Havana Controversy

One cannot help but feel a sense of betrayal and sadness as one reads the article on “Havana� (May 29) by Shirley Slater and Harry Basch. The glittering city that once was the pride of all Cubans is now without the vitality that used to rush through its streets.

Cubans have never pretended that their tiny island was perfect and there was plenty to do and correct after overthrowing its dictator, Fulgencio Batista, in the 1950s. However, democracy was, is and will be the best medicine to cure our social ills. There was no need to impose a totalitarian system to improve and rectify the errors of the past.

RAUL DE CARDENAS

Los Angeles