SECTION: NEWS SPECIAL EDITION; Pg. 5

LENGTH: 351 words

HEADLINE: Ryan invites Castro, urges embargo end

BYLINE: Michael Sneed

DATELINE: HAVANA, Cuba

BODY:
Gov. Ryan arrived here Thursday, met with President Fidel Castro and invited him to Illinois, where Ryan said he would host a state dinner in honor of the longtime Cuban leader.

The two had a warm meeting at the presidential palace, where they expressed admiration for each other. But they did not attend an evening baseball game between local teams as they had expected. Earlier Thursday, Ryan called for an end to the 40-year-old trade embargo.

"The embargo robs us in Illinois and in the United States of a vast consumer market of 11 million people," Ryan said, referring to the four-decade-old U.S. trade sanctions against Cuba. "It's time to end the embargo and welcome Cuba into the international marketplace."

The high-profile visits by Minnesota agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. and the Illinois delegation come as Cuba woos Americans who oppose long-standing restrictions on U.S. trade with the Caribbean island.

"It is our sincere hope that the success of this initial commercial transaction will lead to a further improvement in U.S.-Cuban relations," Cargill Chairman and CEO Warren R. Staley said at a news conference Thursday at which he announced the arrival of 25,000 metric tons of American corn his company sold directly to Cuba.

Castro earlier had said $35 million in food contracts signed late last year with U.S. companies were a one-time deal. Deliveries are being made this month and next month.

But Pedro Alvarez, president of Cuba's food import enterprise, said this week, and repeated Thursday, that his government could buy more American agricultural products if it received encouraging signs from Washington.

While the focus on U.S. trade with Cuba now centers on food, drug companies also want to do business, said Mark Rasenick, director of Biomedical Neuroscience Training at the University of Illinois' College of Medicine.

Ryan arrived Thursday afternoon, accompanied by representatives of the Illinois firms Ferris Manufacturing, Medline, DMS Pharmaceutical, JDR International and Century Healthcare.

Contributing: Associate Press

GRAPHIC: Associated Press, Cuban President Fidel Castro has said that food contracts with U.S. companies after a hurricane swept the island last fall were a one-time deal, but Gov. Ryan and others are hoping to lift the U.S. embargo.Gov. George Ryan, on his second visit to Cuba, talks to reporters after arriving at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana.

LOAD-DATE: February 4, 2002