Amy Schatz - Cox Washington Bureau
 
                 Washington --- The Bush administration stepped up its pressure on Gov. Jesse
                 Ventura of Minnesota on Friday, saying he should cancel plans to lead an
                 agricultural trade mission to Cuba this month.

                 Cuban leader Fidel Castro uses visiting American business leaders "as props,"
                 said Otto Reich, an assistant secretary of state. "He uses these visitors to [lead]
                 the Cuban people to think that the end of their 43 years of suffering is near.''

                 A spokesman for Ventura, John Wodele, said that ''the governor has no intention
                 of canceling his trip.'' Last weekend in a radio address, Ventura said, ''Certainly,
                 if we can trade with China, which is Communist, we can trade with Cuba.''

                 The Bush administration is concerned that the 40-year U.S. trade embargo with
                 Cuba is weakening. And with Florida Gov. Jeb Bush up for re-election in
                 November, the administration wouldn't mind reassuring anti-Castro,
                 Cuban-American voters in his state that the United States is committed to the
                 embargo.

                 A law signed two years ago allows U.S. companies to sell food and agricultural
                 products directly to Cuba for cash.

                 Since 2000, Cuba has bought about $122 million in food and agricultural
                 products, according to the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, a New York
                 nonprofit group that provides business data on Cuba. The group estimates that
                 figure could exceed $165 million this year.

                 Ventura is leading a group of Midwestern businessmen to the four-day U.S. Food
                 and Agribusiness Exhibition in Havana, which is expected to attract more than
                 230 U.S. firms. Cuban officials will use the late September event to find food and
                 other agricultural products to buy in the coming year.

                 Bush officials are frowning on the event, arguing that Cuba is a relatively small
                 market for U.S. farm goods. The United States exports about $50.9 billion of food
                 and other agricultural products annually.