Re Aaron Hicklin’s article (If Bernie Sanders thinks Cuba is worth defending, he should talk to gay dissidents, 27 February), the former Spanish colony of Cuba is in the Caribbean, where eight out of 28 states have yet to legalise same-sex relations and 18 have no anti-discrimination laws. Cuba has never hidden the early abuses of the 1960s – Fidel Castro himself reflected: “Yes, there were great injustices ... if someone is responsible, it’s me.” But Cuba is not stuck in the 1960s. Hicklin fails to mention the sexual diversity education courses that have run across workplaces, community centres and schools since the 1980s, or CENESEX (National Centre for Sex Education), founded in 1989, well-known for its advancement of LGBT rights. What about state-funded films and theatre such as Strawberry and Chocolate and Muerte en el Bosque, challenging homophobic attitudes?
He also omits the fact that trans people have received free gender-reassignment surgery and support since 2008; Adela Hernández, a trans woman, was elected to a municipal council in Villa Clara (2012) and with majority support in the National Assembly; and Cuban society is currently debating same-sex marriage as part of updating the family code.
Sam Cordery
Coordinator of 2019’s Rock Around the Blockade solidarity brigade to Cuba
• Hicklin and others don’t get it. When Sanders points out that Castro did some things right, he is not supporting Castro – he’s just pointing out the need to take an unbiased viewpoint. Castro’s education and healthcare policies were commendable. That doesn’t excuse the terrible things the Castro regime did. Trump is a disaster, but that doesn’t mean that everything he’s done is evil. For example, trying to stop China from stealing intellectual rights is a good thing. Admitting that doesn’t mean I support Trump any more than Sanders supports Castro.
Arthur Michelson
San Jose, California, USA
• Nearly everything I read on Cuba judges Cuba unfavorably against the standards of the US. The recent article by Aaron Hicklin falls into this trap. This is not the appropriate comparison to make. It is surely the Dominican Republic and Haiti against which Cuba should be assessed. In almost every way, Cuba looks good when its development indicators are compared with theirs.
Alwyn Eades
Hellertown, Pennsylvania, USA
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