January 15, 2006 GREETINGS in the name of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie, King of Kings, Elect of God and Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah It is true most historians now believe that in 1975 Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie suffered and died at the hands of Cuban military forces allied to his Marxist / heathen successor, the dictator Mengitsu Haile Meriam (Mid-Ocean News, January 13).

His remains were found in 1992, buried under a toilet in the Imperial Palace in Addis Ababa. He was finally laid to rest at Addis Ababa's Orthodox Trinity Cathedral in 2000. But his spirit lives forever, his voice will never be silenced, his message will echo even unto the four corners of the world.

It is also true that Fidel Castro actively persecutes Cuba's own Rastafarian community, who revere Emperor Haile Selassie, on both religious and racial grounds.

In 2004 the Jamaica Observer ran a news article about the plight of Cuba's Rastas. It said that in a survey of Cuban Rastafarians the respondents complained of racial discrimination in Cuba, in the shape of stereotypes and prejudice towards blacks.

The newspaper said Rastas interviewed by Havana's Centre for Psychological & Sociological Research are opposed to the monolithic and atheistic character of the socialist system. Cuba is a country where conformity to the Communist status quo is encouraged. Rastafarianism is therefore seen by the authorities as a dangerous and destabilising sect and is treated accordingly.

Cuban history teaches that Emperor Haile Selassie I was an evil dictator; Cuban nationalism overrides Afro-Caribbean heritage; Cuban reggae music is neither officially recognised nor supported as "Cuban Music"; and, as if you couldn't guess, the Hola Herb (marijuana) is outlawed. In spite of these obstacles, in spite of periodic round-ups by his police, the Rastas living in Castro's Cuba hold firm in their faith and life style.

"A great many Rastas are in jail," Rasta Eligio Flores Ruiz, 32, told the Observer. "The government doesn't accept us. They say we're a threat to the revolution. They're bothered by the fact that we're free thinkers."

The Observer went on to report: "There isn't much tolerance for their way of life. Some believe they're discriminated against because they have dark skin and wear their hair in dreadlocks. Others say the police just have trouble accepting people who are different.

"Said one Rasta, sipping a mojito in Old Havana. 'What Cuba needs is to open up'.

"He said: 'If Cuba had just a breath of freedom, it would take off in a fraction of a second', he said.

"Fed up with the pace of change, most Rastas only want to leave."

If this is so, why don't we exchange Bermuda's own Fidelistas like Alvin Williams, Dale Butler and Alex Scott for the persecuted Cuban Rastas? The Cubans would be welcomed by their kindly Bermudian brethren in the local Rasta community (we believe in "One Love"; we embrace all).

As for Mr. Williams, Mr. Butler and Mr. Scott, these gentlemen have repeatedly shown they will do and say anything on behalf of the heathen Cuban Revolution. So I can only assume they would enjoy living under it.RAS JUDAH, PembrokeFar more to the story . . .January 14, 2006

I HAVE no interest in arguing with Alvin Williams about whether or not the US has discharged its debt in full for the presence of American bases on Bermuda (Mid-Ocean News, January 13). However, there is far more to the story than Mr. Williams is presenting and Bermuda was a target for the enemy of the time long before Nixon and Heath had any discussions about nuclear weapons being deployed to Bermuda.

German U-boats were operating in the Atlantic as early as 1939 and no doubt that included the water around Bermuda.

In 1941 the US Navy moved subs to Ordnance Island and they remained there until 1945. It is safe to say that the US presence on the island provided security against German sub crews enjoying the safety of the waters surrounding Bermuda. If the Germans had managed to land on Bermuda, before the US set up bases, you can be sure Britain would have given the US the OK to invade Bermuda to remove the Germans. Not a pretty scenario.

Building a runway at Kindley allowed the US military to establish a "Southern Route" for aircraft going to and coming from North Africa and other destinations in that area. With refuelling stops in the Azores and Bermuda, it drastically reduced the flying time to and from North Africa and southern Europe and helped the war effort during World War Two.

