I AM grateful for Dr Findlater's helpful response to my letter about Camp X-Ray.

Yes, Ernesto (Che) Guevara was and is a revolutionary icon.

He was always on the side of the poor and the oppressed and he worked and fought for his ideals not just in Latin America but also in Africa.

Che Guevara was a doctor, a scholar and a linguist as well as a worker and a fighter.

He was also honest; there was none of the hypocrisy and sleaze that taints our politicians today.

And yes, Cuba intervened in Angola on the side of the democratically elected government and against Jonas Savimibi's Unita organisation.

Unita was heavily backed by the United States and succeeded in plunging Angola into many years of civil war, which destroyed what might otherwise have been a relatively rich and prosperous country.

Cuba's involvement in Angola included the defeat of the so-called South African Defence Force at Quito Canavale.

This was a major factor in the ultimate demise of apartheid in South Africa.

Finally, one of Cuba's main exports is doctors!

Thank you, Dr Findlater.

Cllr Brian Penney

Grebe Wharf

Lancaster

For a differing view of 'Che' see Page 19