The letter writers span the spectrum from left to right. Members say they don't want this to become a partisan political issue. In fact, there are reasons administration officials have been cautious in making a genocide declaration.

Being out of the mainstream is entirely consistent with the way Donald Trump is approaching his presidency.

As Cuba's leader, Castro answered to no one and allowed no challenge to his authority.

One of Donald Trump's criticisms of President Barack Obama and of Hillary Clinton was that they seemed reluctant to use the words radical Islam. It was not just semantics. Trump said it's important to name the enemy idea and then attack it. Consider the Cold War. The U.S. and its allies waged a kind of propaganda war against the communist idea using radio broadcasts and other tools. Trump has said he'd do the same against Islamic extremism.

America is or should be about inclusion. Immigrants like muslims don't and can't fit the white European mold that prevailed in this country 50 years ago.

The collapse of the Soviet bloc ended the massive subsidies that had kept the Cuban economy afloat. The once-vaunted education and health care systems fell into disrepair. Fidel Castro's stubbornness, meanwhile, made political and economic change difficult in Cuba.

Fidel Castro is one of the most inspiring leaders of the 20th century.