BY NANCY SAN MARTIN, ANDRES OPPENHEIMER AND ELAINE DE VALLE

 In a gesture that U.S. officials described as ``routine'' in cases of natural disasters, the Department of State on Wednesday made a formal offer of relief assistance to
 Cuba, which is still gauging damage caused by Hurricane Michelle.

 The Cuban government did not immediately respond to the offer, which was made to Cuban officials in both Washington and Havana.

 The U.S. goodwill gesture follows an offer of aid by Cuba, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which the White House summarily rejected.

 Cuban Americans in South Florida also are trying to find a way to help the victims of Michelle, but it's not as easy as signing a check or
 shipping donations of canned goods.

 The issue of how humanitarian aid to Cuba is distributed is mired in politics.

 Spanish-language radio commentators and other exile leaders who support the 40-old economic embargo on Cuba say money or food
 and supplies should be sent directly to dissidents for them to distribute.

 ``We're trying to think of something that wouldn't end up in Castro's hands,'' said Joe Garcia, executive director of the Cuban American
 National Foundation. ``That's the trick.

 The type of aid offered by the United States would depend on the needs of the island. Any U.S. assistance would come with strings
 attached.

 ``We did make it clear to them that this cannot be government-to-government assistance, and that any relief assistance that we could
 give should be through international relief organizations or NGO's,'' or nongovernmental organizations, a State Department official said on
 the condition of not being named.

 This is at least the second time the United States has offered Cuba humanitarian aid. In 1998, Cuba rejected a U.S. offer to deliver food to the island through the U.N. World Food Program, said Richard Boucher, a State Department spokesman. At the time, drought was causing food shortages in eastern Cuba.

 Hurricane Michelle struck Cuba on Sunday evening, killing at least five people, destroying thousands of homes and devastating crops and sugar mills.

 With whole communities still unreachable by car or telephone, Cuban officials have said they don't yet have a clear picture of the damage wrought by Michelle.

 Similar offers of U.S. help were made to other countries affected by Michelle, including the Bahamas and Honduras.

 State Department officials said that if Cuba accepts the offer, the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance would determine what the needs are and make the necessary
 arrangements. Standard post-hurricane assistance include things such as plastic sheeting for makeshift housing, for example, and equipment to purify contaminated
 water.

 President Fidel Castro already has indicated outside assistance would not be necessary, saying that Cuba has the reserves to take care of the devastation caused by
 Michelle.

 ``That does mean that aid has been rejected, simply that up to now we have the reserves necessary,'' said Luis Fernández, a spokesman for the Cuban Interests Section in Washington.

 Some foreign aid already has made its way to Cuba.

 China is donating $120,000 in cash and $484,000 in medicine and food, and Venezuela a planeload of food and medicine.

 Germany also has promised medicine and food for children.

 Meanwhile, the Archdiocese of Miami's Catholic Charities branch -- which sent more than 130,000 pounds of food to Cuba after 1996's Hurricane Lili -- already has 70,000 pounds of emergency food supplies waiting for word from Caritas Cuba, the social service arm of the Catholic Church on the island. It includes 55,000 military ready-to-eat packages that are pre-cooked, said Bishop Thomas Wenski, director of Catholic Charities.

 Catholic Charities is also accepting cash, and only cash donations, for the Hurricane Michelle Relief Effort.

                                    © 2001