Cubra Libra?

The dictatorial spiral into which the Cuban government has fallen reached a new, but no doubt temporary, low Wednesday when a major who had resigned in protest against the government was arrested for "conspiracy."

Major Hubert Matos, a leader of the Castro Revolution, was imprisoned shortly after submitting a letter of resignation to Premier Fidel Castro. Matos charged that the revolution had not fulfilled its program, and further complained that the Communists had infiltrated the government.

Apparently in the Cuba of Fidel Castro it is a crime to criticize the regime. Dr. Castro referred to the Major as a "traitor" and an "ingrate." As a traitor Matos joins the Castro-created "conspiracy" that now includes former President Urrutia and Major Diaz Lanz. Castro accused Matos of being in league with Lanz and Urrutia, and has thus cleverly manufactured a group of subversives to which any future critic of the administration can be linked.

But the significant word in the attack on Matos was "ingrate." The notion that being an ingrate is disloyal is disquieting. Gratitude and loyalty to the regime do not necesasrily go together, and such charges are indicative of the increasingly personal character of the Castro regime.

It would appear that Castro's personal feelings have now become the main source of justice. Matos, his former disciple, has become disillusioned, and the Premier, insulted, has avenged himself in typical dictatorial fashion. This is strange justice indeed, and it seems to be becoming a fixture in the Castro regime.

In this light, the disenchantment of Matos is understandable. As the Castro government continues to develop into rule by personal fiat, it moves further and further from its earlier liberalism. In more than nine months of life, the revolutionary government has hardly begun to fulfill its initial promises, and Dr. Castro can expect increasing, and perhaps more violent, criticism. Anti-communist army officers are already threatening a revolt.

If Castro continues to meet such crises by similar arbitrary action, his high minded revolution will emerge as no better than the despised Batista dictatorship he replaced.