The U.S. government has authorized more humanitarian aid to Cuba in the past seven years than the 15 nations of the European Union, Canada, or any Latin American country, the State Department says.

``From 1992 to 1998, we authorized the shipment to Cuba of $2.9 billion in humanitarian aid by nongovernmental organizations and private institutions in the United States,'' Michael Ranneberger, chief of the State Department's Office of Cuban Affairs, said Tuesday. He said authorizations were granted to ``hundreds of nongovernmental organizations.''

Ranneberger did not provide a figure on aid actually delivered to Cuba.

U.S. groups must obtain Washington's approval before sending aid to Cuba because of the U.S. embargo. They often apply for a higher amount than they plan to ship, to avoid having to apply again if the aid turns out to be more than planned.

The U.S. figure contrasts with the amount of humanitarian aid the 15-member European Union sends yearly to Cuba: $10 million in 1997 and $8 million in 1998.

In 1998, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued 163 licenses authorizing the export to Cuba of $472 million worth of goods, Ranneberger said.

``That figure includes the sale of medicine and medical equipment valued at $19 million, through 12 commercial licenses issued to American companies,'' he said.

Ranneberger's statement appeared designed to challenge allegations by the Cuban government that Washington hinders efforts by U.S. groups to send aid to Cuba.

In late January, Cuban National Assembly president Ricardo Alarcon denied that the United States had eased the sale of medicine to Cuba.

``That's a monumental lie,'' Alarcon said on Cuban television. ``Cuba has been unable to buy as much as an aspirin tablet in the United States.''

Alarcon's assertions were inexplicable, Ranneberger said, because Havana knows full well that in 1998 U.S. companies sold Cuba ``dialysis machines, laboratory equipment, X-Ray machines, dentistry materials and millions of dollars in medicine. I don't understand how Alarcon can say all that.''

The figures supplied by the State Department do not include the value of medicine, food and other goods that Cubans living in the United States carry to Cuba when they visit their relatives there.