By 1946 the Soviets were building submarines while the US was actually reducing their submarine fleet. In the early 1950s the Soviets had deployed a number of intelligence-gathering ships along the US East Coast, loaded with electronic equipment but registered as fishing vessels or oceanographic research vessels. Using various reasons, these Soviet vessels asked for permission to dock in Bermuda and sometimes were granted permission.

Bermuda was covered with military installations not only from the US but the UK and Canada too and that made Bermuda of very great importance to the Soviets. By the late 1960s the US Air Force, with its large jet fleet, no longer needed Bermuda as a refuelling stop. So the US Navy took over Kindley in 1970 and expanded its anti-submarine warfare presence and became an even greater threat to the Soviets.

The Soviets had ballistic missile subs in 1960 and cruise missile subs a few years after and you can bet they had at least one missile with Bermuda's name on it before 1970. Bermuda was a strategic target for the Soviets long before Nixon and Heath had their exchange of memoranda and was no more a target, after the meeting, than many other cities / countries around the world were during the Cold War.

By 1960 international businesses were beginning to show great interest in Bermuda, its close proximity to the US, security guaranteed by the presence of the US military and Britain, a workforce of military spouses and Bermudians. At that time no other country had the same to offer and the rest is history.

Many Bermudians were employed by the US military as far back as 1941 and continued until 1995. All the US Government construction projects (military, NASA, etc.) employed as many Bermudians as possible.

Military personnel rented homes or apartments from Bermudians, bought vehicles from Bermudians and supported many local establishments. Many Bermuda establishments would not be in business today if they had not been supported by the US families. NASA's presence, and Bermuda's name becoming synonymous with space flights, helped to bring in more tourists.

It is my opinion that one of the reasons the United Bermuda Party got so off track in planning for Bermuda's future is because the US Government had always provided for a major portion of Bermuda's economy and the UBP never planned for the day the US would leave.

The UBP could let tourism decline because it had the US Government providing jobs for Bermudians: hundreds of millions of dollars in direct and indirect contributions to the Bermudian economy. An over-emphasis on international business — a situation that continues to this day — was the only fall-back position when the US announced it was withdrawing from Bermuda.

I don't care to comment on whether or not the US properly discharged its debt to Bermuda by what it left or didn't leave materially and financially.

However, I disagree with Alvin Williams saying the US had not discharged its debt because he believes the US involved Bermuda in a nuclear strategy that could well have resulted in Bermuda being reduced to a simmering pile of irradiated ash.

Millions of people lived through the Cold War without feeling they were victims of military strategy and were at as much or more risk than Bermudians; that is part of the price we pay for "Freedom".

Does Alvin Williams think that if the Germans and Soviets had put military forces on Bermuda he would have been at any less risk? If he does, tell him to look at Cuba.THE SHADOW KNOWS

Beware of dictators bearing giftsJanuary 16, 2006

YOUR correspondent "Enquiring Mind" has finally spurred me into action (Mid-Ocean News, January 13). In recent months I have read with some interest and no little concern your columnist Alvin Williams' repeated attempts to justify Cuban intervention in African affairs during the Cold War. The Cubans were, in fact, surrogates for their Soviet masters' imperialist ambitions in Africa — the wars the Cubans fought in Angola, Mozambique and Ethiopia were wars of recolonisation, not decolonisation as Mr. Williams would have your readers believe.

The new imperial power in Africa in the 1970s and '80s was the Soviet Union, preaching what it called "international proletarianism" but, in fact, practising a type of ruthless imperialism the Belgians, French and British and other Europeans involved in the 19th century "scramble for Africa" would have immediately recognised.

Interestingly enough, as "Enquiring Mind" pointed out in his letter, the Soviets and their vicious Cuban proxies found a particularly willing African ally in Ethiopia, the African continent's great imperialist power — one that the Europeans had conceded was their equal in empire-building in the 19th century.

