Monday, September 29, 2008

Dan O'Day [letters, Sept. 19] argued that the United States should lift its embargo against Cuba so that the authorities will accept U.S. aid for hurricane-ravaged Cuba.

The Cuban authorities have also denied the assistance packages offered by European Union countries, with the exception of Spain and Belgium. The European Union lifted its sanctions against Cuba in June 2007.

This shows that the Cuban authorities are using the Cuban people, who have been ravaged by two hurricanes, as hostages for political gains.

Lifting the U.S. embargo will not benefit the Cuban people. Therefore, the United States should maintain its embargo and expose the hypocrisy of Raúl Castro. His concern has never been the welfare of Cubans. His obsession, together with that of his moribund brother Fidel, has been to wage ideological battles with the capitalist world.

These battles won't put food on the tables of Cubans.

JORGE E. PONCE

Burke