At a meeting in Coral Gables Wednesday, leaders of the Cuban exile community urged officials to change repatriation practices.

BY OSCAR CORRAL AND FRANCES ROBLES

Two of the Bush administration's top Cuba policy makers went to Coral Gables Wednesday for a friendly lunch with South Florida's top exile community leaders -- and wound up on the receiving end of an outpouring of frustration.

The visit by the U.S. State Department's Stephen McFarland, director of the Office of Cuban Affairs, and Cuba Transition Coordinator Caleb McCarry came amid an uproar over the repatriation of 15 Cuban migrants this week.

The pair used the luncheon organized by Florida International University to promote Bush administration policy -- a tough line against Cuba until the day there are democratic elections there. But exile participants, among them moderates as well as traditional hardliners, used the opportunity for primarily one purpose: to vent.

''The Cubans have a dictator, and we have to get rid of him,'' said Luis De Varona, a board member of the Cuban American National Foundation. ``When are you going to wake up to the reality? . . . We need to get rid of Castro. That is the root of all our problems.''

The luncheon came just two days after 15 would-be migrants were sent back to Cuba because their sea voyage led them not to land, but to a section of the old 7-Mile bridge in the Florida Keys. The Coast Guard returned them because the section they were standing on did not connect directly to land. Parts of the defunct bridge are missing.

McFarland characterized the repatriation as a decision by the U.S. Coast Guard, which interpreted existing law that keeps Cuban migrants from entering the United States if they don't touch land.

''Fifteen people were sent back because they were touching one bridge rather than another,'' said Jose Sirven, managing partner of Holland Knight, which sponsored the luncheon. ``That's something that has to change, because it cannot happen again.''

His words were met with resounding applause.

After Monday's repatriation, top Cuban exile leaders vowed to mount a strong lobbying campaign in Washington to change the so-called ''wet-foot, dry-foot'' law. McFarland would not comment on whether the Bush administration would review the policy, but said he would certainly pass on the comments.

He said it was important to consider the broader issue: what's driving thousands of Cubans each year to take to the sea?

Responding to concerns that Miami Cubans would be shut out of Bush administration policymaking in a post-Castro Cuba, McCarry assured: ``There is but one Cuban people.''