Debate On Cuba Appears Unlikely

Prospects seem slim for a debate between the Cuban Revolutionary Council and the senior Faculty members who recently criticized the Government's Cuban policy. There are two reasons: the professors are unenthusiastic, and the Cuban Revolutionary Council is confused.

A typical Faculty reaction to the suggested debate came from Donald H. Fleming, professor of History, one of the 41 Faculty members who signed a petition on Cuba printed in the New York Times: "It is questionable whether American foreign policy ought to be debated with exiles," Fleming remarked.

Fleming also saw little material for debate with the Revolutionary Council. "What the Cubans want to talk about is the situation in Cuba," he said, "but there is not so much difference of opinion on that point."

Last Thursday the Cuban Revolutionary Council published a reply to the petition in the Times, inviting its signers "to discuss this question in a public forum, televised from coast to coast on television and/or elsewhere."

But the man designated to represent the Council in negotiating for a debate, Herminio Portell Vila, was sitting in his hotel room in Washington, D.C. last night. He described himself as "very comfortable and very relaxed."

Another Cuban, Enrique Huertas, had come to Cambridge last Friday, hinting that he was empowered to negotiate for the Council. After conversing with a Harvard Faculty member, he released an erroneous report to United Press International claiming that he had reached a final agreement on a debate.

"Dr. Huertas is a very fine man, a very decent man," said a spokesman for the Cuban Revolutionary Council. "But he is not a member of our organization."