ASUNCION, Paraguay, Nov. 8 (AP) - Paraguay and Cuba restored full diplomatic ties in a surprise ceremony Monday, 38 years after relations were cut following Fidel Castro's communist revolution.

A Cuban foreign ministry official, Jorge Bolanos Suarez, joined Paraguay's foreign minister, Jose Felix Fernandez Estigarribia, in making the announcement in the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion.

Bolanos Suarez said he hoped the restoration of ties would help strengthen economic links between Cuba and Paraguay. Paraguay has occasionally joined in criticism of the long-standing U.S. economic embargo against Cuba.

Relations between the two countries broke down in 1961, shortly after Castro took power in Cuba. Paraguay, then led by dictator Alfredo Stroessner, was among the first Latin American countries to suspend relations with the Caribbean island nation.

Paraguay was the only country in the region that did not officially have diplomatic relations with Cuba.

AP-NY-11-08-99 1842EST

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.

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