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Show ihStatesman -Opinion Yes to Cuban trade 1 Friday marked the 49th anniversary of Fidel Castro's return .to Cuba, following his exile in -Mexico. With his small band of "guerrilleros," Castro launched a successful revolution against dictator Fulgencio Batista, a victory celebrated throughout the island nation. Only three years later, however, hundreds of thousands of disillusioned Cubans began to flee Castro's rule and enter fives of exile themselves. These expatriated Cubans - the vast majority of them choosing sanctuary in the U.S. - loathed Castro, the communist government he created and the subsequent seizure of private property and suspension of political freedoms. Their rage has been the main ingredient in the complex recipe that has defined U.S. policy toward Cuba. We must acknowledge that these policies have only brought suffering to the Cuban people, and that they must be ended. I have shared this anger and sense of betrayal toward Castro. In the first days following the rebels' victory in 1959, my father lifted me high so I could touch Castro's hand as he and his soldiers paraded through Camaguey, my hometown. But by the fall of 1961, my parents - who had become targets of the revolutionaries simply because they owned several businesses - lived in such fear for their lives and the lives of their children that they made the wrenching decision to send my two brothers and me, unaccompanied, to the U.S. as part of Operation Peter Pan. We were placed in an orphanage in Pueblo, Colo., where we lived until 1964, when my parents escaped Cuba and found us. Trie loss of the economic and social status that had sustained my parents in Cuba inflicted a psychological wound that would never heal. In fact, my father's dying request of his sons was for us to return to Cuba and reclaim the properties that had been stolen from him and his family. Yet in spite of my family's suffering, I recognize that it is time to let goof tnat rancor and to join with other Americans in insisting that we re-establish a relationship with Cuba. If the original intent of the embargo was to free the Cuban people from communism, then Castro's 46 years in power prove that these strategies have failed. Castro's revolution has not only survived, it has been emboldened. When I returned to Cuba in 2001 after a 40-year absence, I witnessed how the people perceive Castro as the living symbol of an indomitable national spirit that refuses to yield to a foreign government. Even though the communist economic system that he implemented has been a dismal failure, most Cubans blame the U.S. for their financial troubles. A far better strategy for the U.S. would be to open our borders to bilateral trade, tourism and the exchange of ideas with Cuba. Because Cubans have little access to information other than what they get through the state-owned media, unlocking our doors to Cuba will lead the way to new ideas and will expand the United States' influence. Normalizing our relations would also help hurry along the establishment of a freemarket economy. On my visit, I witnessed Cubans eagerly plunging into the few opportunities they have been given. The time has come for Cuban Americans to move beyond our anger and work toward giving the people still living in our former homeland a chance at a better life. Cuillermo Vidal wrote this editorial for the Los Angeles Times and is a public official and civil engineer in Denver. Nat'l View r • LETTERS From page 14 tion at BYU (yes, the church does support them). Similar anti-science ballot measures are being developed in other states. Even our president is so poorly educated he has joined the Design propagandists. Don't be fooled by people with science degrees. There are professors with impressive credentials that believe in alien abductions (Dr. John Mack, Harvard), Bigfoot (Dr. Grover Krantz, Washington State), and civilizations on Mars (Dr. Brian O'Leary, Princeton), to name a few. But they, like the Design cranks, publish no studies showing evidence for their fantasies. Science is advanced by research, not by books, ballots, or ballyhoo. Each week, evidence for evolution is documented many times over in science journals while the empty box of Intelligent Design echoes with the chicanery of its dishonest pamphleteers. Don't let these charlatans further damage our public schools. Eenie Meenie o POETRY AND A BEVERAGE / DEC. 10 s that time of year again...TIME FOR FINALS FIRST AID: "Relieve Your Stress; Pet-A-Pet" will be Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday, December 12-14, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the International Lounge of the Taggart Student Center. The event, sponsored by the USU Counseling Center, includes the Center's therapy pets as well as other therapy animals from Cache Valley. There will also be information on stress management, test anxiety, study tips, and animal-assisted therapy and activities. STRESS BUST: Monday, December 12, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Also in the International Lounge. Sponsored by USU Counseling Center's REACH Peers. Come play, sing, dance, and relax away Need help studying for finals? Attend SI review sessions!!! Mine! Buying that perfect gift is never a guessing game. This Christmas show her how much you appreciate alt that she does with a diamond. Mark Ellis Utah Statesman 797-NEWS Wu>iN6 you St/c&io: Make a New Years Resolution to stop sm . The Student Wellness Center can help. Contact us at 797-1010. Black Student Union will be sponsoring the Martin Luther King Candlelight Vigil to be held, Tuesday, January 17 at 7:00 pm in the Sunburst Lounge. DIAM&NDS 6L FINE JEWELRY 75 ILJSI 1*1] N^fik. S^! f »!.«)• Wpsi • Ttt..W> DRC students taking finals with our facility need to, schedule between Dec. 1st and Dec. 7th with the W/A/G testing coordinator. To facilitate snow removal, no vehicle, including government and state, will be allowed to park on campus overnight from November 1 to April I. This does not include residence hall parking areas. State vehicles may be parked overnight in the gravel area north of Nutrition and Food Sciences. Any vehicles found parked overnight may be cited and towed. TO ATA/OtV DECEMBER TONIGHT FIFTH 2 0 0 5 BASKETBALL CD RELEASE CONCERT CLUB HV0/ 333 If SOW 7 : 3 0 / 5 DOLLARS ARTIST PRINT SALE DEC. 5 / 7 : 0 5 PM DEC, 10 /AT WEBER 7:05 PM v / S DEC. 8 / 7 P M DEC. 1 0 / 3 P M |