By JORDAN LEVIN
Herald Staff Writer

For a vocal and powerful portion of the Cuban exile community, the disputed concert by Cuban band Los Van Van at the James L. Knight Center is an offense to their painful history in leaving Cuba, one that overrides any other considerations.

``This is not an issue of liberty and freedom of speech in America, this is a Cuban-American issue,'' Luis Zuniga, of the Cuban-American National Foundation, said in a debate on WPBT Channel 2 Sunday.

But another point of view was audible Saturday night.

``Who wants to hear Los Van Van in Miami?'' promoter Hugo Cancio asked the people packed into South Beach's Club Cristal, waiting to hear Manolin, El Medico de la Salsa, a popular singer from the island. The crowd of close to 1,000 roared approval.

For many of the more recent Cuban exiles like the ones who filled Cristal, to be able to see Van Van in Miami is both an affirmation of their national identity and a vindication of the rights they came to find in the United States.

Cubans cite need for freedom

To them, the issue is precisely freedom of expression, an issue that is all the more important to them because they are Cuban.

``I came to Miami to look for liberty, to think and feel and say what I want,'' said Luis Martinez, 32, who came here nine years ago and said he spent two years in jail in Cuba for opposing the government there.

``Art and music have no borders; they have to be free like we are. People shouldn't struggle against [Cuban] music but against the [Cuban] government. They're trying to govern me and oppress me here like they did back in Cuba.''

For Juan Roca, 21, who spent six months in Guantanamo before coming here four years ago, and is an ardent fan of Los Van Van and other Cuban bands, the answer to whether Van Van should play was obvious.

``Yes. This is a free country. I can see what I want, and if I don't want to hear something I'll stay home. That's why I came here.''

He said that exiles who oppose the concert should understand that.

``They grew up with [the Castro] regime, like me. Maybe they don't want freedom. But I came here looking for freedom.''

Show tentatively rescheduled

The Van Van concert was canceled by Knight Center officials after an outcry in the exile community prompted city of Miami leaders to make a last-minute demand that band representatives supply unprecedented proof that the band's 26-city U.S. tour complied with U.S. law. Last Thursday, the show was tentatively rescheduled for Oct. 11, pending receipt of documents from the Federal government, after concert promoter Debbie Ohanian and the American Civil Liberties Union threatened to go to court to get the concert back on.

Hugo Morales, 46, a businessman whose family came to the United States in 1957, said anger at the island's government should not make Cubans forget the values of the country where they now live. ``It's important to preserve my culture via music and to uphold the liberties this country has taught me,'' Morales said. ``No one has the right to tell us what we can see and not see -- that's how I was brought up. I think [older exiles] are holding on to a grudge because they lost a lot, and I can understand that. But that doesn't give them the right to impose their resentments on someone else's rights.''

Respecting diverse opinions

It was a matter of respect for the diversity of opinion among Cubans and in Miami, some said. ``They have to respect the desire of a lot of Cuban people -- and non-Cuban people -- who want to see Los Van Van,'' said Waldy Dominguez, 32, the sound technician for Manolin's concert who came here four years ago. ``They are not the owners of Miami.''

For the Cristal audience, Van Van and other contemporary Cuban bands represent their culture and their identity. That far outweighed the fact that Van Van members still live in the island whose government they had rejected.

``I love Van Van!'' Dasmil Valdes, 25, who came here two years ago, shouted. ``I love Cuban music! This is MY music, from when I was a child. This is MY culture.''

Even older people felt that way. ``It is very important to express Cuban culture here, and culture has nothing to do with politics,'' said Cecilia Lau, 52, who came in 1983. ``This is the best and most important music group in Cuba. These are my roots, my music, my people.''

Connecting with unknown

Those who had grown up in the United States said hearing Los Van Van was a way to connect with a country they had never known.

``I want to see my country's culture and music,'' said Lau's son Pedro, 23, who has lived here since he was eight. ``Because one day I want to go back and relate to [Cuba] as a Cuban, not as an American.''

Some thought the concert should be a way for Cubans here to find what they had in common. ``It was so exciting that an important band [from Cuba] would come to Miami,'' said Marimar Galarde, who grew up in Miami and was introduced to Los Van Van by a cousin from the island in 1989. As she spoke, Manolin was singing, ``Mami, I've got friends in Miami.''

``I don't understand why some people are making this such a negative situation,'' she said, ``when it's a chance to bring the older and younger generations of Cubans in Miami closer to our roots.''

``People think there are two Cubas, communist Cuba and capitalist Cuba,'' said Jorge Borges, 43, who came in 1980 on the Mariel boatlift. ``There is only one Cuba -- that of the island.''