OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Jean Chretien is hoping to turn his upcoming visit to Cuba into a diplomatic coup, with proof his ``engagement, not isolation'' policy works.

Publicly, Canadian government officials have tried to keep expectations of the trip low, warning no dramatic breakthrough should be expected.

But privately, some aides suggested Chretien would return home with new concessions on human rights, and possibly an agreement by Cuban President Fidel Castro to release more political prisoners.

``I bet he doesn't come back empty-handed,'' one official said privately Friday.

The official could not say whether that might mean the release of more prisoners, or concrete measures by Castro's communist government to improve human rights in a verifiable manner.

Canadian engagement with Cuba, while not new, is a rare foreign policy point that puts it sharply at odds with the United States, its closest ally, most important trade partner and neighbor to the south, with which it generally acts in tandem on foreign affairs.

Washington has had an economic embargo clamped on Havana for 36 years.

Cuba, pleased with Canada's friendship despite U.S. pressure, was seen as likely to want to encourage continued Canadian engagement.

Canada, however economically wed to the United States, is also Cuba's biggest trade partner.

In a swipe at U.S. policy towards Cuba Tuesday, Chretien argued: ``Isolation leads nowhere, but if we are engaging them in discussions and offering help as Canada has been able and willing to do, the people of Cuba and the president of Cuba will certainly be happy to have a dialogue.

``I am sure that it will create some positive results, just as the Pope's visit did a few weeks ago.''

Chretien pledged to raise human rights issues when he meets with Castro, the first sitting Canadian prime minister to do so in 22 years.

He told the House of Commons: ``Of course we will raise the question of human rights . . . because we believe in a policy of engagement of dialogue and of conviction.''

Later, senior government officials emphasized there would be no public showdown, saying Chretien would be pushing human rights issues ``discreetly'' during a working session and a working dinner with Castro.

Soon after Chretien spoke, one senior Canadian official insisted: ``The prime minister will not be carrying a secret message from Washington to Cuba, or from Cuba to Washington.''

Earlier this month, following Pope John Paul II's landmark January 21-25 visit to Cuba, Havana released 300 prisoners, including 70 dissidents.

Fourteen of the freed dissidents and some of their relatives were flown to Canada to start new lives.

Ottawa long has argued that trading with Cuba was a more effective way of getting Havana interested in democratic opening than sanctions. Canada has fought tightening of the U.S. embargo, including the Helms-Burton law aimed at punishing third countries doing business with Cuba.