The mayor is Cuban.

 The city manager is Cuban.

 The police chief is Cuban.

 The city attorney is Cuban.

 A majority of the City Commission is Cuban.

 If Cuban Miami ever believed it could duck the responsibilities of leadership by depicting itself as a plucky immigrant group looking out only for itself, that day is gone.

 Cuban-American leaders now must show they can run the city effectively on behalf of all its residents.

 By engineering the departures of the last two high-ranking non-Cuban city officials -- City Manager Donald Warshaw and Police Chief William O'Brien -- Mayor Joe Carollo stripped away all remaining illusions about which ethnic group runs Miami.

 That Carollo acted under obvious pressure from a Cuban-American community unhappy with O'Brien's handling of the Elian Gonzalez affair and its aftermath only increases the scrutiny. Non-Cuban residents are wondering: Will Miami's leaders listen to anyone else besides Cubans?

 In one respect, the very question -- ``What will happen now that they  have taken over?'' -- is unfair: It presumes guilt until innocence is proven.

 The paranoia embedded in the question fueled the white flight from American cities during the post-Civil Rights years, as black people began to assert themselves politically. Yet reality revealed that black Americans -- surprise, surprise -- have the same virtues and flaws as other citizens. Some black-run cities prospered (Atlanta), some held their own (Detroit), some faltered (Washington, D.C.).

 So it's wrong for non-Cubans to blindly assume that something unfortunate has happened in Miami. It's worth noting that Cuban South Floridians are  listening: They've heard complaints about the display of Cuban flags and Spanish-language signs at rallies, and are taking steps to present a different image.

 Also, members of Mesa Redonda, the informal fraternity of Cuban-American civic leaders, met a week ago to discuss ways to divorce local issues from anti-Fidel Castro activism. Later, they met with influential counterparts from the predominantly white Non-Group, and the African-American group Boulé, to begin airing differences and exploring strategies for our common future.

 And Miami's economic future, despite recent upheavals, appears stable: Hotel occupancy is high and dozens of new hotel construction projects remain on the drawing boards.

 Still, it is appropriate to ponder the future efficacy of Miami's exclusively Cuban political power axis in light of recent history.

 It seems to me lately that Cuban Americans are torn between pride in their community's four-decade record of political, economic and social success, and an Elian-inspired despair more reminiscent of a powerless minority group. It almost seems as if Cubans aren't quite sure whether to tell their non-Cuban neighbors, ``Bug off, we don't need you,'' or, ``Trust us, we want the same things you want.''

 Very likely, both messages are being delivered simultaneously. That creates anxiety, and anxiety never bodes well for a city's future.

 The task won't be easy. Leading an entire city often requires going against the preferences of your primary constituency.

 Could Miami's all-Cuban leadership, for example, demonstrate the courage to host events like the Latin Grammy Awards or the Pan Am Games, lucrative ventures lost to the region because of intransigence over the attendance of performers from Cuba? Could Miami's leaders exert the moral force to head off disgraceful displays like that outside the Los Van Van concert last October?

 We'll see. Carollo has forced the Cuban community into a very public test of its own values. Now, Cuban Miamians will be judged not simply by what they do, but also by what they fail to do.

 That's the burden of leadership.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald