Cuba Rally

To the Editors of The Crimson:

On Wednesday night over one hundred students and community members gathered to support the struggle for freedom in Cuba. It was an emotional evening of speeches, poetry and song.

The Crimson reported this event, quoting two undergraduate bystanders. One compared Castro favorably to Batista, not only contradicting the testimony of those at the rally who had bought both dictators, but also obscuring the main theme of the meeting. The Cuban people want neither Castro nor Batista. They demand freedom. However, that commentator, long a servant of Soviet aggression as head of the Peace Alliance and the ElSalvador Committee, seems unfamiliar with the desire for democracy, and his statement is thus not surprising.

The rhetoric of the second observer was far more disconcerting. Distributing a Democratic Club position paper, he complained of the excessive attention paid to communist oppression. Although not one nor a thousand rallies could pay too much attention to communist oppression, several speakers found time during the event to condemn right-wing repression.

The Democratic Club made no attempt to determine the true nature of the demonstration beforehand, preferring instead a mercenary and uninformed attempt to gain publicity. This thoughtless action was alienating to many on campus, insulting to the rally's organizers, and heart-rending to the many Cubans in attendance. It is hard to believe that the Harvard Democrats are the ideological heirs of John F. Kennedy, for they are a disgrace to the cause of freedom he championed. Mark A. Sauter '82