A prisoner
Florence, Colorado
 
 
Iraq’s ‘Sunni Triangle’
I wanted to raise a small point concerning the article that appeared in the November 2 issue, “Fallujah: Iraqi government warns militias, as U.S. forces pound them.”

I think the Militant should be careful about using the term “Sunni Triangle” as if that were the recognized label for a specific geographic area of Iraq. In fact, the term appears to have been coined by the so-called weapons inspectors of Iraq in the period before the 2003 invasion, to refer to the area composed predominantly of Sunni Muslims that the Saddam Hussein regime sought to build into a base of support.

As with all such terms coined by imperialist representatives, it reflects a certain view of the “troublesome natives,” with pejorative connotations to it. Class-conscious workers should avoid such terms.

If the Militant does use the term, it should be put in quotes.

Mike Taber
Newark, New Jersey
 
 
U.S. food sales to Cuba
A reader might get the impression from Sam Manuel’s article “Food sales to Cuba from U.S. companies rise” in the October 19 Militant that Cuba’s economic situation is particularly good: food imports are up, tourism is up, the latest U.S. measures against the country are unenforceable.

I believe the opposite to be true, that Cuba is living through a difficult period.

Cuba’s food imports have not created an increase in the food supply. At best, the imports are simply making up for food shortages that have been created by a long drought in the eastern half of the country, as well as by other factors such as Hurricane Charley. One indication of these shortages is an increase in food prices—some of them quite sharp—not only for imported foodstuffs that are sold in dollars, but also for Cuban products such as rice and ham, sold in Cuban pesos. There has also been a rise in prices for fresh fruits and vegetables. Some prices, such as cheese, have quadrupled.

On a related point, Manuel quotes a newspaper called the Sun Sentinel as doubting that new U.S. restrictions on travel to Cuba by Cuban-Americans can be effectively enforced. I think this is wrong. The hundreds or thousands of Cuban-Americans who crowded the Miami airport at the end of June, desperate to get to Cuba legally while it was still possible, obviously didn’t think the U.S. government would be unable to enforce the new restrictions.

The big majority of remittances (dollars sent to Cuba) are carried by individual travelers, practically all of them Cuban-Americans. Nearly all Cuban-Americans who travel to Cuba go on charter flights from Miami, New York, or Los Angeles, directly to Havana. Access to these flights is strictly controlled by the U.S. government and limited to individuals who can prove they are traveling legally, that is, with the permission of the U.S. government. The burden of proof is on the traveler.

It will be impossible for anyone visiting family members to use this flight more than once every three years. While it is possible to travel to Cuba other ways, this would be illegal and it is unlikely that many people will choose to break the law. With less travel, there will be fewer dollars transferred.

Arnold Weissberg
Havana, Cuba

The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of interest to working people.

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