ANGELO FIGUEROA Herald Staff Writer

The presses roll at Hialeah's Spanish-language community newspapers, fueled by a burning hatred for Fidel Castro and a passionate yearning for a free Cuba.
What do a mayor's wife, a chamber of commerce president, an ex-political prisoner, an air-conditioning shop owner and a gung-ho veteran newspaperman have in common?

They all live in Hialeah, they are Cuban, they despise Fidel Castro and each is the publisher and editor of a Spanish- language newspaper.

Castro probably never imagined his revolution would spawn a 30-year-old newspaper industry in Dade's Cuban communities, but it did. In Hialeah, the pages and pages of newsprint devoted to anti-Castro stories can be topped only by the anti-Castro dissertations in Little Havana.

Hialeah's periodiquitos (little newspapers) don't pretend to be great journals of objective newspaper reporting. Entire issues are often crammed with political editorials, while coverage of real news is as rare as a Castro fan on Calle Ocho. But like many of the Spanish-language radio talk shows, the goal of the periodiquitos is less to inform than to provide a consistent voice for the Cuban exile movement.

Editors of the periodiquitos don't see themselves in competition with each other or mainstream newspapers like Diario Las Americas and El Nuevo Herald. Presses are kept rolling with local advertising dollars and the papers are distributed free in markets, cafeterias and shops and to anyone willing to read them.

Advertisers have mixed reactions to how much the papers help their business.

"We've been advertising since the beginning of El Sol de Hialeah," said Paco Monterroso, a tailor at Ferro Sastreria at 411 E. Hialeah Dr. "It helps business tremendously."

"I can't really say it helps business," said Ramon Camal, manager at Marcello Photography at 4931 E. Fourth Ave. "We've run different promotions, like special discounts, and no one has ever called. These are just small newspapers in Hialeah."

Making money is a secondary goal, the majority of owners say. Only one of the five publishers who dominate the periodiquitos market in Hialeah considers making a profit a priority.

Here is a look at the top five:

El Sol de Hialeah

(The Hialeah Sun)

Angela Martinez, owner of El Sol de Hialeah, cringes when anyone accuses her weekly newspaper of being a public relations vehicle for her husband.

Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez started El Sol in 1969, seven years before he was elected to the City Council. His wife took over the reins of the paper in 1976 and has been explaining the apparent conflict of interest ever since.

"The fact that my husband is the mayor is the biggest weakness of the newspaper," Martinez said. "It's a very fine line and I work very hard not to cross it. The best way to do that is for Raul to stay totally away from the newspaper, and he has. When he gave me control of the newspaper, he meant it. And I really appreciate that."

But censorship at the newspaper is a reality.

Angela Martinez does not endorse any political candidates in El Sol and avoids any political news affecting Hialeah. She also does not allow reporters to write anything that could be deemed critical of her husband, even though it might mean lowering the newspaper's journalistic standards.

"I'm the editor of this newspaper, but also a wife and a mother," Martinez said. "My husband's career is very important to me and I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize it. I happen to agree with most of the things he believes in."

The paper sometimes reflects her biases. When the mayor was honored with a breakfast attended by several hundred political supporters recently, El Sol carried a front-page story.

"He is, after all, my favorite candidate," she explained. "But that happens in all newspapers. When the daughter of one of my biggest clients got married, I ran a full page of wedding pictures. That's the way things work and anybody who doesn't believe that is naive. It happens in all newspapers."

Unlike the other newspapers in Hialeah, Martinez sees the paper as a business and making a profit is the bottom line. As a result, the overall quality of the paper -- writing, graphics, the amount and diversity of local, national and foreign stories -- is very good. And coverage of Castro is kept to a limit.

"I try to give readers what they want," Martinez said. "That means a little bit of everything and letting them know that the situation with Cuba is not the only thing happening."

Caras y Caretas

(Faces and Masks)

Daniel Perdomo, 66, began publishing the monthly Caras y Caretas in 1976. His purpose for publishing the newspaper hasn't changed in the ensuing 13 years.

"The primary goal of the newspaper is to fight for the liberation of Cuba," Perdomo said. "Community issues in Hialeah come behind that."

Perdomo, who studied journalism in Cuba, is a one-man show who seems to be wherever news is happening, snapping away with his camera and writing notes on tiny pieces of paper.

"I do everything," he said. "I write most of the stories, take pictures, distribute the newspaper, everything."

