Tampa Tribune
Bob Buckhorn
I am baffled by the pronouncement from Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn that he does not think it is proper to visit Cuba while we have an embargo and a Castro is still in power. How can he, on the one hand, promote Tampa as a logical hub for flights to Cuba and a potential hub for commercial ties with Cuba and turn around and say it is improper to visit? The last time I checked it was legal to go to Cuba on a visit that meets U.S. government criteria, whether you are a private citizen or elected official.
Perhaps Mayor Buckhorn is looking too far into the future and is signaling us that he has political ambitions that may someday rely heavily on financial support from the Miami Cuban community. Why else would he have such a two-sided approach to Cuba?
The office of mayor of Tampa needs someone who is 100 percent behind our city’s efforts to expand relations with the Cuban people, not tongue-in-cheek rhetoric meant to appease those who are as old as Fidel.
Carl L. Zielonka
Tampa
