Trial of Cuban dissidents

Madam, - In his latest letter defending Cuba, Douglas Hamilton (May 14th) refers to the Castro regime as a "democratically elected…

Madam, - In his latest letter defending Cuba, Douglas Hamilton (May 14th) refers to the Castro regime as a "democratically elected and populist government". Perhaps he could answer a few questions about the Cuban government's democratic legitimacy.

How many opposition political parties are there in Cuba? How many opposition candidates were fielded in the last elections? What percentage of the vote did the opposition parties get? Who independently validated the legitimacy of the election?

(The answers are: none, zero, nothing, and nobody.) - Yours, etc.,

LUKE MURPHY, Toronto, Canada.