That may continue to be the case until El Comandante's dying day -- or it could change come November with a Democratic victory. But the crucial Democrat on Election Day may not be the presidential candidate, even though the current front-runner has indicated a willingness to soften America's hard line toward Cuba. Real policy change may hinge on whether a Democrat wins one of three South Florida House seats currently held by Cuban-American Republicans. It's a once unthinkable possibility that, this fall, may suddenly be more than a pipe dream.

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Gonzalez wipes the sweat off his brow and smiles. Perspiration stains the neck and armpits of his camouflage jacket. All around him are men in fatigues, some flat-bellied on the grass shooting rounds, others cleaning their weapons or picking through ammunition boxes. The air is thick with cigar smoke. At age 71, Gonzalez is still one of the best marksmen at this training camp for Alpha 66, the paramilitary Cuban exile group formed in 1961 "with the intention of making commando type attacks on Cuba," as the organization's Web site baldly puts it. Gonzalez hopes to put his skills to use when the second revolution comes, the one that will tear his homeland free from the grip of communist dictator Fidel Castro. At that point Gonzalez hopes to have a Cuban soldier in his sights, not a paper silhouette.

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