Shadow Community & Cultural Affairs Minister Louise Jackson came under fire in the house of assembly yesterday during the House of Assembly?s motion to adjourn for using a family?s decision to send their child to Cuba to score political points.

Cuba, Bermuda?s allegedly tarnished reputation abroad, football problems and the need for a Post Office in Paget, were all featured in the Friday night free-for-all.

Pembroke Central MP Wayne Perinchief said in the House of Assembly on Friday that Mrs. Jackson?s anti-Cuba sentiments were not shared by the general public and were not Bermudian interests.

?Under our constitution we have complete freedom of travel to Cuba with the understanding that we have cultural ties sanctioned by Cuba,? said Mr. Perinchief. ?We are hoping this harping on Bermuda?s association with other countries will cease.?

Last week Mrs. Jackson told that a member of a Cuban youth band defected to Canada as the group was making its way back to Havana last month. Community Affairs Minister Dale Butler said he had no knowledge of any defection to Canada.

This week Mrs. Jackson claimed a Bermudian music student Aaron Daniels went to Cuba to study under the auspices of Government?s cultural accord with the country.

Her claims proved untrue when it was revealed that the 14 year old student was already in Cuba when the agreement was signed. Mr. Butler denied that Government was the main sponsor of the trip.

Aaron?s mother Ms Daniels told The Royal Gazette that some public funds through the Bermuda Arts Council were spent on his Cuba adventure. Mrs. Jackson said she was concerned that Bermudians who went to Cuba would not be comfortable in schools there due to the spartan conditions.

Aaron?s mother told this newspaper that he decided to return to the Island to prepare for an audition at a school in North Carolina and starting in September this year. Aaron said he loved the time he spent in Cuba, but the only barrier that he faced during the time spent in the country, was that he was not fluent in Spanish before setting out to study music in Havana.

Mrs. Jackson told the house that she was interested in the welfare of every Bermudian child who went overseas to study, and she said that Ms Daniels did not encourage other Bermudians to send their children to study in Cuba.

?The conditions stated by the mother were not comfortable for Bermudian children,? she said. ?We want to know that every child who will be leaving Bermuda will be safe and comfortable in other countries.?

Mr. Butler complimented Mrs. Jackson and her family for their ?valuable contributions to the community? but said her ?American sympathies? as a born American made her unaware of her responsibilities as a British subject.

?This is a memo Bermuda has signed for cultural enrichment and not for politics,? said Mr. Butler. ?The mother made the decision to send her child to school in Cuba.?

Dr. Ewart Brown supported his colleague, saying he could not explain Mrs. Jackson?s ?obsession? with Cuba.

Dr. Brown said ?if we continue to debate a single young man?s experience we pull it through the mud we are manufacturing. We have to ask ourselves what are we doing to this young man and his aspirations??

?I have to say how trite are we. If we are truly concerned about young people and their welfare why don?t we talk about his opportunity, his dreams to go all over the world and promote Bermuda. We should not put young people on the surgery table in this chamber.?

Dr. Brown said Mrs. Jacksn?s anti-Cuba tirade was not expressive of Bermudian interests, pointing out that a number of citizens in the United Kingdom had established business interests in Cuba. ?Her continuing to raise Cuba as a red herring of sorts is not reflective of something that is Bermudian. It is not a Bermudian interest. The issue of Cuba and the Cuban Government?s policies should not allow honourable members to throw innocent people into the mix for their purposes.?

Deputy Speaker WalterLister told the House of Assembly that when he returned to the Island this week and read Mrs. Jackson?s comments he thought ?there she goes again? and said ?I can?t understand why Mrs. Jackson is so obsessed with Cuba?.

It was ?arrant nonsense? for Mrs. Jackson to accuse Mr. Butler of ?ducking? a discussion on Cuba last week.

The rules ? written by the UBP ? were that after 11 a.m., ministers could not answer questions and the House business had to begin, so answers were placed on the table.

On his trips to Cuba he didn?t see the people Mrs. Jackson complained of but ?people just like us in Bermuda. They are not as well off as us but they are people trying to make a contribution to this world.

?There are many Bermudians who have Cuban connections and it is terrible for members of this House to denigrate a country and then say we want to be friends with the world.

?We have to be friends with everyone and respect other people different from us otherwise we?ll be at each other?s throats like they are in Baghdad.?

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