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Please stop gouging residents at the pump

I wish to pose a question to those who set gasoline prices for Key West. I realize I risk being a target of those whose blanket answer to everything is "if you don't like it, leave," but I will pose it, anyway, as it affects all of us.

I went to West Palm Beach on Christmas Day to spend Christmas with my family, as I always do. It was cheaper to drive than fly, so I filled up at Circle K on Christmas morning at $1.91 a gallon.

What a shock, when I reached a station between here and Big Pine, to discover its price was $1.78. The further up I got and into the next three counties, the price was in the $1.60s. This was encouraging. I figured when I came home the 27th, Key West's prices would be down, also.

On the 27th, except for Paradise Petroleum, which was charging $1.99, the price throughout the Keys was still between the $1.60s and $1.70s. I was hopeful. I knew Key West's would be down, also, so I did not stop to replenish my gas tank. When I reached the island, however, one hometown station advertised $1.78, but the rest, in the $1.90s, including Chevron, the highest at $1.99.

I realize it is not easy to get gasoline to Key West. After all, I wrote about being on Seven Mile Bridge with my friend, Dennis Riley, as the tanker truck was burning and exploding before our eyes, trapping the driver and those in the SUV under it, because a foolish person had passed when he or she should not have -- and consequently, ran the SUV into the tanker, which jackknifed and you know the rest of the story.

However, the Overseas High-way cannot be that much more dangerous on a consistent basis than icy roads tanker trucks navigate to deliver gasoline in the northern states. We see them sliding, crashing and exploding on those dangerous roads every winter, yet the prices stay down.

So, my question is: Why cannot Key West be more in sync with at least the rest of the Keys, if not the counties up the mainland, and not do this price-gouging that hurts not only the tourists, but us, too? Most of the time, we ride our bikes and trikes to run our errands, but we cannot ride them off the island. And that requires gasoline. Must we fill up at a station somewhere else in the Keys to avoid buying gas locally in Key West?

All I'm asking is for those who set gas prices for Key West, whether local or district managers, to be fair to us who live here and not set the price 30 cents above everyone else's. Thank you.

Peggy Butler

Key West

If Cuba is so great, why do Cubans flee?

Iran's President is trying to convince us that the Holocaust never happened. Fidel Castro, among other lies, tried to convince the Cuban people that the U.S. did not go to the moon, that it was a Hollywood movie fiction, and now (a letter-writer) is trying to convince us of the marvels in communist Cuba, besides going to bat for the journalist and photographer Rob O'Neal, well known by those who read The Citizen for his bias for the Cuban regime and his pictures of pro-government individuals, instead of pictures from scenes of the most beautiful island in the entire Caribbean, as the writer said, or from buildings in the cities that are in complete decay because of poor maintenance.

Havana has the major number of European buildings in this continent, and is a shame what the government has done to preserve them.

Among other things, (the writer) quoted that Castro got rid of drugs, gambling and prostitution. Gambling, yes, but the drugs are now part of the government business and the prostitution, once legal in red districts only, are now practiced all over by "jineteras" as they are called. It's well known that one the major attractions for visitors are those young girls selling for money and food.

(The writer) also said ... "they made Cuba a clean, safe and decent place to raise a family." If this were true, then why do so many Cuban try to leave the country illegally by boat, because legally, they are not able to do it? If 95 percent of all Cuban people support the revolution, why they don't allow free elections? ...

Diego L Caso

Key West