HAVANA -- (AP) -- While the world focused on the fate of a 6-year-old Cuban boy,
 a slow warming in U.S.-Cuban trade relations was quietly under way today as
 exhibitors set up the first American trade show in communist Cuba in nearly four
 decades.

 The U.S. Healthcare Exhibition, opening this morning, is the latest in a series of
 small steps made in U.S.-Cuban relations since January 1999, when President
 Clinton announced plans to increase contact between Americans and Cubans.

 More than 100 American companies were participating in the exhibition, all of
 which have an ``interest in the future,'' said Peter W. Nathan, president of exhibit
 organizer PWN Exhibicion LLC, a company based in Westport, Conn.

 ``There's a market there. They want to be here when relations are normalized,'' he
 said.

 Since Clinton announced measures to increase ``people-to-people'' con 5/8act,
 Cuba has seen a significant increase in visits by American lawmakers, business
 people, students and athletes.

 Despite the international custody battle over Elian Gonzalez -- the boy rescued off
 the coast of Florida in November -- Cuba-U.S. relations have actually improved
 over the past year. The debate over whether Elian should be with his father on the
 island or with his relatives in Miami is more a dispute between Cubans on the
 island and in the United States than a clash between two governments.

 In the last week, Oregon high school students held a debate with Cuban
 students, the baseball team from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn.,
 traveled here for a game with a Cuban team, and more than 600 college students
 from the University of Pittsburgh's Semester at Sea arrived on a cruise ship.

 Other notable visitors over the past year included the Baltimore Orioles, who
 played the Cuban national team, and Illinois Gov. George Ryan, who met with
 President Fidel Castro and spoke out against the U.S. trade embargo.

 ``These may be small steps, but I think that they help normalize relations,'' said
 Nathan, who has organized similar trade shows in the former Soviet Union and
 communist China.

 The trade embargo against Cuba, in effect since the early 1960s, remains
 unchanged. But the American government has increasingly granted companies
 licenses to sell medicine and healthcare products to Cuba, business experts say.

 There also have been increased moves by some members of Congress to lift
 restrictions in U.S. sales of both medicine and food to Cuba. So far, those efforts
 have failed to receive full congressional approval.

 U.S. officials say that since 1992, between 40 and 50 licenses have been granted
 to American companies to sell medicines and medical supplies in Cuba, and that
 only a handful of requests have been turned down.

 The U.S. government says $19 million worth of American medical sales to Cuba
 were licensed in 1998, and another $26 million were licensed in the first half of
 1999.

 Actual sales, however, were much lower. While Cuban officials complain the
 Americans have rules that scare away sellers, U.S. officials say they believe
 financially pressed Cuba won't be able to come up with the money to complete
 the sales.

 During this week's exhibition, which ends Saturday, products ranging from
 pharmaceuticals to hospital beds to X-ray machines will be shown. The U.S.
 license granted for the event will allow the exhibitors to sell products to the Cuban
 government during or after the show.

 Afterward, 90 percent of the products will be donated to the Cuban government,
 Nathan said.

 Agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Co. is lead sponsor and will exhibit
 vitamins and food supplements. Eastman Kodak will show imaging devices, and
 Eli Lilly will exhibit pharmaceuticals.

 The last such U.S. trade show on the island was held in 1960 for American travel
 agents.
 

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald