The Communist Party of Malta does not endorse Guż Bonett’s arguments (Local Communists’ Selective Perspective, November 3) as with his line of thinking he is accepting that there should be people living below the poverty line.

This situation should not be accepted under any type of government.

The Communist Party of Malta acknowledges the good work the Communist parties are doing in the United Left Bloc in the European Parliament and will keep on voicing proposals in favour of the working poor, which are the result of neo-liberal policies. Various Communist parties are also in government or part of coalitions that are governing in Cyprus, Latvia and Portugal, while in Greece, Spain, France and Germany they are a strong bloc.

With regard to Cuba, the leading Brazilian theologian of Liberation Theology, Frei Betto, stated:

“I consider Cuba in advance of the rest of Latin America, for the simple fact that the social indices are much higher there. So my evaluation of a country is not, for example, how often the President changes, but rather the percentage of the population that has the right to life.

“This is why I admire Cuba, while at the same time that I have a lot of criticism of it, too. I see various defects in the Cuban Revolution, but the social successes are most important.”

The World Bank also made remarks towards Cuba where President James Wolfensohn extolled the Communist government, at that time President Fidel Castro, for doing “a great job” in providing for the social welfare of the Cuban people.