CARACAS, Venezuela -- (AP) -- Venezuela and Cuba are dropping a pact that allowed Cuba to pay for some of its Venezuelan oil imports with goods and services, a
 Cuban diplomat said.

 Venezuela will now pay in cash for Cuban agricultural goods and for services in sports and tourism, Cuban ambassador German Sanchez said in an interview published in
 Monday's El Universal newspaper.

 Under a pact signed last year, Venezuela had been allowed to pay for such services with an unspecified amount of oil. Sanchez said the system was abandoned
 because it was ``too complicated.''

 He said the decision was made when Cuban President Fidel Castro visited Venezuela last month. Cuban embassy officials were not immediately available for additional
 comment.

 Another deal, which still stands, requires Venezuela to sell 53,000 barrels a day of oil to Cuba under preferential financial conditions. Cuba has 15 years to pay with a 2
 percent interest rate. Venezuela has signed similar pacts with other Central American and Caribbean nations.

 Sanchez said Venezuela owes Cuba between dlrs 10 and 12 million for goods and services. Cuba has exported sugar and sent dozens of sports trainers to Venezuela.