Director part of group's campaign to push Cuban-American perspective

 BY ELAINE DE VALLE

 The Cuban American National Foundation has fresh blood in its leadership today:  Its new executive director is Joe Garcia, who, as chairman of the state's Public
 Service Commission the last 18 months, was the highest-ranking Cuban  American in Florida government.

 After he wraps up his work at the PSC on Friday, Garcia will take over the day-to-day operations from Jose ``Pepe'' Hernandez, who will continue as
 president.

 The addition is part of a new campaign at the CANF which, in the wake of the Elian Gonzalez saga, wants to more aggressively present the Cuban-American
 perspective, said CANF Chairman Jorge Mas Santos.

 "These past few months have revealed the need for us to elevate our voice, get  involved, stay active, and continue to expose the reality of Fidel Castro,'' said
 Mas, who plans on announcing more additions soon, particularly to increase the organization's presence in Washington.

 "This is part of a growing offensive.''

 He said Garcia is "extremely qualified'' for the daily tasks and was the perfect man to rejuvenate efforts at the local, national and international levels.

 "We need to utilize his energy to be effective in getting our message out,'' Mas said.

 FRESH BLOOD

 Garcia, the first Hispanic chairman in the PSC's 114-year history, leaves behind a $120,000 job regulating a $17 billion industry, working with more than 400 people to set public policy for all the electrical, gas, telephone and water services in the state, and, possibly, a promising political career.

 But for the 35-year-old Miami Beach resident -- the youngest executive director of the CANF and the first who was born in exile -- it is a natural move, a
 homecoming of sorts.

 MUCH TRAVEL

 Garcia worked at the foundation right out of college in the late '80s and eventually ran its Cuban Exodus Relief Fund, a multimillion-dollar refugee relocation program that brought more than 10,000 Cubans to Miami from all over the world and ended six years ago.

 "I was able to travel to 23 different countries in bringing the Cuban diaspora to what is our temporary home,'' Garcia said Saturday. "We were reuniting families
 and I'll tell you what -- it was the greatest job I ever had. "I made many good friendships. It is rare the day I go out into this community that I don't find someone who tells me 'You brought me from Peru,' or 'You brought me from Panama or Russia,' or `You saved my child.' ''

 Coming back in the midst of the Elian issue is perfect timing, he added.

"You see a hole and you want to make sure you can fill it. You see a need and you want to be there,'' Garcia said.

 "I see this as a pivotal moment in our community. The Elian situation put a lot of perspective on things for a lot of us. It was archetypal in nature. It was something
 we all understood.

 "It's rare to have a teenager who has never been to Cuba, never even heard the Cuban national anthem, identify with someone in her 80s who lived that experience.''

 'RENEWED VIGOR'

 And part of his new job will be to capitalize on that "renewed vigor,'' he said.

 "I'm clearly going to try to reach out to an overwhelming majority of Cubans who are not involved. Some of them didn't know they were Cuban Americans until last
 month. I hope that in the days and weeks to come, we can tap into some of that almost evangelistic fervor that has grown out there among young Cubans.

 "In the fight for liberty, it's never too late.''

 Garcia also wants to break bread with the larger South Florida community that hasn't sympathized with the Cuban majority on the Elian stand and the greater
 issue of Cuba.

 "I was born here. I'm as American as George Washington. And I feel as proud of being an American as George Washington,'' he said. "That, of course, does not
 discount that I would like to see Cuba free. And I think most Americans of good conscience would like to see the same future for Cuba that we do.

 "I hope to be able to extend some bridges to those in the community who don't understand what it is that occurred within the last few weeks. I expect to stand
 strongly behind the concept that hoping for a free and democratic Cuba is never negative, is always positive,'' said Garcia, who was shocked by recent anti-Cuban
 slurs.

 "Part of the problem here is that the experience is so simple to most Cuban Americans that that's what made it so difficult to explain.

 "Part of the task is to make sure that we don't oversimplify the events of the last few weeks and at the same time take from it the hard lessons that have to be
 learned about our experience in this country, our role, and the necessity to get the message out properly and effectively so you don't end up on the wrong side of
 an opinion poll because you were trying to do the right thing.''

 Hernandez, the president, said that is exactly what the foundation wants from Garcia.

 "He brings something very difficult to find these days: a young man who knows his roots and also the American culture and who represents a bridge between the
 older exile and the younger generation of Cuban Americans.''

 EXILE GROUP

 Though the foundation has failed to sway the federal government on Elian, Garcia still believes it is the most powerful Cuban exile group in the world.

 "If you look at the last 19 years since it was founded, there is not an event in the Cuban community where the foundation has not played a pivotal role in trying to
 make sure the Cuban community had the voice. And the role continues to be that way.

 "I hope to make it even more effective,'' he said.