"Havana goes West" by Nathaniel Hoffman felt like something out of a socialist trade journal (HCN, 3/03/08). In Cuba today, no more than three people are allowed to meet on the street or they can be locked up by the police. Nobody changes jobs and nobody changes where they live. Opposition writers and journalists are beaten and thrown into jail. All of this is in the name of "state security." Castro's jails are full of similar political dissidents who are rotting in jail.

For a former governor (now a congressman) of a U.S. state to admit being a pen pal of Fidel Castro and actually meet with him is like President Roosevelt meeting and discussing stamp collecting with Adolph Hitler. I think "Butch" Otter should demand that all Cuban jails be emptied of political prisoners before anything can be discussed. Both Otter and Enzi need to stop living a lie. They are not conservative Republicans. They are simply a couple of misguided politicians who got too warm and fuzzy after being wined and dined by members of a communist dictatorship.

Rick Ferguson
Condon, Montana