Cuba: Baseball, Si; U.S. Ties, No

Cuba has vehemently denounced new U.S. measures to ease economic sanctions against the island, but has hinted that it may approve the first visit by a U.S. major league baseball team in half a century.

Parliament Speaker Ricardo Alarcon scoffed at the changes President Clinton announced earlier this week to allow greater contact between Cubans and Americans, calling them "a public relations maneuver."

But in comments carried by state television and radio, Alarcon showed markedly less antipathy toward a proposal to allow the Baltimore Orioles to play exhibition games against Cuba's national team.

Alarcon did not say directly whether Cuba would permit the game to be played, but suggested as much by saying that negotiations should address what types of bats - wood or aluminum - would be used.

He also indicated that any proceeds should go to help the victims of Hurricane Mitch, which swept central America in October and early November, killing more than 9,000 people and causing enormous damage.

The U. S. had insisted that any proceeds from such a game be contributed to a charitable cause in Cuba. If the game takes place, it would be the first visit by a major league baseball team to Cuba since 1947.

U.S. officials have said the Orioles would like to play one game in Cuba and host the Cuban team at Camden Yards, probably during spring training this year, when the Cubans will be finishing their national winter-league season.

The Orioles, Alarcon said, "know that Cuba is a baseball power. It is a challenge and it is an honor for any team to compete with the Cubans."

In delivering Cuba's formal response to Clinton's announcement, Alarcon also said that the proposal to allow organizations to send money to Cuba "seeks to convert U.S. institutions into tools for bribery to buy people's opinions."

"It's more of the same," he said on Cuban television. "It's practically a public relations maneuver."

. But the Cuban people appear to welcome news of a relaxation in U.S. economic sanctions.

CBS News Correspondent Randall Pinkston reports that the greenback, once banned by Castro's Communist regime, is now legal, and dollars are more popular today in Havana than Cuban pesos.

Even if you are not paid in dollars," one Cuban told CBS News, "almost anything you need has to be paid for in dollars."

Earlier this week , Economy Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez criticized Mr. Clinton's decision, which eases a few elements of the U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba while maintaining the bulk of the blockade.

Mr. Clinton announced he would let U.S. companies sell food and farm supplies to non-governmental organizations in Cuba and let any American send up to $1,200 to Cuban individuals, as well as allow larger cash donations to Cuban charities.

The measures also call for direct mail service to Cuba, expanded chartr flights and eased limits on visits while maintaining the ban on tourism, business travel or general trade with the communist island.

"These steps are aimed at strengthening our contacts with the Cuban people, not with the Cuban government," Michael Ranneberger of the State Department said Wednesday on CBS This Morning.

"We have made clear we will not normalize relations with the Cuban government unless it stops abusing human rights."

Appearing with him was Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., who said she opposes any attempt to loosen the embargo.

"It is not United States policy that has been responsible for the misery in Cuba; it's the failed, bankrupt policies of Fidel Castro," she said. "For us to make these changes and loosen up any parts of the embargo gives one, incorrectly, the impression that U.S. policy is at fault."

She objected particularly to policies that would allow aid to non-governmental agencies.

"It's a misnomer and wishful thinking for us to think that there are non-government entities on the island of Cuba," she said. "We want to live in an ideal world. We want to think that it's a perfect society. But Cuba is a police state."

Alarcon suggested the United States might have to promise steps to ensure that anti-Cuban terrorists do not use direct postal service to mail bombs, citing several examples of explosives posted to Cuba that had injured people in both countries.

"What are you going to do against your terrorists?" he asked.

Alarcon also warned that a U.S. court order threatening to attach Cuba's share of telephone revenues from calls between the two countries could threaten the service used by Cuban-Americans to call relatives here.

"If they do not pay us, there would be a free service for the United States," he said. "That would affect communications."