By FRANK DAVIES
 Herald Staff Writer

 WASHINGTON -- In an unprecedented move that sharpens the debate over the
 U.S. embargo of Cuba, more than a dozen farm and trade organizations will
 welcome two Cuban officials as guests today at a Capitol Hill reception.

 The event, organized by the American Farm Bureau Federation, is scheduled for
 this evening in a cavernous hearing room in the U.S. Senate Dirksen Office
 Building often used by the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. Christopher Dodd,
 D-Conn., an opponent of the embargo, arranged for the farm groups to use the
 room.

 The two Cuban officials, who met Tuesday with agricultural groups in Iowa and the
 U.S. Grains Council in Boston, are Maria de la Luz B'Hammel, director of trade
 policy for North America in the ministry of trade, and Igor Montero Brito, vice
 president of ALIMPORT, the state-run food-importing agency.

 Hosting Cuban officials at a Capitol Hill event, even one paid for by private groups,
 is apparently a first during the 40 years of Fidel Castro's rule, and has angered
 the three Cuban-American members of Congress.

 ``To wine and dine and pander to these people in the citadel of democracy is just
 obscene,'' said Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. ``This reception is
 orchestrated by those looking to profit from the suffering of 11 million people.''

 Miami Republican Lincoln Diaz-Balart, New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez and
 Ros-Lehtinen criticized the Clinton administration for granting visas to the two
 officials and sent a memo to agribusiness sponsors outlining the peril of doing
 business with Cuba.

 ``The agricultural community hasn't thought this through,'' said Diaz-Balart. ``They
 see future markets, but Cuba could dump products on the U.S. market and that
 could hurt farmers.''

 One State Department official said the visas for such ``low- to mid-level officials''
 for travel in the United States were routine and the rules were the same for U.S.
 officials who visit Cuba. Officials have to disclose itineraries, but not every event
 they attend.

 Today's reception demonstrates that agribusiness and trade groups are becoming
 more vocal in their opposition to the embargo. Dodd and some farm state
 senators of both parties are pushing for a loosening of the embargo on agricultural
 and medical products.

 The Farm Bureau, representing thousands of U.S. farmers, sent a delegation to
 Cuba in May, and its president, Dean Kleckner, declared the embargo
 self-defeating.

 ``We can't sell our products. They buy elsewhere,'' Kleckner said in a recent
 statement. ``We end up with either the reputation of an unreliable supplier or
 worse, a bully -- keeping food from hungry kids.''

 Other sponsors of today's reception include the American Soybean Association,
 Continental Grain, Archer Daniels Midland, the USA Rice Federation, the U.S.
 Dairy Export Council and U.S. Wheat Associates.

 In her speech to the Grains Council, de la Luz B'Hammel said Tuesday that
 removing the 37-year-old embargo would create ``significant opportunities'' for U.S.
 farmers and help Cuba rebuild its economy.

 She also said Cuba is interested in selling cigars, rum and pharmaceuticals to
 the United States, but admitted she is not optimistic the embargo would be lifted
 soon.

 Earlier this year, the administration allowed the sale of food and medicine on a
 case-by-case basis to Libya, Iran and Sudan. Clinton allowed similar sales to
 ``private entities'' in Cuba, but they are a tiny part of the state-controlled economy.

 The three Cuban-American House members said they would favor lifting the
 embargo only if Cuba frees political prisoners, legalizes political parties, unions
 and an independent press and schedules free elections.