Many Cuban-Americans are trying to visit their homeland before controversial U.S. restrictions on travel to the island take effect.

BY RICHARD BRAND

On the last Sunday before strict new U.S. regulations on travel to Cuba are to take effect, hundreds of Cuban-Americans lined up at Miami International Airport to get on board flights to the communist island.

Many in the two hour-long check-in lines expressed frustration with the new rules ordered by President Bush, which limit family visits to once every three years instead of annually. Those caught in violation face a $7,500 fine.

The restrictions also have huge political implications in a presidential election year, especially in South Florida, where Bush and presumed Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry are vying for Cuban-American voters. The new regulations go into effect Wednesday.

Terry Aparicio, 46, standing in a check-in line for a charter flight to Havana before the looming deadline, described the new policy as ''an outrage,'' but said Bush still could count on her vote.

''To prevent me from seeing my parents, it breaks every human rights rule that exists,'' Aparicio said. But she added: ``I think Bush means well. He wants a free Cuba. He's just not thinking of the people who have family. It breaks my heart.''

Aparicio and other visitors like her who left for the island Sunday have until 12:01 a.m. Aug. 1 to return, the U.S. Treasury Department announced this week.

SIPHONING VOTERS

Some Democrats see the controversial restrictions as a political miscalculation on the president's part and an opportunity to siphon some of those Cuban-American votes. Such a shift could be critical in the contest for Florida's 27 electoral votes.

Several Cuban-Americans at the airport Sunday morning said they supported Bush in 2000, but would not vote for him this year.

One of them was Llulys Vidal, 39, on her way to visit her parents in Havana. She said she would vote for Kerry this year because of the restrictions.

''This is very bad. A lot of things can happen in three days, let alone three years,'' Vidal said. ``You have to vote with your interests, and my interest is to be able to visit my family in Cuba.''

''This isn't going to affect the regime, it's going to affect the people,'' said a 62-year-old man from Fort Lauderdale.

The new measures are part of a broader tightening of U.S. sanctions on Cuba ordered by Bush last month that also include limits on remittances. Officials say the restrictions are intended to hasten the fall of Cuban President Fidel Castro's communist government.

Kerry has said the travel restrictions and new limits on remittances are harsh on families and will do little to dislodge Castro. He said he would encourage increased travel to the island.

EXPOSED FISSURES

The debate has exposed fissures within the Cuban-American community, pitting those who support a hard-line stance against Castro against those who favor a more open approach.

Supporters of the new measures say they are needed to bring change to Cuba.

''This is a huge blow to Castro's economy at a time when it's totally failed,'' said Ninoska Perez, a director of the Cuban Liberty Council, in a phone interview. She acknowledged that some Cuban-Americans would be unhappy with the new rules.

``I understand some of these people have necessities and have mothers or children in Cuba, but if any of them made public statements against the regime, they would not be allowed to travel to Cuba. It's a manipulation of the feelings of the Cuban families, and that's what these measures put an end to.''