By CLOE CABRERA

TAMPA - At 8 a.m. Saturday, under a steady drizzle, Amelia Zapata maneuvered her wheelchair through the rain- soaked dirt. Once she settled into place along the west side of Himes Avenue, the 37-year-old Cuban-American began waving her Cuban flag and chanting "No mas Bush! No mas Bush! [No more Bush!]''

"I have to do this,'' said Zapata, who emigrated to the United States three years ago.

"My mother lives in Cuba. She is 76 and has cancer. I should have the right to see her when I want. This law is keeping families apart. It isn't hurting Castro.''

Zapata joined more than 100 antiembargo Cuban-Americans rallying in West Tampa against newly tightened U.S. sanctions. The restrictions, which took effect June 30, are part of a multipronged plan to hasten the end of President Fidel Castro's regime.

The measures limit Cuban- Americans to one visit to the island every three years and reduce the amount of gifts they send to relatives there.

The protesters began their demostration at the intersection of Columbus Drive and Himes Avenue.

To their surprise, they found an equal number of demonstrators across the street rallying in support of the president and the restrictions.

The division within the Cuban-American community was clear: Bush supporters were mostly elderly, presumably Cubans who came to the United States shortly after the 1959 revolution that put Castro in power. On the west side of Himes, the faces were younger. They have no memory of Castro's seizure of businesses and private property.

Both sides angrily shouted at each other, while a dozen Tampa police officers quietly kept watch.

Among the anti-Bush protesters, clutching a family portrait of his brother, nieces and nephews in Cuba, Roland Fernandez said the people he loves most are suffering.

"Look at them. Look at them,'' Fernandez, 40, shouted to the group on the opposite side. "How can you ask me to stop helping my family? Tell me what person here is going to turn their back on someone they love? That is what the government is telling us to do. It's immoral.''

Five-year-old Daisy Barreras was eager to join her parents at the protest. Wearing pink checkered shorts and ribbons in her hair, she proudly waved a Cuban flag.

Does she understand the protest? Ask her, said her mother, Darli.

"I want the restrictions lifted so I can visit my brother, sister and grandmother in Cuba,'' the little girl said.

Across the street, Reynaldo Loman refused to let a bad leg stop him from voicing support for the restrictions.

Leaning on his cane for support, he waved a large Cuban flag and chomped on a cigar.

"Until I take my last breath I will support the embargo,'' said Loman, 77. "They should stop all travel and shipments to Cuba. Cuban-Americans don't realize they are the ones keeping Castro in power when they send money to their families. I have family in Cuba. I love them, but I stopped sending them aid a long time ago because I know it helps Castro.''

Waving a Bush-Cheney bumper sticker and chanting "Cuatro años mas [four more years],'' Marcelo Suarez admitted he is a contradiction.

"I support his [Bush's] plan wholeheartedly,'' said Suarez, 61. "I have family in Cuba and I do send them money. I know it helps keep Castro in power.

"But a lot of those people [across the street] go to Cuba four, five, six times a year. I know many of them who are receiving government help. And they are using our tax money to go to Cuba and spend money illegally. I'm hoping these measures will stop them.''