Ethiopian imperialism has, in fact, outlasted direct European imperialism in Africa and, despite dramatic changes in domestic political ideology, Ethiopia is still a loosely-knit empire which has not yet succumbed to the forces of disintegration that have devastated much grander empires elsewhere.

The main victim of Ethiopian imperialism has been Eritrea but other parts of the country, including Tigray in the north and the Ogaden in the east, have recently fought militarily for greater autonomy if not downright secession.

The absorption of Eritrea into Ethiopia following World War Two excited little outside interest as the matter was considered internal to Ethiopia, which at this time commanded considerable prestige in the international community.

The feudal Emperor Haile Selassie's autocratic style impressed in foreign affairs. He became the father figure of the first decade of African Independence, an African who had triumphed over colonialism, whose pride and dignity made him an impressive figure on the world stage — but never in Eritrea.

A fully-fledged guerrilla war of Independence against Ethiopia had broken out in Eritrea by the 1960s. Over the course of many years Eritrea slowly regained its territorial integrity, pushing back the Ethiopian occupiers ever closer to their own border.

Then, in the Ethiopian revolution of 1974, Haile Selassie was overthrown and a neo-Marxist military government led by the dictator Mengitsu Haile Meriam was installed in his place. Ethiopia turned to the Soviet Union and its allies, the Cubans, for support. And with regard to Eritrea, the new Communist-oriented government was every bit as imperialistic as the old Emperor and the situation remained essentially the same.

By the end of 1977 the Eritreans had gained control of all the territory except for some garrison towns but, instead of negotiating with them, the Mengitsu regime, now backed by the Soviet Union and Cuba, sought a military solution.

In 1978 an Ethiopian army of more than 100,000, with massive Cuban support, took almost all of Eritrea at considerable cost. Thousands of Eritreans were killed and hundreds of thousands of refugees fled into Sudan. But Ethiopia was unable to deliver coup de gr|0xe2|ce.

The Eritreans clawed their way back into contention and a "fluid-stalemate" prevailed for many years.

Ethiopia's position was made worse by a revolt in Tigray province, not for Independence as in the case of Eritrea but for greater autonomy within Ethiopia. Both Eritrea and Tigray were devastated by the droughts of 1983-5.

Thousands died of starvation but the wars continued relentlessly. The human suffering was appalling. As the 1980s progressed the war took its toll on Ethiopia, which spent vast sums on the military despite the desperate plight of millions through recurring famine.

The Addis Ababa government, at Cuban instigation, attempted to implement socialist economic policies — the collectivisation of peasant agricultural lands followed and the Mengitsu regime then tried to resettle up to 1.5 million people in order to overcome the droughts in the north.

These were inappropriate, imperialistic, ideological and dictatorial responses to the problems that faced all of the people of Ethiopia and were unsuccessful. In 1991 Mengitsu was overthrown.

In May 1993 the people of Eritrea voted in a referendum for full Independence from Ethiopia. Eritrea became Africa's 53rd sovereign state and, more importantly, Eritrean Independence marked the end of the longest running, most destructive war in post-Independence African history.

The Cubans were directly responsible for causing the worst battlefield casualties and the most horrifying long-term human suffering that occurred during Eritrea's War of Independence from Ethiopia. The effects of the intervention in the Horn of Africa are still being felt today.

Cuban forces were, at best, pawns of Soviet imperialist interests, at worst willing Soviet collaborators. The late US Senator Daniel Moynihan once rightly referred to the Cubans as "the Gurkhas of the Russian Empire", functioning as a vehicle for indirect Soviet subversion that sought the eventual domination of targeted developing countries.

My advice to Bermuda, which seems to think that a "cultural" understanding with Cuba will only result in Fidel exporting his mambo bands and cigars to you, is: "Beware of dictators bearing gifts . . ."

