BY NANCY SAN MARTIN

  A report to the Bush Administration by former President Jimmy Carter on his landmark trip to Cuba will include the view that the dissident community
  overwhelmingly opposes both the four decade-old economic embargo and a proposal -- expected to be unveiled Monday -- to send financial aid to political
  opponents of the Cuban government.

  ''They were unanimous, and very strong in their belief, that there should be maximum encouragement for American business to come to Cuba,'' Carter,
  who met with about 35 of Cuba's most prominent dissidents during his five-day visit, said in a live interview with CNN before his departure from Havana
  Friday.

  ''They were unanimous, and very strong in their belief, that there should be no aid coming to them, directly or indirectly from the U.S. government, that
  this puts a stigma on them or a condemnation on them as being subservient to Washington,'' Carter said. ``Not a single one of them said that they
  wanted to be identified in any way with financial assistance from the U.S. government.''

  Carter's ''trip report'' will be submitted to President George W. Bush Saturday as he prepares to travel to Miami to promote a toughened policy on Cuba.
  Bush has said that Carter's call for lifting the embargo and his public contraction of a U.S. accusation that Cuba is involved in sharing information with
  hostile nations that could be used for biowarfare did not complicate U.S. policy toward Cuba.

  Carter said that while he was satisfied with his trip, he was not optimistic that the United States and Cuba would resolve their differences any time soon.
  However, he is hopeful that change would come over time.

  ''The choice of leaders that President Bush has made in the State Department, and otherwise, don't indicate any flexibility,'' Carter said. ``But there is an
  open door in our country...for change, regardless of the attitude of the White House...There is a Congress that has equal constitutional authority in the
  United States.''

  Carter also said he was doubtful that President Fidel Castro would open political space for those critical of his government, despite the Cuban
  government's unprecedented tolerance over the past week and publicity by state-controlled media of a citizens' initiative calling for a referendum on
  democratic reform of Cuba's socialist system.

  ''I don't see any change in the future in his willingness to permit dissident expressions from Cubans,'' Carter said.

  Still, Carter said that he was pleased with his trip although he recognized that after 43 years ''of misunderstanding and animosity,'' one brief visit won't
  immediately alter relations between both nations.

  ''But my hope is that in some small way, obviously, it might improve that situation in the future,'' Carter said.