CUBA

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

On April 17, 1961, the ill-fated Cuban invasion landed at Bay of Pigs. Exactly four years later, on April 17, 1965, I received from my father a letter from which I would like to quote:

"Those of us who remain in Cuba could not have more wants... Food and clothing are rationed and can only be bought in minimal quantities with the Ration Book. Fresh milk and poultry are only sold to children and aged people, and many days they are not sold. Many people, especially children, walk barefooted on the streets because there are no shoes at shoe stores or because they have torn the only pair they are given for six months. To see someone wearing a coat and tie is a rare thing...

"The last sale of light bulbs was almost a matter of public order, inspite of the fact that you had to present the old light bulb in order to buy a new one.

"The four Havana newspapers are edited by the government; and the radio and television stations are also operated by the government. Education is controlled by the government and geared towards extolling Communist theory.

"The movie theatres show only Russian, Czechoslovakian, Hungarian, East German, and Bulgarian films. Lately, due to lack of public attendance, they have had to loosen up and show French, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish films, always mixed in with news reels of government propoganda which no one applauds and which only serve to corroborate popular aversion to the government."

"I could continue to enumerate for you all the aspects of the miserable life implanted in Cuba by Communism, but I would make this letter interminable."

In the interest of public information at Harvard, I request that you print this letter. A Harvard Student