Their stellar performance in the Classic—beating Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic, among others, all comprised of Major League pros, including MVPs—was seen as a vindication of the idea that Cuba promotes sports for the sake of sports, unlike under capitalism where it’s another for-profit business.

“We are a revolutionary team,” left fielder Frederich Cepeda told reporters. “Baseball’s value is not measured by the price of its players, but by the heart of its athletes.”

Rose Ana Dueñas
Havana, Cuba  
 
Mining disaster in UK
The article “Miners discuss Buffalo Creek disaster at film showing” in the March 13 Militant about the February 1972 slurry pond disaster in West Virginia that killed 125, took my mind back to when I was about 15. Disaster struck the Merthyr Vale colliery Aberfan in South Wales on Oct. 21, 1966. Coal bosses had built a slagheap on the site of a stream. It had been raining for two to three days when the waste slid down Merthy Mountain. Twenty houses and a farm were destroyed. Virtually all of Pantglas Junior School and part of the adjacent senior school were demolished, killing 144 people—116 children 7-10 years old. Lest we forget the killing of miners and workers in other industries.

Peter Petrou
London, United Kingdom  
 
 
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