Letters from readers II: Cuban mechanics

If it is true that Mr. Díaz Canel will visit our country, it will be an excellent opportunity for our President to score a resounding political victory. Without neglecting the diplomatic ways that are due to the mandate of a sister nation, ours can achieve an achievement, at this point, unattainable for any Argentine from 1970 onwards. It is about managing the repayment of the loans that the Cuban (governments) benefited from in the past, Argentine savings that we gladly handed over to the sister Caribbean people, but that at least little by little, they should have been honoring… President Cámpora authorized U$S 900 million in equipment, automobiles and products necessary for the island, a sum that was increased by U$S 600 million more thanks to the -understandable- generosity of President Alfonsín. If I remember correctly, the loans were agreed at 6% per year, but he left it up to the economists to calculate how much they owe us today. The claims made by our authorities over the years have been repeated periodically, to no avail, for unknown reasons, but in honor of such a great visit, we should mercifully forget, not without insisting on the opportunity that our authorities have to at least a first installment. A separate paragraph of admiration and recognition for the Cuban mechanics who, until very recently, made the automobiles they acquired with our contribution run.