By Jeff Barnard, .c The Associated Press
ASHLAND, Ore. 12 (AP) - Twenty-seven Oregon teen-agers headed to Cuba next week expect to disagree with their hosts. They also hope that from their discord will come understanding, empowerment, respect and genuine friendships.
Fulfilling a dream of Ashland High School debate coach John Tredway, 17 teens from Ashland High and 10 others from around Oregon are flying to Cuba on Jan. 18 with nine adult chaperones for a week of debates.
The Clinton administration adopted a policy last January promoting people-to-people contact with Cuba, while maintaining the economic embargo imposed in the early 1960s.
``Governments are too caught up in what they think their obligations are to the people they represent to actually make contact,'' said Poppy Alexander, a 17-year-old Ashland senior. ``We are not looking in terms of politics. We are looking in terms of humanity.''
The debate is ``not about competition,'' Tredway said. ``It is more about promoting peace, friendship and communication.''
To that end, the U.S. team is taking donated medical equipment and supplies, which are scarce in Cuba, and will give their counterparts T-shirts and baseball caps commemorating the visit.
The U.S. government hopes the trip will contribute to development of civil organizations that would take part in a peaceful transition to democracy once Cuban President Fidel Castro passes from power.
``What we hope they will do is go down and empower Cuban kids, making them think, 'Gee, you can disagree with your government,' which they probably do on lots of issues, 'and you can do that without being a dissident in the United States,''' said Charles Shapiro, director of the Office of Cuban
Affairs at the State Department.
The Cuban government sees benefits, too.
``They say Cuba is the enemy. We have democracy, but our democracy. They will see our reality,'' said Juan Carlos Frometa of the Union of Young Communists League in Havana, the coordinator of the debates.
``Maybe we can talk about sports, about movies. Maybe we don't have the same concept about democracy or the political system, but we can talk about that.''
And if the dispute about 6-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez were to arise in the debates, Tredway said his students are ready to handle it. ``We know it will come up. All of my students are preparing speeches in Spanish to give their thoughts,'' he said.
In the past year, the Baltimore Orioles and the Cuban national baseball team have played host to each other and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra has performed in Cuba. Later this month, the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota is slated to play baseball against the University of Havana.
The American schoolchildren, most of whom have a working knowledge of Spanish, will debate teams at three high schools beginning Jan. 19 at Vladimir I. Lenin High School in Havana. The format calls for each side to take its own government's positions and make arguments in Spanish before voting
on five resolutions.
One calls for establishing normal diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba. Another calls for both governments to recognize the United Nations declaration on human rights. Others seek Internet access for all Cuban schools, freedom of travel between the two countries and more
baseball games between U.S. and Cuban teams.
Roger Hernandez, who was born in Cuba and writes a newspaper column in the United States on Hispanic affairs, said the Cuban government is engaged in a political ploy.
``People still in Cuba can't argue about things they argue about here,'' he said. ``If they do that, they go to jail. My concern is by these kids going there ... people will think there is freedom of speech in Cuba.''
Jennifer van der Meer, a 16-year-old junior from Lincoln High School in Portland, hopes to leave a lasting impression, especially when she and her hosts spend time together outside the debates.
``When they hear the words 'United States,' they will be thinking of me, what I am going through, rather than this great superpower trying to oppress them,'' she said. ``A few of the generation of these kids will probably be in leadership positions in the Cuban government. We might see a change
in the way they react to the United States. That's a long shot, but hopefully I am laying the seeds for that.''
AP-NY-01-12-00 0231EST
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