DAN HOLLY Herald Staff Writer

Magda Montiel Davis, the Democrat trying to unseat Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, called Tuesday for a softer approach to the Castro government that includes more communication and less confrontation.

Davis called a press conference to announce that she supports easier travel to and from Cuba, easier telephone and mail access between exiles and Cuban citizens, and more humanitarian aid for the Cuban people.

Ros-Lehtinen issued a brief statement Tuesday afternoon refuting part of Davis' comments. The statement said she is opposed to humanitarian aid unless it is distributed by "international humanitarian groups."

Such a safeguard, the congresswoman said, would "ensure that the aid gets to the people and not the dictatorial regime."

Davis' proposals are mostly moot because the recently passed Cuban Democracy Act -- also known as the Torricelli bill -- will bring about many of the changes Davis favors, and President Bush has authorized others. But the proposals served to distinguish Davis' approach from Ros-Lehtinen's hard-line approach.

Ros-Lehtinen initially resisted proposals to soften the United States policy toward Cuba when the Torricelli bill came before Congress.

Davis and Ros-Lehtinen, both Cuban Americans, are pitted against each other in the 18th Congressional District, which includes parts of Little Havana, Miami Beach and Key Biscayne.

"Mrs. Lehtinen is for outdated policies that have kept Castro in power for decades, policies that are just not working," Davis said. "I'm for exploiting democracy and for having an exchange of communication . . . That's the only way we're going to bring democracy to Cuba."

In her statement, Ros-Lehtinen wrote: "I am opposed to dialogue," apparently referring to highly controversial proposals to negotiate Cuba's future with Castro.

Davis didn't propose going that far. She said she supports talks with Cuban government officials, but only to bring about the specific reforms she was advocating.

"I'm not saying we're going to sit down with Fidel Castro and smoke a cigar with him," she said.