We Needn’t Like Castro to Recognize Cuba

Carlos Fuentes’ “Cuba’s Paradise Lost” (Opinion, April 20) illustrates the upside-down policy of this nation toward Cuba. Consider that Russia wanted to put missiles in Cuba, pointed at the United States. President Kennedy forced Russia to back down. Russia was the bad guy. So what does the U.S. do? We sever diplomatic relations with Cuba, which alone poses no military threat to us.

Is Fidel Castro a totalitarian dictator? Yes. But so are the leaders of North Korea, numerous African countries, Syria, etc., all of which we maintain diplomatic relations with. There’s no consistency like inconsistency. Let’s stop allowing the Cuban Americans to dictate our foreign policy. Diplomatic relations do not signify either approval or disapproval of a regime. It merely recognizes a fact -- that the regime is in fact in power.

David S. Schwartz

Calabasas