HAVANA (CNN) -- Leading one of the largest U.S. delegations to Cuba
                  in 40 years, Illinois Gov. George Ryan called Monday for an end to the U.S.
                  economic embargo against the Communist island nation.

                  Ryan, who is on a five-day visit to Cuba -- the first by a U.S. governor since
                  1959 -- met with ambassadors and Cuban dissidents who said the trade
                  sanctions were blocking democratic change.

                  "The four ambassadors we met with felt that the embargo should be lifted,
                  not only for the harm it does to the Cuban people, but because it gives an
                  excuse for (President) Fidel Castro.

                  Ryan said Castro regularly used the sanctions as a reason for Cuba's problems.
                  If the embargo were lifted, Ryan said, "he'll have to find another excuse."
 
                  The Illinois governor has described his visit as a "humanitarian mission."
                  His delegation of more than 40 state, religious and business leaders brought
                  $1 million in food, medicine and school supplies to Cuba. Ryan donated part
                  of that gift Monday to a children's hospital in Havana.

                  Ryan described the hospital as "pretty stark, pretty bad."

                  "They cannot do the surgeries they need to do because they don't have the
                  equipment they need, the drugs," the governor said. "We are here to help the
                  children and the people of Cuba. They should not be used as a diplomatic
                  weapon."

                  But Cuba's state-controlled media depicted Ryan's trip as a reflection of
                  growing U.S. opposition to the trade embargo.

                 The communist government has placed great importance on the trip,
                 even loaning some of Castro's top bodyguards to protect the governor.

                  Ryan, a first-term Republican, opposes the 1962 trade embargo, but
                  stressed that his visit was simply to "build bridges" with the Cuban people.
                  He also emphasized that his support for an end to the embargo did not
                  equal support for the Cuban government.

                  "If the Americans and Cubans could put aside some of their political
                  differences and work out some of their programs, I think both the Americans
                  and the Cuban people could benefit greatly from that relationship," Ryan
                  said.

                  The governor said that opposition leaders told him that "The problem with
                  Cuba is Fidel Castro. The people are warm and kind and gracious and
                  good, but 40 years of heavy communist rule has left its mark."

                  The dissidents, who spoke to Ryan at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana,
                  included leading moderate opposition figures like Elizardo Sanchez and
                  Oswaldo Paya. The dissidents, in an unusual move, also were present at the
                  state restaurant where Ryan met reporters.

                  "We want change with or without the embargo," Sanchez said. "In general,
                  the Cuban government treats (dissidents) like people who do not exist."

                  Sanchez, a longtime human rights activist, welcomed Ryan's trip because it
                  promotes the idea of "a normal relation between the two countries instead of
                  this Cold War mentality."

                   Havana Bureau Chief Lucia Newman, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to
                                           this report.