Letters

REAGAN AND THE POLITICS OF CYNICISM
I would like to amplify Ramon Cernuda's assertion that the Reagan team in the early Eighties "wanted to counteract the policies of the Carter administration with regards to Cuba" ("The Art of Exile," July 29).

After eliminating or drastically reducing funding for many established public programs, Reagan's people realized they had no chance for the black vote in the 1982 election. They thus very cynically turned to courting the Hispanics.

I had been an occasional consultant to the nonprofit National Coalition of Hispanic Mental Health and Human Services Organizations in Washington, which by early 1982 had almost ceased to exist because many of its customary grants had not been renewed. To everyone's astonishment, the Reaganites decided in early 1982 to honor the organization with a September 23 gala that included a reception at the White House, followed by dinners at twenty Latin American embassies and a concluding extravaganza at the Organization of American States.

Since the organization's monies had all but disappeared and the staff was reduced to a handful of the national executive director's personal loyalists, I was asked to come back from Houston to help coordinate the event, which drew hundreds of ecstatic Hispanic notables from all over the country and attracted the attention of thousands more in a nationwide search to select a few young Hispanics to be saluted by the president.

The chairwoman of the event was Mrs. James Baker.
Delphine Blachowicz-Herbert
Miami

COP GOES THE WEASEL
In regard to Steven Almond's article about Dorothy Richardson ("Assault with Intent to Cause Baldness," July 29), I would like to thank New Times for publishing an article that lets a falsely accused person tell her side of the story. I believe Richardson's story because something similar happened to me.

Sometime during April my brother-in-law was arrested in front of a popular South Beach club. All of this happened because some bouncer at the door of the club suspected that my driver license was fake. He gave my I.D. to a cop to check it out, and as we tried to get his attention, the cop started insulting us and calling us idiots. Then my brother-in-law calmly asked him why he was treating us like animals. The cop had also insulted my sister, and my brother-in-law told him he should not have insulted any of us. A couple of minutes later the cop put my brother-in-law under arrest and threatened to arrest both my sister and me as well.

A month later my brother-in-law was called to court and the judge was happy to tell us that the state attorney had thrown out the case and that all charges against him were dropped. Unlike Richardson, my brother-in-law got lucky. Both the judge and attorney realized that the whole case was ridiculous. He was falsely accused of telling off a cop.

I have always thought very highly of cops, even though they had never done anything for me. But when a cop picks on my brother-in-law (an engineering major), my sister (a preschool teacher and elementary teaching major) and myself (a sophomore majoring in communications), I can't help but think they are picking on the wrong people instead of catching the criminals that surround us.

Normidia Z. Cisneros
Hialeah

RIGHT-WING REPUBLICANSFOR MORELLO
Not everyone steals and lies, but the vast majority of the population does steal and lie in one way or another. This includes judges, lawyers, and police officers.

The late Andrew Morello and his friends Bjorn DiMaio and Anthony Vincent were teen-age children out trying to steal some speakers -- hardly a crime deserving of murder charges ("Justice Undone, Part 4," July 29). Yet some cop hiding behind her badge chose to shoot the driver (Morello) while they were trying to flee, trying to get away from her. The physical evidence supports this. Nonetheless, DiMaio and Vincent were charged with murder. Based on what? Officer Laura Russell's questionable statements and prosecutor Gary Rosenberg presenting selective evidence while omitting critical information that would indisputably point out who was lying and who really should be charged with murder.

The boys involved here have lost life and liberty, their rights have been trampled on and violated. They and their families are victims. I and many others cry for them.

This letter writer is no bleeding-heart liberal but a right-wing Republican who refuses to adopt cowardice. I will sign my name.

Marla Ann Harris
Miami Beach

OUT OF THE CLOSET, INTO THE FRYING PAN
In reference to Rafael Navarro's review of Casa Rolandi restaurant ("Price-A-Roni," July 22), I'd like to comment that it was derogatory, unfair, inaccurate, and obviously written with personal revenge. The uncalled-for, overly descriptive, and wordy review sounded like he was frustrated because he couldn't have his way with the owner and is still screaming in the closet. Rafael should come out and do the public a service: get out of the food-review business if this is the best he can do, because I believe his boot is up the wrong end. This comes from a loyal customer who is very upset with this review and who thinks the editor should allow a rebuttal section if he's going to continue to employ people of Navarro's mentality.