Cuba realities ignored

Re the Sept. 8 article Bringing Cubans together: Archbishop Thomas Wenski’s actions will never bring Cubans together. He boasted previously of taking more than 300 pilgrims to Cuba, and Carlos Saladrigas’ visit to Cuba might have more to do with doing business with Cuba’s military elite than with having a spiritual experience. They should visit Cuban political prisoners and walk to church with the Damas de Blanco.

The Castro brothers’ brand of socialism entitles members of the Castro monarchy, and the military that sustains them, to own billions of dollars in property and bank accounts worldwide, while millions of Cubans live in poverty and dilapidated houses, lacking food and basic goods. The embargo is surely not to blame for the plunder of the Cuban economy by totalitarian gangsters ruling the country.

Why Pope Francis and Wenski ignore these realities is questionable. Perhaps all those church properties that are being returned to the Vatican are a good reward for ignoring the plight of poor Cubans and Cubans in exile who want freedom and democracy for the country.

This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Cuba realities ignored."