HAVANA, Cuba (AP) -- Cuba welcomed a vote by the U.S. House
                 of Representatives to lift restrictions on American travel to
                 the communist country, saying Thursday that it hoped the Senate
                 would vote the same way.

                 The vote by t he lower house of Congress on Wednesday is "proof of
                 the majority sentiment in American society," Foreign Minister Felipe Perez
                 Roque said Thursday morning during a march celebrating the start of the
                 Cuban revolution.

                  "Cuba defends the right of American citizens to travel freely to Cuba,
                 Perez Roque said. "It is not Cuba that prohibits" Americans from visiting, he added.

                 The foreign minister said he expected that "extremist groups" would fight to block a senate
                 vote in favor of lifting the American travel ban to the island, as well as any congressional attempts
                 to ease or lift the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

                 The House voted Wednesday night to lift restrictions on travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens in
                 what sponsors called a first step toward ending the communist nation's economic isolation.

                 The 240-186 vote in favor of lifting the restrictions came Wednesday on an
                 amendment by Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., to the $32.7 billion fiscal 2002 spending
                 bill for the Treasury Department, post office, White House and other agencies.
                 The House approved the overall bill later Wednesday on a 334-94 vote, sending
                 it on to the Senate.

                 U.S. citizens can only travel to Cuba now by obtaining a special license from the
                 Treasury Department, which limits access generally to journalists, academics,
                 government officials and people on humanitarian missions.

                 Supporters of lifting the travel restrictions said the move would begin to bring
                 U.S. policy toward Cuba in line with that toward other communist countries,
                 such as Vietnam, China and North Korea. The restrictions and other economic
                 embargoes against Cuba, they said, haven't done much to make significant
                 changes in the country's political system.

                 Some lawmakers said lifting the travel restrictions should be made contingent on
                 Cuba releasing hundreds of political prisoners and returning fugitive U.S.
                 citizens to this country.

                   Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.