BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMER AND TIM JOHNSON

                      The Bush administration has ordered what it calls the first comprehensive
                      review of U.S. policy on Cuba in several years in an effort to find more effective
                      ways to bring about democratic changes on the island, senior administration
                      officials say.

                      Otto J. Reich, the Cuban-born top State Department official in charge of Latin
                      American affairs, said in a telephone interview that he has ordered a review of
                      all areas of the policy, including the four-decades-old U.S. trade sanctions on
                      the communist-ruled island. The review is scheduled to be completed within
                      weeks, he said.

                      While not ruling out any outcome, Reich said the administration is seeking to
                      make the policy more effective and thus is not likely to loosen the embargo -- a position that would
                      have Congress and the White House headed in opposite directions.

                      Moving slowly since 1998, Congress has sought to loosen the embargo. Medical and agricultural sales
                      to Cuba are now permitted, as long as Cuba pays cash for the goods. And for the past two years, the
                      House of Representatives has voted to lift restrictions on travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba, although the
                      Republican leadership in the House killed it both years.

                      U.S. agricultural firms, eager to pry open the Cuban market, have been actively campaigning against
                      the embargo. Later this month, Congress is to decide whether to let U.S. companies offer Cuba credit to
                      buy scores of goods classified by the U.S. government as ''agricultural commodities,'' including bourbon,
                      plywood, cigarettes, canned foods and beverages.

                      Many Washington analysts speculate that the order to review Cuba policy may be an effort to seize the
                      initiative from Congress, partly because of domestic political concerns over Gov. Jeb Bush's reelection
                      battle in Florida later this year and President Bush's own possible reelection effort in 2004.

                      SUPPORT FOR ACTIVISTS

                      Reich, who will be officially sworn in Monday as assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere
                      affairs, said one area of innovation may be greater support for civil society groups in Cuba. Other U.S.
                      officials say this may include support for human rights activists who are deemed ''traitors'' by the Cuban
                      government.

                      The officials say they are considering ways to overcome the Cuban government's jamming of the
                      U.S.-financed Radio and TV Martí, and new rules to limit travel by Cuban diplomats in the United States.

                      ''We are going to review the whole thing,'' Reich said. ``The problem is that we have relied entirely on
                      one component of the policy, the embargo.''

                      He added that U.S. foreign policy has a variety of tools at its disposal, including ''political, economic,
                      diplomatic, informational and military components,'' and that some of these may be employed.

                      Asked specifically about the trade sanctions, Reich said that ``we are taking a closer look at the
                      efficiency of our economic sanctions. I don't think we are going to loosen them. Unless we have
                      changes in Cuba, we are not.''

                      ''There are some people who argue that economic sanctions alone don't hurt totalitarian countries, that
                      they only hurt authoritarian countries -- that the more open the country, the more effective the
                      sanctions are. They may have a point, but we are not going to replace the sanctions with nothing,'' he
                      said.

                      'The objective is, as the president has said, to help bring about a rapid and peaceful transition to
                      democracy in Cuba. There is equal emphasis in `rapid' and 'peaceful.' And we want a real transition. We
                      don't want a continuation of the current failed political and economic system,'' Reich said.

                      LEGISLATORS' RESPONSE

                      Anti-embargo legislators, some of whom fiercely opposed Reich's nomination before he was given a
                      recess nomination by Bush, are already expressing skepticism about the Cuba policy review.

                      ''The policy review will not be fair, impartial or in the interest of the United States,'' said Marvin Fast, a
                      spokesman for Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn.

                      ''Moreover, Senator Dodd is troubled by the fact that one of the first issues Mr. Reich chooses to involve
                      himself in since being appointed to the job is so fraught with potential conflicts of interest related to Mr.
                      Reich's past business connections,'' he said.

                      U.S. officials and Reich supporters scoff at Dodd and other Democratic senators' references to Reich's
                      previous work as a consultant for the Bacardi liquor company. Reich has been investigated for possible
                      conflicts of interest in his new job and cleared of any suspicions, they say.

                      On other issues, Reich said his top priorities will include helping redress the recent setbacks of major
                      democracies in the region and helping countries fight corruption.

                      ''The emphasis will be on strengthening democracies,'' Reich said. ``That is supporting beleaguered
                      democracies such as Colombia's, and supporting democratic and peaceful dialogue in other countries
                      where democracy may be under attack.''

                      Asked about Venezuela, where he served as U.S. ambassador between 1986 and 1989, Reich echoed
                      Secretary of State Colin Powell's recent statements about that country's populist president, Hugo
                      Chávez.

                      ''We are concerned about Chávez's statements and some of his actions,'' he said. ``We are concerned
                      by the strange places that he visits, including Baghdad, Tripoli and Havana, and by the company that he
                      keeps.''