MIAMI BEACH (Reuters) - Arson was blamed for an early morning fire Tuesday at a Miami Beach club, possibly as a protest by Cuban exiles to a scheduled appearance there of a top singer from Communist Cuba.

The blaze at the Club Amnesia, begun at the main door, was quickly contained, with damage limited at about $1,500, said Miami Beach police spokesman Bobby Hernandez.

A Club Amnesia staff member, asked if the fire could be linked to Tuesday night's scheduled show by Manolin "el Medico de la Salsa'' (the Salsa Doctor), said, "Of course that's what it's all about.'' The show would go on, he said.

Police spokesman Hernandez agreed that the fire could have been set as a protest to the show, but said, ``We're not ruling out anything.''

Manolin is the latest in a flurry of musicians from Communist Cuba to play in Miami, a bastion of exiles opposed to President Fidel Castro.

While their appearances have been welcomed by many as a sign of changing attitudes and a means of reconciliation, exiles have rejected any such contacts and say the Cuban musicians are, in effect, acting as Castro's agents.

In previous years exile protests have marred attempts to stage shows by Cubans.

Manolin -- Manuel Gonzalez Hernandez - was quoted in the Tuesday edition of The Miami Herald as saying he wanted to perform in Miami more than anywhere else other than Cuba.

"Besides Cuba, where else in the world are there more Cubans than in Miami,'' he said.

A new song, with the lines, ``to think I'd live to see the times changing so much that now I've got friends in Miami,'' was written in response to the developing bonds, he said.

17:42 10-20-98

Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.