BY DAVID KIDWELL

 Mariano Faget, the INS section chief jailed on a
 charge of spying for the Cuban government, took the
 stand Thursday at his bond hearing and admitted he
 had disclosed government secrets -- but only to
 save a friend, not to spy for Cuba.

 ``My whole life has been pro-American and living the
 American dream and bringing up my family,'' Faget
 said in a jammed federal courtroom in Miami. ``I
 want to clear my name.''

 With his wife, three grown sons and their families in
 the courtroom, the 54-year-old supervisor at the
 Immigration and Naturalization Service repeatedly
 fought back tears as he discussed his family, his
 politics, and his loyalty to the United States.

 His pleas fell short of convincing U.S. Magistrate Barry Garber, who ordered
 Faget held without bond while he awaits trial on what Garber called ``perhaps the
 most serious offense in the statutes of this country.''

 Federal prosecutors -- surprised that Faget would subject himself to
 cross-examination so early in the case -- confronted him with what they depicted
 as a ``pattern of deceit,'' undisclosed business ties and ``overwhelming'' proof that
 Faget used his position of public trust to betray his adopted country.

 Defense attorney Ed O'Donnell called Faget's disclosures an error in judgment.

 ``This is not the Rosenberg case,'' O'Donnell said. ``He wasn't spying. He wasn't
 selling secrets. And he certainly wasn't in any way endangering the security of
 this country.''

 Other details of the complex case emerged Thursday, including how federal
 authorities first identified Faget as a suspect more than a year ago. They
 produced transcripts of recorded conversations in which Faget disclosed the
 name of a high-ranking Cuban official as ``one of the ones working with the
 Americans.''

 Faget, a 34-year INS veteran who oversaw some of the agency's most sensitive
 duties -- including the immigration paroles of foreign citizens being used as
 government informants -- was caught in an FBI sting on Feb. 11.

 In the sting, FBI Special Agent in Charge Hector Pesquera and INS
 second-in-command James Goldman met with Faget at his Miami office to ask
 him to process parole paperwork for Luis Molina, a high-ranking Cuban official
 who they said intended to defect.

 Throughout the meeting earlier this month, Pesquera and Goldman repeatedly
 stressed the need for secrecy about Molina's defection, which was actually a
 sham. Faget told Pesquera he knew Molina.

 ``Let me tell you something,'' Faget told them, according to the transcripts
 released Thursday. ``I need, I don't know if this is going to make a difference. I've
 met this guy before . . . He was at the Interests Section in Cuba, in Washington,
 D.C., and I went to a dinner here one day and he happened to be there.''

 ``That's it?'' Pesquera asked. ``That's your only contact with him?''

 ``That's the only contact.''

 Pesquera and Goldman then left Faget.

 Within 12 minutes, according to authorities, Faget used his personal cellular
 telephone to call New York businessman and lifelong friend Pedro Jesus
 Vidaurreta Font. Font, 57, is listed along with Faget as an officer in the firm
 America-Cuba. The firm's stated goal is to prepare to do business in Cuba once
 the U.S. embargo is lifted.

 ``Seems certain things are happening in Cuba,'' Faget told Font. ``Certain
 negotiations, and a person we both know, that was in Washington before and now
 is in Cuba.''

 `SOMETHING BIG'

 ``Yes?'' Font said.

 ``Seems he's one of the ones working with the Americans,'' Faget said. ``Seems
 something pretty big is happening, so that you know, in case these people ask
 you two or three questions and catch you off base. Don't say anything . . . .''

 Faget told Font he would call him back when he wasn't in the office. Both men
 knew that Font had a meeting scheduled later in the day with officials at the
 Cuban Interests Section in Washington.

 Faget called Font later and provided more details.

 ``They've given political asylum to five members of the Cuban government. Among
 them is our friend,'' Faget said. ``But the big thing is this, that Mr. [Luis Molina]
 has, has been working with the FBI for the past two years, giving them
 information. And the time has come when they need to take him out of Cuba.''

 Font laughs. Faget continues:

 ``Then, of course, I start thinking . . . well . . . maybe it's better if I tell these
 people that I've met this guy, at a dinner where they, a dinner for business people
 that are thinking of doing business with, with Cuba . . . if this man has been
 working for the FBI for the past two years.

 ``But then I started thinking,'' Faget said, that ``Pedro has a meeting with
 Fernando [an official of the Cuban Interests Section] today; let me call in case
 they ask Pedro something or he asks something about this.''

 PROTECTING FRIEND

 Faget acknowledged Thursday that he made the telephone calls, but said he was
 only trying to protect his friend Font by giving him a heads-up.

 ``I absolutely was concerned for the well-being of Mr. Font, that they would have
 gotten him involved in this so-called defection,'' Faget said in court. ``I was
 concerned for his safety. They may have invited him to Cuba, and once you [are]
 in Cuba all rules are over.''

 Faget said neither he nor Font is a communist or sympathetic to Cuba. He
 explained that their business -- America-Cuba -- has a letter of intent from
 household products maker Procter & Gamble Co., which he said intends to use
 America-Cuba to represent it in Cuba after the embargo is lifted.

 He said his company stood to profit only after the Casto regime falls.

 ``This makes no sense whatsoever,'' Faget said.

 First Assistant U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis confronted Faget on cross-examination.

 ``Let's talk about what you didn't do that day,'' Lewis said. ``You're surrounded by
 law enforcement, the special agent in charge of the FBI, INS. Did you turn to
 anyone and tell them about your concern for the safety of your friend?''

 ``No sir, I didn't,'' Faget said.

 ``You can't deny that you disclosed classified information, can you Mr. Faget?''
 Lewis said.

 ``No, I did call Mr. Font for the reason I stated.''