BERHANE ARAYA

Asmara, Eritrea

Cranky and dogmaticJanuary 14, 2006

SINCE Alvin Williams doesn't believe the US has "fully discharged its debt to us" for the use of its Bermuda bases during the Cold War, I wonder whether he thinks the former Soviet Union has paid any of what it arguably owes Bermuda?

Mr. Williams is upset that US President Richard Nixon and British Prime Minister Ted Heath did not keep Bermuda's leadership "in the loop" when discussing the island's role in US nuclear strategy.

But did the Soviets ever ask our permission to park Yankee class ballistic missile submarines in Bermuda's waters throughout the Cold War?

The US decision to deploy sub-killing nuclear depth bombs here in 1970 was, after all, a reaction to Soviet aggression in the waters surrounding Bermuda — not the cause of it.

And the Americans, it seems, only had contingency plans to move nuclear depth bombs to Bermuda in "times of advanced readiness". However, the Soviets had a nuclear arsenal of at least 100 thermo-nuclear warheads ringing Bermuda from the late 1960s onwards (there were always three nuclear-powered Yankee class subs in the Bermuda "patrol box". Each sub carried 16 ballistic missiles. Each missile was armed with a minimum of two independently targetable nuclear warheads — and as many as eight).

If the decrepit Soviet submarine K-219, which burnt and sank off Bermuda in October, 1986, had exploded as a result of the chain reaction in one of its two nuclear reactors reaching critical mass — something which came frighteningly close to happening — none of us would be here now.

The ensuing explosion, the "cook off" of its warheads and the resulting lethal fall-out would have made what happened at Chernobyl seem as harmless as the radium-painted dials on a watch face by comparison. Bermuda would have ceased to exist.

A little bit more historical context and a hell of a lot more perspective would make your increasingly cranky and dogmatic columns somewhat more credible, Mr. Williams.

DR. STRANGELOVE, City of Hamilton

Accept our differencesJanuary 17, 2005

IN light of Mr. Alvin Williams' recent Commentary asking what he, as a black Bermudian, has in common with white Bermudians might I suggest he start reading the newspaper more often. Especially yours.

Reproduced below is a letter that appeared in the Mid-Ocean after he posed the self-same question last year.

October 23, 2005

Alvin Williams wrote: "In a recent Commentary I asked what I, as a black Bermudian, had in common with white Bermudians? I waited to see if I would get any responses to that question I threw out to my readers but I am not surprised that, so far, none have been forthcoming" (Mid-Ocean News, October 21)."

Mr. Williams, I am a white Bermudian. The one thing I have in common with you is that we are different. Nevertheless we are Bermudians and therefore we are equals. In this day and age we should both accept our differences and recognise our equality and in doing so work together to make Bermuda a better place for our future generations.

DEREK A. G. JONES, Boston, USA

End disrespect of the lawJanuary 13, 2005

This letter was copied to the His Excellency the Governor, Premier Alex Scott JP MP, Hon. Randolph Horton, JP MP, Government ministers, Members of Parliament, Ombudsman, Ms Arlene Brock and journalists.

ALL of you have a responsibility, some sworn, and others professionally, to inform and more importantly protect the public, particularly those most at risk. The issue regarding the Bermuda Industrial Union's failure to submit audited financial statements for a number of years has been raised publicly, a number of times without any action from the Government.

All trade unions are required under the law (Trade Union Regulations 1965) to provide the Registrar with annual general audited statements. We believe that this has not happened for some four maybe five years. We, as former and present contributing members of the BIU, are very concerned that no one seems to be attempting to protect the funds that ultimately belong to the blue collar workers of this country.

Why has the Bermuda Industrial Union not been made to adhere to the law? The Union's failure to follow this law is little different from those employers who fail to pay their workers pension and insurance contributions. The fact that one of our large institutions, representing over 4,000 workers is not made to follow the laws of the land sends a very negative message to the rest of the country.

We implore all of you, one of you, somebody with a conscience and belief in the law and justice to put an end to this blatant disrespect of the law and working people of Bermuda.

Respectfully,

CONCERNED WORKERS OF BERMUDA