by Rick Lowe

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fred Mitchell has been in the press a lot lately, defending his position on the "Cuban Controversy".

He is reported to have stated that criticism of how the whole Cuban dentist affair was handled is a non-Bahamian view and is unpatriotic.

Of course this comes after more than ten months of responding with "diplomatic initiative and maturity" to a problem that developed, quite curiously, from the country not responding in a timely fashion.

We beg to differ, and would suggest that the diplomatic initiative and maturity displayed were done so in a manner that could have impacted the livlihood of all Bahamians came from a "non-Bahamian view".

Our policies should not be driven by an apparent disregard for our most important trading partner, that seems to be magnified in the countries of the CARICOM region.

So it seems to us that the less said by Mr. Mitchell in this matter going forward the better, because attempting to defend one’s honour in a situation created by what appears to be one’s prejudices is less than patriotic when it could have such devastating consequences.