A Look at Cuba from the Ivory Tower?

As a Cuban American who came to this country legally on an immigrant visa, I am offended by Susan Eckstein’s trivialization of the Cuban plight as mere political gain on the part of the Democrats (“Holding the Door for Cubans,” Fall 2015). Perhaps Eckstein should read the book The Fourth Floor (1962), a reference to the fourth floor of the executive building in Washington, D.C., where decisions on Cuba were being made. The book shows how the United States exploited the Cuban Revolution, selling arms to both sides. What the US intelligence failed to capture was the communist leanings of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. The Cuban Americans here in the United States will also not let the United States forget the betrayal by the US government during the Bay of Pigs invasion. The United States reneged on the promise to provide air support to the Cuban exiles who went back to Cuba to attempt to overthrow the Castro regime. Despite this betrayal, I am grateful to the United States for the opportunity to live here. We forgive, but we don’t forget.

I grew up in Cuba during the transition from the Batista government to the Castro regime. Children my age, nine years old at the time, were being sent to Russia to become indoctrinated into Communism. The Cuban government took over telenovelas, where the plots of the stories were brainwashing the children to report any counterrevolutionary activity of their parents to the G-2 Office, an office designed to spy on the Cuban populace. That’s what prompted my parents to leave Cuba. What happened in Cuba at the time was the equivalent of having ISIS 90 miles away.

If this article depicting an ivory-tower interpretation of the events in Cuba was supposed to impress me regarding the scholarship coming out of BU so that I can open my wallet to donate, it failed miserably. The best part of the article was the picture of the rafters attempting to flee Cuba, despite the danger of drowning, as happened to Elian Gonzalez’ mother, who was trying to save him from political repression. The picture reminded me of the legend behind the Virgin of Charity, the patron saint of Cuba, who appeared to three fishermen lost at sea and guided them back to the Cuban shore to safety. Little did we know that this legend was going to transform into the Virgin’s guidance of the Cuban community fleeing political oppression while coming to US shores on these rafts.

Fernando J. Gutierrez (SED’81)
Pasadena, Calif.

P.S. I am a Democrat.

Fond Memories of Old Ironsides

I was very impressed by your article (“Constitutional Amendments,” Fall 2015) on the preservation of the USS Constitution, which I visited as a child and young adult while living in Newton, Mass. I am wondering how common white oak trees were in Massachusetts during the time it was built. Now it seems we have to bring them in from Indiana—I don’t think that was an option then. Thanks for your great articles.

Wendy Sherman (SED’71)
Jupiter, Fla.

Letter Prompts Response

Regarding the letter from Bill Daviero (SED’73) (Letters, Fall 2015), in particular its last two paragraphs, ending with “These are not century-old patterns of prejudice.” It may help if he would mull over “The Case for Reparations,” an article by Ta-Nehisi Coates in the June 2014 Atlantic. It may expand his knowledge of the “prejudicial” and “cultural victimization” that has lingered in the United States beyond slavery.

Oswald Thompson (SDM’76)
Fort Washington, Md.