BY KAREN BRANCH

 The battle over granting citizenship or residency to Elian Gonzalez has highlighted
 a little-known fact about the Cuban American National Foundation and its links to
 Congress: Miami's most important exile lobbying group and its political action
 committee often are more generous with Democrats than Republicans.

 In an irony of historical proportions, the foundation has been a major supporter
 of two nephews of President John F. Kennedy -- who earned the hostility of
 exiles by denying air support to the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.

 This may surprise Cuban Americans in Miami, most of whom are Republicans.

 But foundation folks say it just makes political sense.

 ``It should come as no surprise there are many Democrats supportive of our
 issues, foundation spokesman Fernando Rojas said. ``That's a reflection of
 our efforts to make sure that Cuba policy is bipartisan in nature.

 Those efforts are also reflected in contributions by the Free Cuba PAC, the
 political fund-raising arm of the foundation. The organization spent $53,500 on
 Democrats in the 1997-98 congressional campaign cycle, compared with $49,500
 on Republicans.

 In the 1999-2000 cycle reported so far, the balance is tilted even more toward
 Democrats. Fifty-five percent of the PAC donations ($21,000) went to
 congressional Democrats, with 45 percent ($17,000) to Republicans.

 Many of the foundation's Democratic allies are congressional members from
 Florida and New Jersey, home to large Cuban exile populations that are prolific
 voters. They include Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J.
 -- who signed on as sponsors to Florida Republican Sen. Connie Mack's bill to
 grant Elian U.S. citizenship.

 ALLY OF FOUNDATION

 Yet the foundation, too, has snagged less obvious champions for anti-Castro
 causes. The most acclaimed is Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., son of Cuban
 embargo opponent Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

 The younger Kennedy is co-sponsoring a bill by U.S. Rep. Robert Menendez -- a
 Cuban-American Democrat from New Jersey -- to grant permanent residency to
 the 6-year-old.

 They, along with Rep. Peter Deutsch, a Broward Democrat who also represents
 parts of exile-abundant Miami-Dade, signed letters to President Clinton and
 Attorney General Janet Reno to urge that they postpone Elian's return.

 The historical irony of the Kennedys' support is one acknowledged by the
 foundation, whose founder, the late Jorge Mas Canosa, was a Bay of Pigs
 veteran.

 ``When you mention the name Kennedy, you're reminded of the early days of the
 struggle against Fidel Castro and that promise that was made by that
 administration to restore democracy to Cuba, which remains unfulfilled, Rojas
 said. ``But Patrick Kennedy was one of the first to try to reach out to the
 community -- even visiting at one point with the Bay of Pigs veterans.

 ``What is interesting is here you have a new generation of Kennedys working side
 by side with another generation of Cuban Americans to try to fulfill a fundamental
 desire on our part and, indeed, on his part, to bring about freedom in Cuba.

 TIES WITH KENNEDYS

 Jorge Mas Santos, now chairman of the foundation, said his father was just as
 close to Patrick and Joe Kennedy.

 Federal contributions records show that Mas Canosa did indeed express support
 for the Kennedys -- in personal contributions. He and his wife and sons donated
 $1,450 to Patrick's 1996 reelection bid and $1,000 for the 1997-98 cycle.

 The Mas family, similar to the Free Cuba PAC, has reached into its own pockets
 more for Democrats than for Republicans in two of the last three congressional
 elections, and have so far continued that trend in the 2000 races. Only in 1996 did
 they give more to Republicans -- $39,250 compared with $21,950 to Democrats.

 The Mas family gave $26,000 to Democrats and $19,250 to Republicans in the '94
 cycle, $6,250 to Democrats and $5,750 to Republicans for the '98 races, and
 $2,000 to Democrats and $500 to Republicans for the 2000 cycle.

 ANOTHER KENNEDY

 The foundation counts among its allies former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II,
 Patrick's cousin. In the 1997-98 campaign cycle, the Free Cuba PAC gave $7,000
 to Joseph's congressional campaign and $6,500 to Patrick's.

 On Nov. 1, Joe Kennedy joined the board of directors of MasTec -- the
 telecommunications construction company chaired by Mas Santos.

 ``We've had a very close relationship with Joe and Patrick for many, many years.
 I've known them maybe seven or eight years, Mas Santos said.

 ``They've always been supporters of freedom for Cuba, and I think it's important
 that the Kennedy family -- given their spot in history with the Cuba issue -- be on
 the right side of history with those of us who want freedom and democracy for
 Cuba.

