The letter by Devaraj 'Malaysia must emulate Cuba' (May 12) contains some of the worst communist propaganda that I have seen in a long time.

The socialist/communist system found in Cuba is the same that Malaysia fought against for years and that birthed the Internal Security Act (ISA) and other strict laws in order to control. To say that Cuba was right all along is to say that the founding fathers of Malaysia were wrong and their vision flawed. Democracy was without a doubt the best choice for Malaysia.

To suggest that Cuba practiced an unaligned foreign policy is dead wrong as well. From its founding around the same time Malaysia was founded, Cuba was supported and propped up by the Soviet Union without whose support Cuba would have succumbed to those 'neo-imperialists' of whom Devaraj spoke.

The Bay of Pigs invasion, although CIA driven, failed because of the lack of full support by the Kennedy administration and US bungling not because of some brilliant Cuban military autonomy.

The October Crisis of 1962 secured for the Cubans an American hands-off policy for fear of a nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union. The Cuban government reaching out to other countries such as Malaysia in an attempt to gain support and capitalist-style trade dates from the fall of the Soviet Union in the early part of the last decade of the 20th century. Cuba still owes Russia billions of dollars.

Also for someone to say that there is no poverty or ignorance in Cuba means he has obviously never been there or expects the readers of his letter to have never been there or know nothing about it.

Cuba is facing some serious problems associated with poverty including serious food problems such as protein deficiency in children and adults alike. The sewer systems date back to the 1930s. Doctors and dentists need to take on second jobs just to get by. If no such problems existed in Cuba why have thousands of Cubans escaped, exiling themselves by risking their lives and those of their children in dangerously overcrowded and unsound boats?

To say that equity exists in Cuba is correct; all are poor. Cuba was developing into the Latin American economic superpower prior to the rise of Castro in the 1950s. Communist ascendancy changed all that.

Catholicism is alive and well in Cuba regardless of the writer's assertions to the contrary as evidenced during the Pope's visit in 1998 about the same time Cuba relaxed its anti-religious rulings. Many more practise religions and beliefs brought over from Africa, including santeria, which are often mixed with Catholic traditions and practiced by millions.

I agree with the writer's assessment of the Bush administration as a war mongering, dangerous, backward step in American affairs but to suggest that Malaysia should align themselves with certain countries simply because they share some Malaysian leaders' anti-American sentiments and cease relations with American-friendly countries would be a foolish and disastrous foreignpolicy. Let us too remember that Bush was openly preferred over Gore by most Malaysians. I guess you have to be careful what you wish for.

Castro has been a dictator for almost as long as Malaysia has been independent and a single party has ruled Cuban over that same period. To say that Malaysia should adopt a similar government would be ruinous for Malaysia and a step backwards for Malaysian politics and society.

Let's remember too that if Hitler had died from a heart attack in 1938, he probably would have been considered as an economic genius and a far sighted brilliant leader. The same could not be said for Castro. Who knows what will become of Cuba after Castro is gone?

To say that Malaysia should emulate Cuba is as ridiculous as saying that Middle Eastern despotism is better than democracy.