The initiative also contemplates U.S. food sales to Cuba on a limited basis for the first time as well as direct mail service and an expansion of direct charter flights.
``These steps are designed to help the Cuban people without strengthening the Cuban government, Clinton said in a statement.
``They are consistent with our policy of keeping pressure on the regime for democratic change -- through the embargo and vigorous diplomatic initiatives -- while finding ways to reach out to the Cuban people through humanitarian efforts and help in developing civil society.''
After officials disclosed the initiative Monday, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., said the measures were part of an administration attempt to mask its ``true intention of normalizing relations with the Cuban dictator,'' Fidel Castro.
But a senior administration official insisted none of the initiatives involve any softening of the 38-year old trade embargo on Castro's Cuba.
Ros-Lehtinen's Cuban-American colleague, Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., said he will oppose any food sales to Cuba on grounds they are illegal.
The administration says any such sales would be limited to entities independent of the government and therefore would be legal.
The measures build on the Cuba Democracy Act of 1992, which tightened the U.S. embargo but also called for increased exchanges between Cubans and Americans.
Progress in people-to-people contacts have been hampered by political setbacks, including the mass exodus of Cubans toward Florida in 1994 and the shooting down by two Cuban MiG jet fighters of four unarmed, Miami-based planes north of the island in 1996.
The visit of Pope John Paul II to Cuba a year ago has made it easier for the administration to introduce innovations. Officials insist the policy shifts help promote democracy without helping Castro.
A year ago, all cash transfers from U.S. residents to needy Cubans were barred. In March, Clinton reinstated the remittances, allowing Cuban-Americans to send up to $1,200 a year to relatives.
Clinton is expected to ease that restriction further, permitting any U.S. resident to send money to the island up to the $1,200 annual limit.
Until 1993, Castro barred Cubans from holding dollars, seeing the currency as a reminder of past Yankee abuses. With the Cuban economy in free fall, remittances have spared countless Cubans from destitution.
Administration officials see dollar holdings as a way to liberate ordinary Cubans from dependence on the state for survival. The more Cubans with more dollars, officials say, the more they will be able to open small business -- another innovation of recent years that was once unthinkable.
The impact of Clinton's initiative is far from clear. Cuban cooperation will be required in some areas, particularly the plan for increased exchanges.
One early test will come when a delegation from the Baltimore Orioles travels to Havana, perhaps this week, to sound out Cuban officials on the possibility of one or two exhibition baseball games with a Cuban squad in March. Profits would be earmarked for independent charities aimed at assisting Cubans.
Clinton pleased pro-embargo conservatives by rejecting a proposal for creation of a bipartisan commission to review Cuba policy. To opponents, the proposal looked like a disguised bid to overturn the embargo.
The decision disappointed Sen. John Warner, R-Va., an embargo opponent who led the drive for the commission. He believes current policy treats Cuba more cruelly than more bona fide threats to national security, such as Iraq and North Korea.
Mail deliveries between the countries are possible but often take months. The proposal for direct service follows a significant expansion of U.S.-Cuban telephone communications earlier in the decade, made possible by an extensive modernization program.
Direct charter flights to Cuba were legal until 1996 when the four Miami-based planes were shot down. Clinton retaliated by banning such flights but reinstated them last March. His new proposal contemplates an easing of existing restrictions on such flights, possibly including allowing flights from U.S. cities other than Miami.
© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press