 Patrick Kennedy did not want to discuss his relationship with the foundation. He
 declined an interview through spokesman Larry Berman.

 ``We did a press release and some letters he signed on to -- and he says they
 speak for themselves, Berman said.

 VIEW ON ELIAN

 Kennedy's news release says he believes Elian's fate should be decided by U.S.
 courts: ``Those elements are particularly necessary because of the fact there is
 no freedom of speech in Cuba, and therefore, we still do not know what Elian's
 father truly wants in this matter.

 Since his election in 1994, Kennedy, now 32, has backed the foundation agenda.
 He voted against congressional efforts to end TV Marti. He supported the
 Helms-Burton bill to tighten the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.

 The foundation released a statement by Kennedy on Helms-Burton:

 ``This bill is a clear statement that the American people stand arm in arm with the
 people of Cuba in their struggle against a repressive dictator, and that we will not
 back away from being partners in our common fight for freedom begun by my
 uncle, President Kennedy, Kennedy's statement said, referring to John F.
 Kennedy's imposition of the embargo in 1961.

 ``President Kennedy looked forward to the day Cubans would live in freedom. I
 share his hope for the future of Cuba and this bill will help that day come soon.

 DEMOCRATIC BACKERS

 Other key Democrats also have backed the foundation agenda for years.

 They include Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the Senate Democratic whip, who received
 $7,000 in contributions from the Free Cuba PAC for the 1997-98 campaign cycle.

 Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn., has a relationship with the foundation that
 can be traced to his first election in 1988. Lieberman toppled the Republican
 incumbent, Sen. Lowell Weicker, who as a senator had opposed efforts to create
 Radio Marti and advocated normalization of relations with Cuba. Weicker met with
 Castro during trips to Cuba in 1980 and 1983. After the last trip, he reported in
 financial disclosures that Castro gave him a box of cigars worth $100.

 The foundation's support of Lieberman's candidacy was inevitable:

 Weicker ``was literally close personal friends of Fidel Castro, Rojas said. ``It was
 unfortunate a senator from Connecticut would vacation with Fidel Castro -- and we
 felt it critical to target that race.

 ``We established a very close relationship with Sen. Lieberman, who understood
 the plight of the Cuban people. Jorge Mas Canosa and he became very close
 friends over the years. . . . In the case of Elian, he was one of the first individuals
 who wanted to help with us. He's going to be a co-sponsor of the bill to grant him
 citizenship.

 PLAN DELAYED

 Despite intense lobbying efforts by the foundation and Elian's family to make the
 boy a U.S. citizen, the bill has received a cool reception to the fast-track effort.
 GOP leaders who originally expected to bring the issue up for early floor votes
 now have delayed the plan.

 Lieberman and Torricelli also wrote a letter to Reno, a fellow Democrat, on Jan. 7,
 asking her to delay enforcement of a ruling by the Immigration and Naturalization
 Service to return Elian to Cuba by Jan. 14.

 The Free Cuba PAC gave at least $10,000 to Lieberman in the current 2000
 campaign cycle -- and Mas family members have given him at least $1,000 more.
 The PAC also gave $5,000 to Sen. Charles Robb, a Virgina Democrat and a
 frequent supporter of foundation positions.

 ``He's one of the Senate's six Vietnam veterans, so he had a pretty hardline
 stance on communism, Robb chief of staff Tom Lehner explained.

 The foundation proved its loyalty to Robb, even in 1994, when he was challenged
 by a Republican whose hard-line views mirrored the foundation's: Iran-contra figure
 Oliver North.

 ROBB'S POSITION

 Mas Canosa, then foundation chairman, endorsed Robb over North.

 But where the sticky issue of Elian is concerned, Robb is not so disposed to take
 a leadership role, his chief of staff said. Indeed, even GOP leaders who were
 originally expected to bring up the boy's citizenship question for early floor votes
 now have delayed the plan until a federal judge in Miami rules on the case --
 despite intense lobbying efforts by the foundation and Elian's family and allies.

 One day after Mack announced Robb was one of the co-sponsors of his bill to
 grant Elian citizenship, Lehner said it wasn't true.

 ``He's not on it. Mack just misspoke. This isn't as central to us as it is to the
 Florida delegation, said Lehner, whose boss is up for reelection this year after
 barely defeating North in the 1994 race. ``This is not to say we might not vote for
 this thing. We still haven't sat down to determine a course of action.
 

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald