Was trip to Cuba charity or leisure?

PORTLAND — Congressional candidate Mike Erickson is calling a six-day visit to Cuba in 2004 a "humanitarian trip" to deliver medical supplies for the disabled to a Cuban charity.

But those familiar with the trip said it was basically a vacation, which likely would have been illegal without the supplies.

He said he visited a medical center and met with doctors. The Oregonian, of Portland, on Sunday said it had determined the medical center does not exist.

Erickson, a Lake Oswego businessman and Republican candidate for Oregon's 5th Congressional District, said he donated 20 boxes of medical supplies worth $9,000 that he bought in the United States.

But two others on the trip said Erickson exaggerated his donation and that the group bought the supplies at a discount store in Cancun, Mexico, to make their trip a legal humanitarian mission.

American access to Cuba has been sharply cut by the Bush administration, although Cuba has helped Americans enter via third countries such as Mexico.

"It's nice to give stuff, but that takes 20 minutes. Then, bingo, you're on vacation," said Robert Walz, whose company, Cuba Travel Experts, handled the trip arrangements.

The weeklong trip coincided with Havana's annual celebration of Cuban cigars. The group traveled as representatives of the California-based Cuban American Alliance Education Fund, which helps the disabled.

No one who signed up for the tour could have mistaken it for a humanitarian-aid mission, Walz said, adding that the group did the minimum to stay legal.

The application billed the trip as "Comandante Fidel Castro's Annual Gala Cigar Dinner and Auction."

Erickson told The Oregonian it was a legitimate aid mission.

"To make the trip and pay for my own airfare and for everything ... and donate more than $5,000 in medical supplies. If that's not a humanitarian trip, I don't know what is," he said.

This is Erickson's second run for Congress after incumbent Democrat Darlene Hooley, who is retiring, defeated him in 2006.

Members of both parties have questioned his credibility, claiming he falsely claimed endorsements from prominent political leaders and exaggerated his employment history and apparently may not have been truthful about an abortion issue.

He faces state Sen. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, in November.

Erickson, who owns a transportation consulting business, calls the accusations political smears.

Records show the trip package provided opportunities for marlin fishing, golf or an evening at the Tropicana nightclub. Erickson said he did not go to nightclubs, but a photo shows him at the Tropicana.

Erickson said that he delivered supplies to the Cuban Association for the Physical Disabled office, that doctors thanked him and that he toured the headquarters office behind the building.

Gisel Brito Altunaga, who works there, told The Oregonian there is no hospital or headquarters behind the charity office and no doctors or nurses there.