BY NANCY SAN MARTIN

  Cuba's most high-profile dissident has received kudos from the European Union, the Bush administration and even Pope John Paul II during a whirlwind tour that began in Strasbourg, France, last month.

  But as Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas makes his way to Miami in the next few days, he is likely to face his toughest crowd: the exile community.

  Here, Payá will walk a narrow line between those who support democratic reform in Cuba through a referendum process and many in the exile community who have sided with other dissidents on the island who remain adamantly opposed to a plan that relies on a measure of tolerance from the current regime.

  Payá and exiles have both said they are willing to discuss their differences. But the ideological positions are so far apart that agreement seems unlikely.

  At issue is not the man behind the Varela Project, a petition drive signed by more than 11,000 people in Cuba that seeks a referendum on whether to create greater
  personal and political freedom.

  Critics complain that tinkering with a constitution designed to serve a regime that both exiles and dissidents have been battling for more than 40 years is the wrong way to bring change to Cuba.

  ''We are happy that the internal opposition movement is being recognized. It's about time,'' said Sylvia Iriondo, president of an exile group called Mothers and Women Against Repression. ``But the opposition is varied. We want to change the system. He wants to reform and work within the system.''

  The 50-year-old Payá advocates a peaceful transition to democracy. As head of the Christian Liberation Movement, he joined forces with other dissident groups to collect signatures seeking a referendum.

  The nonviolent strategy has earned Payá worldwide recognition. His trip to Miami follows a ceremony in Strasbourg where he received the European Union's top
  human-rights award. The National Democratic Institute in Washington gave him its highest honor, and he has been touted as a worthy recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

  Supporters say the international recognition has given the dissident movement a huge boost of confidence.

  ''The big deal about Proyecto Varela is that this is the first time in 43 years that in Cuba there is a political process which is likely to produce changes that everybody wants: changes toward a transition to democracy,'' said Marcelino Miyares, president of the Christian Democratic Party, the Miami affiliate to Payá's Christian Liberation Movement. ``Transition comes once the system opens, and the Proyecto Varela is an opening.''

  `BABY STEPS'

  Opponents agree that the Varela Project is a beginning, but one that is off to a bad start.

  ''If you accept these baby steps, you are legitimizing the system,'' said Ninoska Pérez-Castellón, spokeswoman for the Cuban Liberty Council. ``They are steps, but steps in the wrong direction.''

  Opponents argue that the way the Varela Project is worded would only offer minor modifications to the communist system. Among the concerns:

  • The Varela Project asks for freedom of association, freedom of expression and amnesty for political prisoners ''who have not participated in acts that directly threatened the lives of other people.'' Opponents argue that no one should have to ask ''permission'' for basic human rights and that amnesty implies ''forgiveness'' for judgments handed out by a regime they deem repressive.

  • The Varela Project seeks changes in the electoral law to allow opponents to sit on the National Assembly, a one-party parliament. Critics say a seat on the 600-plus body is a waste of time because it is a rubber-stamp entity with no real power. What is needed, they say, is free general elections and the legalization of all political parties.

  But the biggest complaint is that the process for the modifications would mean negotiating with the current regime, virtually ensuring that the system would remain
  relatively the same even after Fidel Castro.

  ''A proposal to work within the communist system is not viable,'' said Jesús Permuy, president of Unidad Cubana, an organization that encompasses more than 30 exile groups. ``If the government is bad, then that government must be changed.''

  Said Luis Zúñiga, executive director of the Cuban Liberty Council: ``Payá is a messenger of false hope.''

  EMOTIONAL TOPIC

  The topic of Cuba's future is an emotional one for a community that contributed an estimated $700 million to the Cuban economy in 2001 in the form of remittances. Most
  of that money comes from relatives in South Florida, home to at least 700,000 residents of Cuban descent.

  The division in Miami also resonated in Washington earlier this week. As Secretary of State Colin Powell met privately with Payá and a stream of dignitaries celebrated his efforts at a series of functions, Miami's longtime Cuban-American representatives in Congress -- Lincoln Díaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen -- kept their distance.

  ''I have nothing personal against Payá, just grave concerns about the Varela Project,'' said Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami.

  Payá also has been viewed with some skepticism because he does not support the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba and has said change must come from within Cuba, not from abroad.

  LENDING SUPPORT

  However, some of the staunchest supporters of the embargo have set aside that issue to lend their support to Payá.

  ''The debate here is about human rights, not about the embargo,'' said Joe Garcia, executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation. ``The embargo is in place. The Cuban community supports it and this administration supports it.''

  He said he agrees with Payá that the battle for Cuban freedom should be fought inside Cuba: ``We don't have to debate about the law; we have to debate how to bring about change in Cuba.''

  ``Forty years ago, the debate was in the streets of Miami. Now we have to take the debate to the streets of Cuba.''