As the Elian Gonzalez custody battle ripples through South Florida and the nation, new faces are starting to pepper the landscape once dominated by middle-aged and older Cuban-Americans.

A new Cuban exile group born in Miami Jan. 6 -- Three Kings Day -- says it will get better results through an informational campaign aimed at mainstream America.

That's quite different from the hard-line tactics traditionally used by the older set who meet under the palms at the Versailles Restaurant on Southwest Eighth Street, discussing Fidel Castro's demise over shots of Cuban coffee.

NG Cuba (New Generation Cuba) is made up of architects, university professors, computer consultants and other professionals -- many in their late 20s and 30s. They are the children and grandchildren of the Cubans who fled the island 41 years ago and took root in South Florida searching for freedom. They are also the recent arrivals, those who know firsthand what it's like to live in Cuba today.

``We know and understand how the U.S. government system works -- that things have to be documented, that we have to work with the established systems and agencies,'' said Bettina Rodriguez-Aguilera, an international public speaker and the group's president. ``We also have people that were raised in Cuba and understand the way that system works. . . . These are people who left two, three months ago, or two, three years ago, so these things didn't happen 20, 30 years ago.''

Rodriguez-Aguilera said the group was spontaneously born when she and a handful of others were in front of the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami Jan. 6 at a demonstration for Elian, the rafter boy rescued at sea who is now at the center of an international custody dispute. Holding signs, they told passersby about families who have relatives in Cuba who have visas to travel to the United States, but who haven't been allowed to leave the island.

She and several others started talking, and they got the idea for their first project: ``Mission Elian'' -- the creation of a database with case histories of the separation of Cuban families. So far, she said, they've got more than 200 cases.

``For 41 years, Castro has divided families through separation, bureaucracy and death,'' Rodriguez-Aguilera said. ``So how can he now say that family reunification is important?''

Rodriguez-Aguilera is no stranger to human rights issues. Two years ago, a nonprofit organization sent her for three months to Albania to teach the basics of democracy to everyone from farmers to parliament members, lawyers and non-governmental organizations.

``We were teaching them the concept of following an ideal instead of a person,'' she said.

LOBBYING CONGRESS

This week, Rodriguez-Aguilera and others from NG Cuba traveled to Washington to lobby Congress on behalf of 15 families whose reunification is being held up by the Cuban government. The group also was scheduled for a CNN appearance Friday night, she said, and they've been interviewed by national newspapers.

The group has already established contacts throughout the United States, Sweden and Spain, and new cases come in every day from all over the world, Rodriguez-Aguilera said. The group also plans to launch a Web site in the near future.

Other than the trip to Washington, which was sponsored by the Free Cuba Foundation, the group of unpaid executive board members and 15 volunteers is paying for everything else out of its own pocket.

``It's beautiful because I feel that we're doing something for the families,'' said Alex Diaz, 29, a jewelry salesman and NG Cuba executive. ``I'm taking a big risk by doing it, because my mom, dad and little sister are still in Cuba.''

MORE AWARENESS

NG Cuba is hoping that the evidence they gather will provide fodder for discussions at journalistic roundtables and other forums, with the ultimate goal of rousing international awareness about Cuba's politics.

``I feel American, and I feel Cuban,'' Rodriguez-Aguilera said. ``This group exists to show people that we are the changing of the guard.''