By JUAN O. TAMAYO
             Herald Staff Writer

             Acknowledging that Cuba has reduced its repression of dissidents to the lowest
             level in years, Havana human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez is calling for a
             six-month easing of international pressures against the island to see if it adopts
             democratic reforms.

             Sanchez's suggestion to give Cuba a respite from pressures drew opposition from
             other dissidents who argued that President Fidel Castro has repeatedly vowed he
             will allow no significant political reforms.

             Castro indeed still wields total power, holds hundreds of dissidents in prison and
             refuses to let the Red Cross visit them, acknowledged Sanchez, head of the Cuban
             Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation.

             But the Cuban government has eased up on dissidents ``because it has come to
             realize that it doesn't need a high level of political repression to preserve its
             capacity to survive and control society, Sanchez added in a telephone interview
             from Havana.

             The change is more likely the result of vows by European and Latin American
             nations to freeze relations with Havana until Castro improves his human rights
             record, said Hector Palacios Ruiz, Havana chief of the opposition Democratic
             Solidarity movement.

             A report by the human rights commission, made public Tuesday, showed that the
             number of dissidents confirmed to be in jail had dropped from 1,320 in 1996 to
             482 in January and 381 by last week.

             U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Miami Republican, said Wednesday that he had
             a list of 1,500 political prisoners in Cuba. But a U.S. State Department official
             aware of Cuba's human rights record said Sanchez's numbers appeared to be
             ``only somewhat lower than ours.''

             Cuban Foreign Ministry spokesman Alejandro Gonzalez declined to comment on
             the Sanchez report during a news briefing Thursday, saying only that the
             government did not use the term ``political prisoner'' and preferred
             ``counterrevolutionary prisoner.''

             Fallout from the Pope

             Part of the drop in political prisoners reported by Sanchez was due to the release
             of 140 dissidents since Pope John Paul II visited Cuba in January and urged the
             government to free 300 prisoners held for political activities or common crimes,
             Sanchez said.

             Of the freed dissidents, all but one were denied jobs after their release and 17
             were forced into exile, despite the Pope's appeal for the ``reinsertion into society
             of any freed prisoners, Sanchez complained.

             But the most significant change was in the number of new long-term detentions --
             only three since Jan. 1, the lowest level since about 1980, Sanchez reported.

             Since the Pope's visit, there have been about 30 harassment detentions of
             dissidents lasting hours or a few days, also representing a steep drop from past
             years, both Sanchez and the U.S. official said.

             Sanchez said Cuban police still monitor dissidents and courts can still jail anyone
             merely for speaking out, he said. Four top opposition leaders -- Martha Beatriz
             Roque, Vladimiro Roca, Felix Bonne and Rene Gomez Manzano -- will mark their
             first year in prison July 26, and are still awaiting official charges.

             ``No one can guarantee that this opening will continue, Sanchez said.

             Changing tactics

             But Sanchez, considered one of the most moderate of Cuba's dissidents, added
             that the improving situation poses a ``tough challenge to human rights activists that
             might force them to reconsider their tactics.

             ``We have always . . . [spent] a lot of time denouncing repression, he said. ``But
             now that we have little to denounce, we have to adapt our methodology and style
             of work.

             Sanchez said he is now advocating giving the Cuban government ``time to respond
             positively to the numerous requests of the international community for democratic
             changes.

             ``There's been no sign at all of any government readiness to initiate real reforms, he
             said. ``But I would favor waiting, maybe until the end of the year to let the
             government take stock of its situation and understand that . . . it is now in the best
             position possible to change.

             Palacios, freed in February after 14 months in prison, said from Havana that he
             agreed the government's repression has dropped.

             ``We trust this could be an important time that might bring us some advances and,
             why not say it, perhaps even help us achieve real progress in a peaceful manner,''
             Palacios said. ``The majority of the opposition considers that's a better route than
             violence.''

             No grace period

             But Havana independent journalist Monica DeMota said Sanchez's call for a
             break in pressures ``seem without foundation. It seems little more than an
             experiment.''

             ``According to the declarations of every government official here, everything will
             always remain the same . . . and there is no intention to change at all. So why
             wait?'' asked DeMota in a telephone interview. ``I am a skeptic.''

             Miami-based human rights activist Ricardo Bofill said that while he agreed that the
             level of repression has dropped, Cuba doesn't merit any ``grace period.

             Castro freed 3,600 political prisoners in 1978-79, amid improving relations with
             Miami exiles and the Carter administration, Bofill noted, but refilled his prisons by
             the end of the next year.

             ``Yes, it may be fair to say that some of the abuses have diminished, he said. ``But
             how can we tell the relatives of dissidents now in jail to take a break, to wait and
             see what happens in six months? It would be difficult.