Editorials

Several times during his dictatorship, Fidel Castro cleared political dissidents from Cuba’s jails and prisons and encourage them to leave the country. From 1978 into the early 1980s, as many as 3,600 Cubans came to this country, using the blanket refugee status the United States offered Cuban expatriates. A smaller but similar exodus took place in 1994.

More than 200 women and men in Texas were killed by their intimate partners in 2021, according to the Texas Council on Family Violence. In an abusive dynamic, leaving an abuser is the most dangerous time for a survivor.

Gov. Greg Abbott was back in the Rio GrandeValley on Monday, Jan. 30, on another of his frequent trips to talk about border security. This time Abbott was in San Benito to celebrate the construction of the latest part of the border wall project he took up after Donald Trump left the presidency.

It’s complicated. Those familiar with police work might cringe when they see the immediate outrage whenever police are involved in a violent confrontation, such as the recent high-profile police actions during a traffic stop in Memphis, Tenn., that led to the death of Tyre Nichols.

Most of the land in Texas is privately owned. It’s a bragging point for many state officials, and it’s the way things ought to be in this land of freedom and opportunity.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn knows the U.S.-Mexico border better than most other members of Congress. During his two decades in Washington the San Antonio Republican has authored and endorsed many bills to update border infrastructure, improve trade and make many aspects of cross-border activities better.

We have long supported giving families greater choices in their children’s schooling. Parents should have as many options as possible to meet their children’s unique needs, and competition puts pressure on public school systems to improve their quality.

People who enjoy games of chance will play them. The popularity of lottery games, bingo and even 8-liner establishments, especially in the Rio GrandeValley, offers plenty of proof.

For years drug makers have ordered that states not use their products to execute condemned inmates; the last to do so was Phizer in 2016. As the supply of approved execution drugs dwindled, state officials turned to drugs used to euthanize animals or contracted with “compounding pharmacies,” which can mix lethal combinations of drugs. A 2015 state law prohibits the disclosure of the pharmacies’ identities, leading some people to question whether the drugs’ safety and effectiveness can be assured.

The $1.7 trillion government spending bill enacted last month includes coastal improvements that could help protect Rio GrandeValley property — and lives.