After reading the unsigned article about Odio family members ("Dynasty," October 10) in which you made fun of their history, their family, and made jokes at their expense for your own gain, I was struck at how little you must know about the people you have hurt.
The next time you are down and you want someone to give you the benefit of the doubt, remember what you did to Cesar Odio and his family. You have kicked a good man while he was down, just for a little money and some attention. This makes you the lowest kind of people, those with no compassion. You must be very stupid or very vile.
You don't have the nerve to print this letter in its entirety.
William Lord
Miami
The Odio Clan: Shameful, Insulting, and Repulsive
You have given us a piece of journalism that may someday be held in academic institutions as a classic example of a most offensive, unfair, and even repulsive use of the freedom of speech.
Your article on the Odio family is not only fundamentally disrespectful and shamefully intrusive, but it also manages to insult the sensibilities of so many in this community who, having been victims of totalitarian systems of government, are acutely sensitive to the rights and privileges to which we are entitled in a democracy -- innocence until proven guilty.
It is obvious that your only motive is to impart harm. I wonder how you sleep at night.
Carmen Betancourt Lord
Miami
The Odio Clan: Malicious, Inaccurate, and Defamatory
Carlos Prio Socarras, whom you call an "allegedly corrupt leader" of Cuba, was -- factually -- a democratically elected and governing president, one who spearheaded within a multiparty congress the creation of equivalents of the General Accounting Office, the Supreme Court (for constitutional and social rights), the Federal Reserve Board, and other institutions that made Cuba's constitutional government more regulated, transparent, and accountable than ever before.
He is primarily remembered not for any "shenanigans" alleged by credible sources such as Fidel Castro, but for his unshakable respect for human rights and advancement of social justice.
The publication of malicious allegations against my deceased father and uncle is uncalled for in an article whose principal intent is to defame my husband, Cesar Odio.
Maria Antonieta Prio
Miami
The Odio Clan: Wrong and Wrong Again
I am Cesar Odio's seventeen-year-old nephew, the one you claimed earned $7500 this summer working for the City of Miami's department of community development. In fact, I worked as a clerk, earning a total of $646.25. Also this took place not in 1996 but in 1995.
I want a retraction given the same prominence as the article. And I would like to know who wrote the article and why the author's name wasn't printed and what steps were taken to ensure the accuracy of the information about me in the article.
Erik Mallo
Coral Gables
Editor's note: The City of Miami's department of personnel provided New Times with erroneous information regarding the terms of Erik Mallo's employment. City records stated that as of April 1996, Mallo was actively employed and earning $7150 annually. In fact Mallo worked just one month during the summer of 1995 and earned $5.50 per hour. New Times regrets the errors.
