The policy requires that officials in Washington approve visas for every male between the ages of 16 and 45 who is a native of any one of 26 countries.

The official, Samantha Smith, said in an interview that she approved visas specifically requested by President Ernesto Perez Balladares.

As head of intelligence from September 1998 to June of this year, Ms. Smith was in charge of approving visas from countries like Cuba and China.

Previously, he said he had asked Ms. Smith to approve certain visas for Chinese merchants and their relatives who work in the nation's free-trade zone.

On Monday the Tampa consulate approved diplomatic visas for 14 American officials who were either serving in Panama on expired visas or recently assigned to Panama, State Department officials say.

A12 Visa Policy Creating Ill Will A new policy requiring that officials in Washington approve visas for every man 16 to 45 from certain countries in the Middle East and elsewhere has created a huge backlog of visa applicants, American officials said.

Embarrassed by the news that the school received the notifications six months to the day after the attacks, the agency said that it approved visas last summer, before either had been identified as suspected terrorists.

Long before the war, many reporters had adjusted to the pressures by seeking the approbation of the Information Ministry officials who approved visas, assigned minders and controlled special favors.

Because of the time he is expected to spend here, Mr. Gonzalez also pleaded for the United States to approve visas for several other Cubans, including classmates of Elian.

Government officials said this week that they had approved visas for all Global Exchange observers except Mr. Lewis.