By Eddie Dominguez, Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) -- A sea of Cuban flags waved in the breeze Tuesday as the body of Jorge Mas Canosa, an ardent foe of Fidel Castro who successfully crusaded to isolate Cuba's communist regime, was buried in his adopted homeland.

In a ceremony befitting a head of state, the crowd at Woodlawn Cemetery in Miami's Little Havana shouted "Adelante, adelante, adelante,'' echoing what were said to be Mas' last words: "Forward, forward, forward.''

Mas, 58, died Sunday in Miami due to complications from lung cancer. He had fled Cuba in 1960 and settled in Florida, where he became the powerful leader of the Cuban exile community.

Mas is credited with the passage of legislation that tightened the economic noose on Cuba and the formation of Radio and TV Marti, which beam uncensored news to Cuba.

Thousands of mourners attended the funeral Mass before marching behind a hearse carrying Mas' casket more than a mile to the cemetery. The streets were lined with even more mourners, many of which joined the procession.

Mostly older Cubans attended the funeral, but a small group of children who escaped Cuba on rafts and were interned in refugee camps at Guantanamo Bay naval base on the island's eastern tip also paid their respects.

"We very much loved him,'' said 13-year-old Yenisei Gonzalez, as she looked to the ground and held a sign saying, "Jorge Mas Canosa, We will never forget you.''

The children credited Mas with brokering the deal that freed them from the refugee camps and allowed them to come to the United States at the end of the Cuban refugee crisis of 1994 when 30,000 took to the seas on rafts.

At the Mass led by three bishops, including the exile community's spiritual leader, the Rev. Agustin Roman, Mas was remembered as a young man who came to the United States in the 1960s and built a $500 million telecommunications company from scratch.

More than 2,500 people packed St. Michael Church in Little Havana. Thousands more stood outside, listening to the service on loudspeakers.

President Clinton sent Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., on behalf of the White House. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright sent her condolences as did several heads of state and diplomats.

"Unjust is the death of a liberator while the tyrant lives,'' Torricelli said in one eulogy. "Jorge Mas Canosa wanted only for the people of Cuba to live with the freedom of all other people. ... He created a movement larger than even himself.''

Torricelli predicted that some day Cuban school children would learn about Mas and come to know him as a hero and patriot.

Mas' son, in a graveside speech, rallied the thousands who came to mourn.

"I promised him we would finish his work,'' Jorge Mas Jr. said.

As his father's casket was lowered, Mas Jr. sprinkled dirt from Cuba on the casket and whispered: "We will return soon.''

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