By Anita Snow
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, June 1, 1999; 10:33 p.m. EDT

HAVANA (AP) -- Cuba's new foreign minister on Tuesday discussed expectations that he will take a hard-line approach to his job, saying he wants to bring reforms but not the kind Cuba's critics would like.

``I am a reformist for the unconditional lifting of the blockade,'' said Felipe Perez Roque, referring to the decades-old U.S. trade embargo against the communist nation.

``As a reformist, I declare myself a sympathizer, a combatant in the Cuban revolution -- the best reform that has been made in Cuba,'' he told reporters gathered for an early evening press conference.

In a surprise move on Friday, the Council of State led by Cuban leader Fidel Castro announced that Perez would replace Roberto Robaina, largely seen as a reformer during his six years guiding Cuba's diplomatic relations with the rest of the world.

Perez told reporters he did not anticipate any major changes in Cuba's foreign policy, which has become increasingly important in the years since the collapse of the nation's former Soviet allies at the beginning of this decade.

As for the U.S. government, Perez said he hopes that he will see average Americans protest and help put an end to the trade embargo first imposed in the early 1960s. ``Cuba is no threat,'' to the United States, Perez said. ``And it can have civilized relations with a country like the United States.''

For seven years, Perez has overseen Castro's personal schedule. He was described in the appointment announcement, published Friday in the Communist Party daily Granma, as ``being familiar, as few are'' with Castro's thinking.

Perez' appointment was largely seen as a move by Castro to regain more control over foreign policy, which the statement indicated had been less than ``rigorous'' recently.

Dressed in a white, long-sleeved dress shirt, black slacks and shiny black dress shoes, Perez' more formal style at Tuesday's news conference contrasted sharply with Robaina, known for going about without socks and tie and shoving his jacket sleeves up to his elbows.

Perez made numerous references to ``companero Fidel'' during his news conference. He indicated that part of his policy as minister would be to express more of a moral voice in world affairs, especially in violent events such as the NATO attacks on Kosovo.

Perez called for NATO Secretary General Javier Solana to be judged for war crimes before an international tribunal.

``Stop the bombing! Stop the genocide! Stop the war! Look at all cost for a political solution! Impose peace!'' concluded the statement.