Tom Fiedler, Herald editorial page editor, said he had been informed of the decision Thursday by the National Conference of Editorial Writers (NCEW), which is organizing the trip.

Officials at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington were unavailable for comment late Thursday, although spokesman Luis Fernandez had said earlier in the week that the Herald visa request was ``still being evaluated'' in Havana.

The Herald had submitted a visa application for Susana Barciela, a Cuban-American member of The Herald's editorial board, and had offered Fiedler as an alternate.

``The Cuban government's refusal to approve a travel visa for any member of The Herald's editorial board, though disappointing, is yet another example of the Castro regime's determination to try to control the flow of information from the island by selecting who can report it,'' Fiedler said.

The NCEW said it had considered canceling the Jan. 23-30 trip when it became apparent that The Herald would not be given a visa, but decided to go ahead after consulting with The Herald.

``We have concluded that in this circumstance NCEW cannot reasonably deny 37 members a chance to visit Cuba because of a longstanding disagreement between that government and one newspaper,'' said a message to delegation members signed by NCEW trip leaders.

Fiedler said he concurred with the decision.

``I understand and respect the desires of other NCEW members to go ahead with the trip, despite concerns by many editors that, in doing so, the organization is effectively caving in to the Cuban government's blacklisting policy,'' he said.

``I am convinced that little would have been accomplished had the NCEW canceled the trip as a gesture of protest against that policy and in solidarity with The Herald,'' Fiedler added. ``It is better that other editorial writers have the opportunity to see firsthand the results of 40 years of Fidel Castro's repression than to assert a journalistic principle, however important it is.''

Dave Hage of The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, incoming chairman of the NCEW international affairs committee, said the group is ``very frustrated and disappointed'' over the Cuban rejection of the Herald request. He said it would ``absolutely be an issue of discussion in some form'' when delegation members meet with Cuban officials.