CUBA-U.S. RELATIONS

BY ANITA SNOW
Associated Press

HAVANA - Sen. Max Baucus, the highest ranking American official to visit Cuba since a crackdown on dissidents, said Sunday that eliminating U.S. sanctions could help nurture democracy on the island.

Baucus, a Democrat from Montana, said as an American he valued freedom of religion and association and ''I would like to help the Cuban people obtain these same rights.'' Eliminating restrictions on American travel to and trade with Cuba could help do that, he said.

Underscoring that idea, Baucus and Republican Rep. Dennis Rehberg, also of Montana, signed a memorandum of understanding to sell the Cuban government up to $10 million of products from the state, such as cattle, wheat, barley and dried beans.

Earlier in the day, the lawmakers met for an hour with Oswaldo Payá, Cuba's best-known democracy activist.

Payá is a top organizer of the Varela Project, a signature-gathering drive seeking guarantees for freedom of speech, assembly and business ownership.

''They were very interested about the situation of the political prisoners, and about the Varela Project,'' Payá told reporters about the lawmakers. ``They expressed a lot of moral support and understanding.''

''It was a significant meeting and I applauded his efforts to give voice to his people,'' Baucus said of Payá.

The communist government has not recognized the project and many of its organizers were arrested during a March crackdown that put 75 dissidents behind bars. It was the harshest crackdown on the opposition in decades and brought Cuba worldwide condemnation.

The wives of several imprisoned dissidents also met with the congressmen at Payá's home.

The congressmen arrived here early Saturday for a weekend trip with Montana farm representatives interested in selling their products to Cuba. A meeting with President Fidel Castro before the delegation's departure early today was considered likely.