Prominent Hispanic groups that helped Cuban Americans in the community gain power are facing a crisis of aging membership and relevancy.

By OSCAR CORRAL

They decried discrimination in their adopted country and vowed to seek freedom for the old country, all the while building Cuban-American clout in South Florida.

Now, decades later, South Florida's oldest and most prestigious Hispanic organizations are fighting for their survival, struggling to attract younger members and stay relevant.

Leaders of some of these long-established groups acknowledge their futures are uncertain, given sagging membership and financial woes. Among them: the Spanish American League Against Discrimination (SALAD), the Camara De Comercio Latina de U.S.A. (CAMACOL) and Municipios de Cuba en el Exilio.

''The young people today are not feeling the challenges that we were feeling when we started SALAD,'' said longtime chairman Osvaldo Soto, 76. ``But Osvaldo Soto is finally at end of his rope. I can't continue with the organization.''

One problem, Soto said, is that younger people may not feel there is as much discrimination against Hispanics anymore, particularly in Miami.

Strong-willed men holding on to their leadership posts for decades may have exacerbated the generational divide, so that younger people, as well as women, had little motivation to get involved.

Miriam Rosquete, who as Chairperson of the Hispanic Heritage Council is one of the few women who lead a traditional Hispanic organization, said it's a matter of ``ego and power.''

''Once you're in that position, it's hard to let go,'' she said.

MEETINGS DISHEARTEN

Former Municipios president Julio Cabarga said it's disheartening sometimes to attend meetings. Perhaps 20 percent of members today are under 40, he said.

''A point will come that the leaders here now won't be able to keep going because they'll be too old, and we won't be able to continue the daily fight because the human capital won't be there,'' he said.

Soto said he plans to pass SALAD's reins to someone who can resurrect the organization. SALAD's paying members have dwindled from about 400 in 1982, when Soto began his tenure at a time when South Florida officials were pushing English-only laws, to about 40 today.

CAMACOL, founded in 1965, has a president in his 80s and 11 vice presidents who are all in their 60s or older. CAMACOL president William Alexander, 82, acknowledged his group badly needs younger members.

''I'm looking at who will replace me because the future that's coming is very different,'' he said.

Some leaders have served for so long that they have come to embody their institutions.

SALAD's Soto has been chairman for 23 years. The Cuban American National Council's president, Guarione Diaz, 64, has been president and CEO for 22 years. Until recently, CAMACOL and the Hispanic Heritage Council had the same leaders for decades -- Luis Sabines and Eloy Vazquez, respectively.

Alexander noted that those leaders worked hard to build credibility at a time when Hispanics were looked down upon.

But Agustin ''Gus'' Gil, president of the Latin Builders, which has a much younger membership, said leaders of some of the other organizations just can't let go.

''It's like a parent leaving a business to a son,'' Gil, 40, said. ``You have to have trust. That's the mind-set of all these people: Let me keep control as long as I can because I can't find an adequate replacement.''

Today, there are few groups that wield as much business and political clout as the Latin Builders, formed in 1971 by Cuban-American contractors who felt excluded by non-Hispanic whites. Latin Builders' membership is 800 and growing, thanks to a continued push for younger members and the business opportunities the group helps generate, Gil said.

By contrast, only about a half-dozen of CAMACOL's trustees are under 50, Alexander said.

One is Jose Cancela, 47, who credits Alexander with trying to rejuvenate CAMACOL.

''Yes, there is limited involvement from the next generation here, but there's no doubt in my mind that a call to arms can be done very quickly to make sure CAMACOL is around for the next 40 years,'' Cancela said.

Political organizations such as the Cuban American National Foundation, started in 1983, and Municipios, founded in 1963, have their own generational challenges. The foundation broke apart after its leader and co-founder, Jorge Mas Canosa, died in 1997 but has been trying to stay relevant. Its board has attracted some younger members.

NON-CUBANS SOUGHT

The Hispanic Heritage Council, an organization started by Miami-Dade County in 1973, is also trying to lure younger members and stabilize financially by trying to appeal to non-Cuban Hispanics. Cubans make up about half of the county's Hispanics today.

To appeal to younger generations, HHC hosts a Miss Hispanidad contest and bestows the annual Young Hispanic Leadership Awards. This year's Miss Hispanidad was 18-year-old Colombian-American Cindy Kohn-Cybulkiewicz.

''Now more than ever it's more important to have the young people involved because there's such a huge technology and cultural gap between the younger and older generations,'' Kohn-Cybulkiewicz said.

The Cuban American National Council, not to be confused with the foundation, is a human-services organization founded in 1972. CANC, the first Cuban-American organization with a national scope, is in transition.

''Five years ago, we looked around and we were all older than 50 on the board of directors,'' said Diaz, CANC's president. ``We knew we had to look for a new generation to continue what we started here, and we started very actively looking for younger people in the community.''

CANC's current vice president is Jorge Plasencia, a Univision executive in his early 30s. Within two years, Diaz thinks half the board of directors will be younger than 40.

To thrive, an organization must remain relevant, leaders noted.

The Cuban American Bar Association, founded in 1974, is among the organizations that have grown. The average age of its board of directors is the mid-30s, and the group has broadened its membership to non-Cuban Hispanics. It's grown from about 800 dues-paying members in 1997 to about 1,700 today, CABA President Tony Castro said.

A GLASS CEILING?

Beyond the generational issues, there's a perception that some of the struggling groups may have inadvertently created a glass ceiling for women.

''It's still hard for men to take us seriously,'' the HHC's Rosquete said. ``I don't believe that they always respect our opinions and our points of view.''

Not to be dismissed: the politics of exile.

Certain organizations formed by Cuban exiles were created with an expiration date -- the day Cuba becomes free.

''Definitely many of these organizations exist because there is an exile community,'' Cabarga, of Municipios, said. ``The day Cuba doesn't need an exile [community] like this to fight for its freedom, we won't need an organization like this.''