By MARK FINEMAN
Times Staff Writer

HAVANA -- In a live address on Cuba's state-run television, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter appealed in Spanish for President Fidel Castro's government to
embrace the democratic freedoms of speech, assembly and dissent and called on the U.S. to lift its four-decade economic embargo of the Communist-run island.

In the historic speech, the first time Communist Cuba has allowed an American leader to freely address its citizens, Carter cited Cuba's constitution and a petition
drive by dissidents that calls for democratic reform--a movement largely unknown to the island's 11 million residents until the speech--in urging the nation to greater
freedoms.

"When Cubans exercise this freedom to change laws peacefully by a direct vote," Carter declared, "the world will see that Cubans, and not foreigners, will decide the
future of this country."

Carter then fended off ideological challenges from three Cuban students and a law professor in the audience, who asserted that Castro's 1959 revolution and long
rule have brought benefits far more important than democracy to a land that has achieved 100% literacy and universal, free health care.

The former president, who reestablished limited diplomatic relations between Cuba and the U.S. during his term, stayed his ground, arguing that rights sought by the
petition drive known as the Varela Project are enshrined in international human rights agreements Cuba signed in 1948.

Carter spoke at Havana University's ornate Aula Magna auditorium. Before his address, he held his hand over his heart during a rendition of "The Star-Spangled
Banner"--rarely performed here--and mouthed the words to "That Old Time Religion" as it was sung by the university choir.

Castro, clad in a dark business suit in the front row, listened intently throughout Carter's 20-minute address and the question-and-answer session that followed.

Then the two septuagenarians headed to the ballpark.

Both avid baseball fans, Castro and Carter had box seats for Cuba's annual All-Star Game, an invitation-only event pitting the best of the island's Western League
against Eastern League stars at Havana's Latin American Stadium. With Castro at his side on the mound, Carter threw out the first pitch.

'Our Countries Share Many Things'

Carter had told a student group Monday that he would keep his speech short so he wouldn't be late for the night game. He and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter,
who is accompanying him here, are "strong fans of the Atlanta Braves," he told the group.

"I think the people of our countries share many things," he told the students. "Two of them are music and baseball."

Carter, 77, is on a five-day visit that marks the first time a present or former U.S. president has come to Cuba since Calvin Coolidge in 1928.

His poignant critique of Cuban society Tuesday night served as a counterpoint to his unplanned statement the previous day challenging Bush administration officials to
prove their recent allegations that Cuba's advanced biotechnology industry had provided potential weapons capability to "rogue" states such as Iran.

On Tuesday, the controversy continued to simmer in Washington.

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer rejected suggestions that the administration had upped its anti-Cuba rhetoric to detract from Carter's visit.

Fleischer said the administration first raised concern about the possible development of biological weapons in Cuba on March 19 during Senate testimony by Carl W.
Ford Jr., assistant secretary of State for intelligence and research.

Fleischer confirmed that the issue had not come up May 9 during National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice's conversation with Carter about his trip. That
conversation was general and had taken "just a few minutes," he said. Its focus was human rights, according to Fleischer.

"The president believes that President Carter is a crusader for human rights, that President Carter has an opportunity during this trip to do good things for the people
of Cuba," Fleischer said. "The president's concern in Cuba is the tyranny of the Castro regime."

President Bush "hopes that as a result of this trip ... Fidel Castro will change his tune and focus on bringing freedom and rights to his people," Fleischer said.

Later, Bush said at the White House that Carter's visit "doesn't complicate my foreign policy, because I haven't changed my foreign policy. And that is that Fidel
Castro is a dictator, and he is repressive, and he ought to have free elections, and he ought to have a free press, and he ought to free his prisoners, and he ought to
encourage free enterprise."

Though the message of freedom was clearly Carter's intent, he delivered it via Cuba's only television network in far gentler and more diplomatic terms.

"I did not come here to interfere in Cuba's internal affairs but to extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people and to offer a vision of the future for our two
nations," Carter said.

"Our two nations have been trapped in a destructive state of belligerence for 42 years, and it is time for us to change our relations and the way we think and talk
about each other."

End to Economic Embargo Urged

In calling on Congress to lift all restrictions on U.S. citizens' travel to Cuba, end the embargo and establish free trade between the two nations, Carter stressed that
the economic blockade is "not the source" of Cuba's economic problems.

Rather, he said, it "induces anger and resentment, restricts the freedom of U.S. citizens and makes it difficult for us to exchange ideas."

As for Cuba, he said, it "has adopted a socialist government where one political party dominates and people are not permitted to organize any opposition
movements. Your constitution recognizes freedom of speech and association, but other laws deny these freedoms to those who disagree with the government."

Carter stressed several times in response to questions from students, who were raised and educated under Castro's tightly controlled system, that he believed that the
Varela Project petition drive was a wholly Cuban effort toward reform.

Oswaldo Paya, the project's leader, who spent the last year gathering 11,020 signatures calling for the National Assembly to hold a referendum on democratic
reforms, met with Carter over breakfast Monday.

Cuba's state-run media have reported nothing on the project, and Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told reporters Sunday that he believed that the petition drive
was "imported" from the U.S. government.

Despite the often heated exchanges between Washington and Havana, Carter stressed that regardless of the years of animosity, "we hope that someday soon, you
can reach across the great divide that separates our two countries and say, 'We are ready to join the community of democracies,' and I hope that Americans will
soon open our arms to you and say, 'We welcome you as friends.'"

Carter delivered a similar message the previous day during a session with a small group of students at a Havana social-work school.

Magic Words for Many Cubans

Americans "take pride in our freedom to criticize our own government and to change our government when we don't like it by voting in elections that are contested,"
he told the students.

"Our people are completely free to form our own businesses, to hire other people to work and to make a profit," he said.

Those were magic words to many Cubans, who increasingly are chasing dollars and profits since Castro legalized the U.S. currency after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Carter plans to hold private meetings Thursday with Cuban dissidents. Castro's government has permitted such exchanges with increasing frequency since Pope John
Paul II visited the island four years ago and called for the Cuban government to open the nation to contact with the world.

Castro had already laid the groundwork for possible damage control from Carter's expected criticisms of his regime's record on human rights.

In a 40-minute speech at Havana's Latin American Medical University on Monday night, Castro delivered a harsh critique of capitalist democracies, from that of
ancient Greece, which enslaved tens of thousands of citizens, to modern systems that he said have left hundreds of millions of people in poverty.

Then the 75-year-old Cuban leader, who has controlled most every nuance of this nation's life for nearly half a century, delivered his own bottom line.

Carter will deliver "the central words" during his visit to the island nation, Castro told the group. "But if I say something, they will be the final words."

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