DAN WILLIAMS
Herald Staff Writer

 Antonio Veciana rested Saturday, amid stringent hospital security measures, convinced he was the victim of an assassination attempt by agents of Cuban President Fidel Castro.

 A former activist of the Miami-based Alpha 66, a militantly anti-Castro group, Veciana said he thinks the attempt was made with the acquiesence of U.S. officials. The only proof he could offer, however, was that he was warned by FBI agents last October about the possibility of such an attempt on his life.

 Veciana was shot from a passing auto Friday night. Miami police are investigating. They will not yet say, however, whether they believe the shooting was politically inspired.

 VECIANA maintained that a "band of Castro spies" has been permitted to operate in Miami to supply the Cuban government de-tails of anti-Castro activity in South Florida.

 He said the attack on him was part of a Castro-inspired campaign which included drug charges that sent him to prison for 18 months several years ago.

 Veciana, 50, spoke to reporters, sitting up in his Pan American Hospital bed Saturday. Hospital officials routinely told callers he had been transferred to an unnamed hospital. They insisted on having Veciana's wife, Sira, accompany all visitors to his room.

 Like a stage play, the Friday shooting of Veciana repeated a scene played out in Puerto Rico five months ago. In that case, the victimwas not an anti-Castro militant but a sympathizer with attempts to ease tensions between exiles and the Cuban government.

And in the Puerto Rican shooting, the victim died.

 IN LATE APRIL, Carlos Muniz, operator of a travel agency that offered trips for exiles to Cuba, was shot to death by attackers who drove up alongside his car and fired .45-caliber bullets into his auto. One struck him in the head and he died.

 Friday evening, a brown station wagon pulled up along Veciana's pick-up truck and fired four .45-caliber bullets at him. A slug shatteredthe side mirror of the truck, and a piece of the bullet struck him in th0head, according to Miami police.

 Neither Veciana nor those in favor of dialogue by Cuban exiles with the government of Fidel Castro think the shootings are necessarily linked. But both sides expect more attacks.

 Bernardo Benes, one of the principal negotiators with the Castro government concerning prisoner re-lease, said, "I don't think the shootings represent increasing terrorism, although there are elements on all sides which want to use violence to force their ideas on others."

 But Cuban exile sources in Puerto Rico say attempts to kill Cuban leaders favoring eased tension with the Cuban government will be made this fall. Close associates of Muniz have reportedly fled into hiding in Miami.

 "I think the U.S. government is cooperating with Castro police," Veciana said. `"In effect, I have no protection."