Sin and sex in Cuba
Re The Ugly Canadians, March 17 The trouble with highlighting what the federal government could be doing to better track the victimization of children abroad is that it distracts us from how the policies of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and Justice Minister Rob Nicholson result in more children being victimized here at home.
Consider how overly zealous “war on drugs” legislation results in more adult drug dealers using youngsters as intermediaries in drug deals, more families being deprived of fathers unnecessarily jailed, and how lax attitudes about cutting down on guns end up making housing projects intolerably dangerous for children to grow up in.
Let’s not allow Toews and Nicholson to use the politics of fear and loathing as a smokescreen for their collusion with the gun lobby, and the security and for-profit prison industry. Ron Charach, Toronto If the purpose of the National Sex Offender Registry is to prevent the vulnerable from being violated — both in Canada and abroad — it shocks me that the RCMP doesn’t share its database with Passport Canada and the CBSA. If Canada is legitimately concerned about stopping sex offenders from reoffending, we need to revoke some privacy rights — within reason — of convicted sex offenders. This shouldn’t be a concern when the wellbeing of innocent others is in question. Andrew Eason, Toronto It is a gross infamy to say that Cuba ignores or turns a blind eye to a matter where children are harmed. According to government sources, “child prostitu- tion is a minor problem and (the) government has accorded it significant attention.” It is monstrous to make the Cuban government appear as an accomplice in child corruption, and to generalize that child prostitution is growing without check in Cuba.
According to the United Nations, Cuba is the only Latin America country to eradicate malnutrition in children, and has an infant mortality rate lower than in some developed countries, including Canada and the United States. Cuba provides schools, vaccination and all basic needs to its children, has the second highest life expectancy in Latin America and has elevated the dignity of its people by creating an environment of respect and solidarity among themselves and others. Julio Fonseca, President, Association of Cubans in Toronto A simple solution to child sex abuse is to revoke the pedophile’s passport. A pedophile is never a welcome visitor. The crime inspires anger and revulsion. Alternatively, the passport could carry a red stamp, the number of red stamps corresponding to the number of convictions for pedophilia.
Let us not delude ourselves that pedophiles can be rehabilitated in or out of prison. The same apples to serial murderers: they should be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Kenneth Assee, Oakville I’ve seldom ever been ashamed to say that I’m Canadian but revelations in this Star investigation have made me feel exactly that way. Sexual predators and other Canadians travelling on cheap Cuban vacations to satisfy per- verse sexual desires with Cuban children is abhorrent behaviour. Cuban authorities officially deny these findings but many there are complicit in this dirty business. Canada should at least advise other countries when those on a Canadian sex registry are travelling abroad. Surely the protection of children is a sacred trust and a priority. Rick Craig, Burlington Please consider changing the phrase “seeks sex with children” to “seeks to sexually assault or rape children.” We need to be reminded of the severity of these crimes. Words such as “having sex with a child” imply some sort of consent from the child. People in partnerships have sex, children do not — especially with 78-year-old men.
Children are raped and sexually exploited at all levels, with their lives so often destroyed. Masking the truth with soft words is not acceptable. Beate Rufft, Newmarket