Regarding “Fidel spurns Obama’s presents” (March 29): Fidel Castro’s critique of President Obama’s Havana speech correctly concludes that Cuba is “…capable of producing the food and material wealth that we need with the work and intelligence of our people.” What Cuba needs to do (and Fidel Castro would no doubt agree) is find a way to unleash the work and intelligence of its people. Cubans’ biggest complaint is that they are tied down by a bureaucracy that prevents them from creating wealth.

TOM MILLER, Oakland

The writer is president of Green Cities Fund, which sponsors humanitarian development projects in Cuba and Vietnam.