HAVANA, CUBA — In recent months, the United States has taken steps to recognize the regime of Raul Castro as the legitimate government of Cuba. These steps evince a lack of knowledge of the totalitarian nature of the regime.

Many Americans do not know the extent of the human rights violations committed by the Castro dictatorship. The Castros’ victims do not number in the millions like those of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. But their despotic essence is the same.