Some Cuban exiles skeptical yet hopeful for Payá's campaign

  BY OSCAR CORRAL AND DAVID OVALLE

  Miami's Cuban exile community tuned in to TV and radio newscasts, perused newspapers and gossiped at restaurants and beauty salons Tuesday to quietly form strong, and deeply contrasting, opinions about Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas after his whirlwind tour of Miami.

  People who paused to express their feelings shared outlooks as diverse as those reflected by the exile community's leaders -- some skepticism, some criticism, but much hope and respect.

  Many of those interviewed, particularly women, cited Payá's pacifism and religiosity as their main reasons for siding with his Proyecto Varela, a petition drive on the island to demand basic human rights.

  ''Payá gives peaceful transition a chance,'' said Florencia Baños-Rojas, a volunteer at Saint John Bosco Church in Little Havana. ``There has been so much violence and death over the years. But here is a man of faith who is an alternative to Fidel.

  ``Maybe he is the one who can bring us all together.''

  Baños-Rojas, who emigrated to Miami from Cuba 15 years ago, said she planned to tell her relatives in Cuba about Payá's visit, but ``not if it compromises their safety.''

  Her worries about discussing the dissident's visit by phone with relatives in Cuba echoed comments by many of those interviewed.

  Payá wrapped up a four-day visit to Miami on Tuesday morning, boarding a plane to Mexico City. Before departing, Payá said he welcomed the opinions of those who disagree with him because it shows Cubans are diverse in thought.

  As Luisa Sabatier got her nails done at the Israel Siam Beauty Salon in Miami, she chatted about Payá.

  ''At least he's doing something,'' she said. ``It's easy to criticize him from here. But he is opening doors in all the world from within. It's the first time someone from Cuba has done that.''

  But not everyone was receptive. Some callers to Spanish-language radio denounced Payá as ''an agent of Fidel.'' Others questioned why Castro's communist government would allow Payá to travel if he was truly a threat to the state.

  Andres Lopez, 61, ripped Payá while shopping at Walgreens in Biscayne Shores near North Miami.

  ''I, like many Cubans, do not trust him,'' Lopez said. ``He has been too soft on people who have been murderous and assassins, and you can't work with Fidel. I am one who believes there are only two sides -- against Castro or with Castro.''

  America Pruneda, who left Cuba in 1960, also expressed distrust for Payá as she walked out of Versailles Restaurant in Miami after lunch Tuesday.

  ''I think he comes with an agenda a bit in favor of Fidel,'' she said. ``I'd like to see a free Cuba, but not like this. I've waited 42 years in exile. I'll wait a bit longer for someone with the right ideology.''

  It's precisely the long wait for a free Cuba that has drawn many exiles to support Payá. Estranged from their homeland and disillusioned with policies that have produced little change on the island, many of Miami's Cubans say Payá offers a sense of hope they haven't felt in years.

  Pedro Castro, 71, a retired garbage collector who lives in Miami Beach, said he has been following the Proyecto Varela from Miami and often discusses the campaign with friends here.

  ''Whatever he accomplishes, he is doing something, not just saying blah, blah, blah,'' Castro said. ``Here you can have opinions. There you can't. Here you can talk about it. But there you can't talk about it.''

  Aida Fernandez, who left Cuba seven years ago, commended Payá as she left Navarro Discount store on Calle Ocho on Tuesday.

  ''He is asking for things that no one has ever had the courage to ask for on the island,'' she said.

  ``He has accomplished what no one has accomplished. I'm hoping he brings some positive change to Cuba.''

  Marianne Salazar, a Cuban-American attorney who lives in Palmetto Bay, said she is frustrated by aggressive policies and approaches that have done little to accomplish Democratic change on the island. She called Payá a renaissance man with great courage and vision.

  ''I think that the bottom line here is the embargo hasn't worked, and Mr. Payá truly understands democracy. If someone truly wants to be a communist, they should be able to be a communist,'' said Salazar, 49.

  ``He's subjecting himself and his family to repercussions, and I admire him, and he should have the support of all Cuban exiles.''

  Some younger Cuban Americans whose knowledge of the island comes from older relatives' accounts of a paradise lost care little about Payá or Proyecto Varela.

  ''Honestly, it doesn't affect me, I'm Americanized,'' said Adrian Alvarez, a Miami-Dade police officer who was on duty in the North Miami area Tuesday evening. ``I don't even know what the plan is about.''

  Herald staff writers Richard Brand, Draeger Martinez, Elaine de Valle, Susan Anasagasti, Eunice Sigler and Michael Vasquez contributed to this report.