By ANA ACLE Herald Staff Writer

A group of Cuban exiles in Miami sent a remote-controlled boat to Havana this weekend with a huge balloon and an even bigger message.

The mysterious inflatable boat, attached to a 16-foot balloon marked with the word ``Democracy,'' landed Monday on Playa del Chivo, a Havana beach near the Malecon, the famed seafront boulevard. The boat also contained humanitarian supplies -- such as soap, Pampers and pencils -- and a timed device to broadcast the purpose of the act.

``It was a raft carrying a blimp,'' explained Luis Felipe Rojas, a spokesman for the Democracy Movement, a Miami group known for its flotillas to international waters near Cuba. ``It had a motor and automated vessel with a GPS [Global Positioning Satellite system] which took it to the Havana coastline.''

The group released the vessel late Sunday from a boat within international waters in the Florida Straits. International press in Havana confirmed its landing -- and stated that 15 security forces were sent to the craft to investigate. Journalists were not allowed near the craft, but could see the boat and its outboard motor from a distance with ``Democracy'' written in red and blue on the deflated balloon.

Said Rojas: ``It was an attempt to send a message to the Cuban people that we're willing to help them, that we don't take into consideration any foreign laws or the Cuban government. Although this is only a symbolic gesture stating our willingness to help the Cuban people, it is only the Cuban government that is refusing that aid to the Cuban people.''

He added: ``We're trying to exercise our rights to go into Cuba and help the Cuban people.''

The entire equipment -- boat, satellite and motor -- cost about $3,000, said Ramon Saul Sanchez, founder of the group.

``Future ones will be even more precise,'' Sanchez said. ``You could sit on Miami Beach, send it to Havana, have it drive up the Malecon and return -- if it had enough gas.''

The U.S. State Department, however, was not amused, Sanchez said, adding that they called and asked him all kinds of questions about what was sent.

The Cuban government did not publicly respond to the landing of the boat.

The Democracy Movement has organized several flotillas to waters near Cuba and plans another July 18. The remote-controlled boat was a new approach.

``This will mark a new strategy to claim our right to return to Cuba,'' Rojas said. ``This operation was only a symbolic gesture to let the world know we're willing to go back with much-needed supplies and humanitarian aid.''

This story was supplemented by Herald wire services.