BY FRANK DAVIES

 WASHINGTON -- The blunt-spoken president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
 predicted Monday that political pressure will soon force a loosening of the
 embargo on Cuba and that Fidel Castro will have to ``make some changes'' to
 allow greater foreign investment in the island.

 Tom Donohue, who visited Cuba in July and met with Castro for 7 1/2 hours,
 discussed a wide range of U.S.-Cuba issues in a speech to the American
 Chamber of Commerce of Cuba in the United States, a nonpartisan group of
 business leaders.

 ``Many people I respect [from Cuba] lost family, wealth and dignity over 40 years,
 but this embargo hasnt helped us move the ball,'' said Donohue, referring to 40
 years of U.S.-Cuba enmity. ``We have carried this anger too far.''

 Donohue said that two factors will lead to a change in the embargo to ease
 restrictions on the sale of food and medicine to Cuba: President Clinton will
 support it ``as part of his legacy'' before he leaves office, and Congress will see
 the wisdom in allowing it.

 SEEKING CHANGE

 ``We'll get it done,'' Donohue said. He plans to join several members of Congress
 today in making a last-ditch effort to get the food and medicine exception through
 Congress before the end of the session.

 Such a provision was adopted this summer by the Senate, where many
 Republicans from the Midwest see Cuba as a market for financially strapped
 farmers, but blocked by the House, where GOP leaders forcefully lobbied
 members to resist any change.

 Donohue said he pressed Castro to describe where Cuba would be in five years
 after more foreign investment, a goal of seven million tourists a year and greater
 access to the Internet. ``More of the same, but better'' was Castros vision,
 Donohue said.

 Donohue said he responded: ``Do I look like Mary Poppins? Your society is going
 to change.''

 ``My prediction is that Castro, whos smart and well-read, will make some
 changes on the margins to protect his position,'' Donohue said. ``Hes going to
 have to loosen up a little.''

 `CASTRO'S EXCUSE'

 Donohue also met with religious leaders and several dissident groups -- a session
 that Cuban officials tried to prevent -- and noted that many dissidents want an end
 to the embargo because it's ``Castros excuse for all that goes wrong.''

 The chamber is trying to foster the growth of private institutions in Cuba, and
 Donohue said the government in Havana has to allow more private enterprise if it
 has any hope for economic progress.

 Donohue said he and Castro discussed history, politics and even reincarnation.
 When Castro mused that he didnt understand why U.S. leaders placed the
 embargo on Cuba, Donohue said he could not resist reminding him of the Cuban
 missile crisis in 1962, when U.S. forces almost attacked the island:

 ``I told him, `Are you kidding me? Youre the guy who helped put nuclear missiles
 90 miles away from us. If we had had a bad day, this [Cuba] would be glass
 today.' ''

                     Copyright 1999 Miami Herald