighting chance to join the world community and in their own time, establish a government of their choice. Their choice, not ours.

George Morin
Auburn, Ga