Barry Clemons’ recent rant attacking the President for ending our embargo of Cuba and normalizing diplomatic relations with the Castro government (“Cuba off terror list, but it still has prisoners,” page A4, April 17 Herald) is almost identical to his January letter on the same subject, so I will make some of the same criticisms I did then, with a few additions.

First, Mr. Obama has publicly recognized and condemned the Castro regime’s abysmal human rights record, as has every American president dating back to Dwight Eisenhower. After 65 years, I think we can safely say that if the purpose of the policies of embargo and isolation employed by Obama’s 10 predecessors was to bring down the Castro regime, then those policies have failed and it is long past time to chart a new course.

Secondly, Fidel Castro is 88 years old and his brother Raul is 83, and we can also be fairly safe in assuming they will not be around much longer. If we hope to have a positive influence in shaping post-Castro Cuba, the time to begin a meaningful American presence on the island is now and not after both brothers have passed away and Cuba is in a state of flux and potential chaos.

The best way to ensure that future American influence for peaceful and democratic transition in Cuba is to have a solid diplomatic and strong economic presence and structure in place on the island as soon as possible.

Third, virtually every reliable source one can cite tells us that the rate of incarceration per 100,000 citizens in Cuba is a touch over 500, while in the U.S. the rate is a little over 700 per 100,000. The sad fact is no country on earth imprisons a higher rate of its citizens than do we.

Those prisoners in Cuba might well only be languishing in prison for the crime of simply speaking their minds, but many of the 2.24 million imprisoned in the U.S. are there primarily for the crime of poverty, which goes a long way to ensuring that our justice system does not function fairly for them.

Tom DeBor
Poulsbo