Too often, however, the stories in Caras y Caretas are rewritten versions of stories that appear in the larger daily newspapers. One person can only cover so many stories.

Like many of the other publishers, Perdomo claims his newspaper is the only one that is not afraid to speak out on any subject. When he's not writing about Castro, Perdomo often tackles City Hall and writes seething columns about the city's politicians that more often than not are loaded with opinions but short on facts. The people on the receiving end of his bombardments are rarely given an opportunity to respond.

"Why give your enemies a chance to give their version?" Perdomo said. "The Communists don't give us a chance to give our version in their papers. There is no such thing as objectivity when you're dealing with the enemy."

La Voz de la Calle

(The Voice of the Street)

The biggest controversy surrounding the monthly La Voz de la Calle is its use of barely clothed models on its front page. Vicente Rodriguez, publisher and editor of La Voz, defends the practice.

"There were a few people complaining, but we did a survey and found that the majority of the people like it," Rodriguez said. "After all, this is a society that evolves around the beauty of women. And you can't please everyone, so you have to please the majority."

Like El Sol de Hialeah, La Voz limits its coverage of controversial city politics. Rocking boats and creating waves is not the style of Rodriguez, who happens to be president of the Hialeah Chamber of Commerce & Industries.

"I try to stay away from polemics," Rodriguez said. "The goal of the newspaper is to unite the community, not divide it. But I maintain a separation between my job as editor and my job as chamber president."

Rodriguez believes newspapers like La Voz are more in tune with the Hispanic community than the larger dailies.

"We have more direct contact with the community," he said. "I don't think we've been a big success economically, but we certainly have been effective in getting messages out that Hispanics can relate to."

La Prensa (The Press)

The monthly La Prensa is the only periodiquito in Hialeah that focuses primarily on local issues, with strong editorials about the way the city is run. Less space is devoted to Cuba and Castro.

"I think there are more Communists here in Hialeah and in Miami than in Cuba," said Modesto Perez, editor and publisher of La Prensa. "There are many Fidels in Hialeah who don't have the same amount of power, but act the same way."

La Prensa and Perez are one and the same. Perez is for strong law enforcement and every issue of the monthly newspaper has articles decrying the crime rate and calling for more police officers.

He believes in purchasing only American-made products and has an ongoing campaign in the paper promoting that practice.

Perez owns an air-conditioning shop and is president of the Hialeah Merchants Association.

Perez is also against many of Mayor Raul Martinez's policies, which has made La Prensa one of the few media forums of the opposition candidates.

"I have a mission in life to say what is going on because of injustices that exist," Perez said. "La Prensa is a guerrilla bulletin that sends out messages that others don't send."

La Prensa is a fervently conservative newspaper that makes no apologies for its political stands. But like many of the other newspapers, there is little room for opposing points of view.

Combate (Combat)

The name speaks for itself.

Pedro Rodriguez Medina, editor and publisher of Combate, spent 17 years inside Castro's prisons and his newspaper reflects it.

The bimonthly newspaper is the premier anti-Castro publication in Hialeah. Take for example these headlines in a recent issue: The Cuba of Batista Was a Paradise, Our Duty Should Motivate Us to Achieve Liberty, Long Live Cuba and Democracy."

As a political prisoner in Cuba, Medina organized a clandestine newsletter that was distributed among inmates. He gained his release in 1978 with the help of George McGovern, the former Democratic senator and presidential candidate from South Dakota.

Medina started Combate two years ago.

"The fight for Cuban liberation is the main purpose for the paper, but I also try to focus on some community issues," Medina said. "My relationship with Hialeah politicians is very good, so I have no need to criticize them. Outside of the Communists, I have no enemies."

Medina also serves as a community relations assistant to Hialeah Council President Alex Penelas. As part of his duties in the volunteer position, Medina said, "I help guide Penelas on issues about the liberation of Cuba."

Music reviews, a sports page and pictures and shorts about community events are merely window dressing for Combate. The newspaper, which uses color graphics, is the most visually attractive of Hialeah's periodiquitos.

Medina does not worry that young Cuban Americans whose experiences are far removed from Cuba will one day abandon the goal of liberating the island, making newspapers like Combate obsolete.

"The minority in the world always leads," he said. "I really believe the youth of Cuba will unite with the youth here, which are a minority, and liberate Cuba. The minority will always be here."