Sun Journal editorial writer David Farmer thinks that Gov. Baldacci should do more than promote fair trade between Maine and other countries. He thinks the governor should have taken the opportunity to lecture Cuba and Fidel Castro about human rights. He then goes on to describe what’s wrong with life in Cuba.

There is no way for any Maine citizen to test the veracity of his claims because there is almost no way to visit Cuba other than to go on a trade mission. While the U.S. government has allowed increased trade with Cuba under pressure from the agricultural states, it has closed the avenues of people-to-people contact. Cultural exchanges and most academic travel licenses have been ended. The Brunswick-Trinidad Sister City Association, a nonpolitical group that has built ties between Brunswick and Trinidad, Cuba, cannot get a license to visit Cuba. The Maine citizens who participate in the Pastors for Peace unlicensed shipments of medical aid to Cuba do so knowing they could be prosecuted by the government.

Why is our government afraid of letting people visit Cuba and talk to the Cuban people? I hope our Maine delegation will press for an end to the embargo and all travel restrictions to Cuba so that a genuine two-way relationship can develop between our two countries. And perhaps we can set our own house in order before we criticize the Cubans.

Renee Cote, Auburn
Cote is a member of the Let Cuba Live Committee of Maine and has visited Cuba twice.