By FRANK DAVIES
             Herald Staff Writer

             WASHINGTON -- In a politically cautious move, the Clinton administration will
             act today to allow more money to be sent directly to Cubans and greater contact
             with the Cuban people, while rejecting a proposal for a bipartisan commission to
             review U.S.-Cuba policy.

             State Department officials said the initiatives, to be announced in detail today, are
             designed to help Cuban people and independent groups while minimizing any
             benefits to the Castro government. They include:

               Relaxing rules on remittances so anyone in the United States could send up to
             $1,200 a year to any individual or group in Cuba, with the exception of
             high-ranking Cuban officials. At present, only family members in the United States
             can send cash to needy relatives in Cuba.

               Allowing the sale of some food and agricultural products to ``entities
             independent of the Cuban government,'' such as restaurants, small farmers and
             co-ops. This initiative was sharply criticized by Miami's two Cuban-American
             House members, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

               Permitting the Baltimore Orioles to try to arrange two exhibition baseball games
             with the Cuban national team -- one in Cuba, one in Baltimore -- as part of an
             effort to increase cultural, sports and academic exchanges. The profits from any
             games would go to Catholic Relief Services, based in Baltimore, or a similar
             charitable group.

               Increasing charter flights to the island, restoring direct mail service and improving
             the capabilities of Radio Marti to reach more Cubans. U.S. officials said they have
             not discussed these measures with the Cuban government.

             At the same time, administration officials said Monday they had turned down -- for
             now -- a proposal backed by three Republican former secretaries of state and
             more than 20 senators to create a panel to thoroughly review U.S. policy toward
             Cuba, including the embargo, which bans trade with the island.

             ``There's disagreement on the embargo, and no bipartisan commission can resolve
             that -- only Congress can change the law,'' one State Department official said.

             Commission idea criticized

             Several Cuban-American groups had criticized the suggestion of a commission,
             saying corporate interests wanted to use it to attack the embargo. Sen. Bob
             Graham, a Florida Democrat, had warned the administration that naming a
             commission would hinder Vice President Al Gore's chances of carrying Florida in
             the 2000 presidential election.

             Graham said Monday that he supports the new initiatives and was ``extremely
             supportive'' of the decision to forgo a commission.

             ``These changes are consistent with current law and further our effort to separate
             the Cuban people from their brutal, authoritarian government,'' Graham said.

             The Cuban American National Foundation praised the administration's decision
             not to create a commission, but questioned some of the other initiatives.

             ``Any sale [of food] is going to the government in Cuba -- there is no private
             enterprise,'' said Francisco ``Pepe'' Hernandez, president of the foundation. He
             said his group will oppose that measure.

             Embargo invoked

             Diaz-Balart warned that any efforts to sell food and agricultural products, such as
             pesticides and fertilizer, to entities in Cuba, would undermine the embargo and the
             Helms-Burton law, which tightened the embargo.

             ``The most troubling thing is the food -- that's clearly illegal. They would be
             violating the law to allow any such sales,'' said Diaz-Balart. ``This is a bad way for
             the administration to start the new year.''

             Ros-Lehtinen said the sale of any products to nongovernment organizations in
             Cuba would ``afford Castro a substantial opportunity to prolong his rule, because
             a majority of these are controlled by the regime.''

             Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called Ros-Lehtinen, Diaz-Balart, Graham
             and several other members of Congress to explain the changes, but at least one
             said she was not satisfied.

             ``I had lots of questions and very few answers,'' Ros-Lehtinen said. ``For
             example, where is the international verification in place to make sure that this
             [food] gets to the Cuban people?''

             `Elbow room'

             State Department officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said
             the goal of these initiatives is ``to allow the Cuban people some elbow room, a
             modicum of independence.'' The ``most important nongovernmental organization''
             in Cuba is the Cuban family, one official said.

             That official said the food initiative would not violate Helms-Burton, but that rules
             for such sales would have to be worked out by the State, Treasury and
             Commerce departments.

             But some questioned how any food or product sales would work on the receiving
             end in Cuba. Bishop Thomas Wenski, head of Catholic Charities in Miami, said he
             did not know if church organizations would want to take on that responsibility.

             ``Caritas [the Catholic relief service in Cuba] would not have . . . any financial
             resources to buy those things, unless it got help from sister churches outside of
             Cuba. Where is Caritas going to get dollars?'' Wenski ashed.

             U.S. officials stressed that there had been no negotiation or contact with Cuban
             officials on how these initiatives will work.

             Herald staff writer Yves Colon contributed to this report.
 

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