By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

              HAVANA (AP) -- Unless there are substantial changes to current U.S. sanctions
              against Cuba, there will be no trade between the two countries, a senior Cuban
              official told Americans at a business conference Friday.

              Under current U.S. laws and regulations, ``there will be no trade with our country,''
              said Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's National Assembly, or parliament. ``I
              wish that every American could understand that.''

              ``It will not require a total ending of the blockade for trade to occur,'' Alarcon told
              several dozen Americans in town for the 5th annual U.S.-Cuba Business Summit.
              ``But it would require some fundamental changes.''

              Alarcon and other Cuban officials remain irritated by the perception among some
              Americans that legislation passed last year opened the door for the first U.S. food
              sales to Cuba in 40 years.

              Not only do financing restrictions make such sales impossible, the legislation has not
              taken effect because regulations for the law have not been written, Alarcon said.

              More importantly, he said, a clause in the legislation specifies that it cannot override
              earlier sanctions laid out in laws that strengthened the U.S. trade embargo during the
              1990s.

              For American business to sell anything to Cuba ``you will have to modify the entire
              embargo policy,'' Alarcon added.

              That said, Alarcon did express hope that future legislation would allow for some
              trade ``in a not-too-distant future.''

              ``I really believe in the importance of dialogue and persistence,'' Alarcon said. ``I
              know that what you are doing now will someday be the rule,'' he added, referring to
              their visit to Cuba to explore future business opportunities.

              Among the U.S. companies that sent representatives were agribusiness giant Archer
              Daniels Midland, of Decatur, Ill.; Patton Boggs law firm, a major Washington lobby
              consultant, and the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., the Chicago-based chewing gum leader.
              Organizers did not provide a list of participants, but most of the rest appeared to
              represent small business and some nonprofit companies.

              Because of U.S. Treasury Department regulations that restrict Americans from
              spending money in Cuba, the gathering was sponsored by an Italian firm, Cristobal.

              Cuba was plunged into economic crisis with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and
              the loss of former socialist trade partners a decade ago.

              After several desperate years, the economy has been slowly recovering with the
              help of foreign investment and the development of tourism as Cuba's new primary
              source of hard currency.

              Despite some modest reforms in the first half of the 1990s, the socialist nation
              retains a heavily centralized economy.