Fearing for their safety, a band featuring members of the Cuban all-star group Buena Vista Social Club [ tickets ] has called off a planned February performance in Miami Beach. The cancellation comes in the wake of the hostile greeting received in Miami by fellow countrymen Los Van Van [ tickets ] earlier this month.

Orquesta Ibrahim Ferrer y Ruben Gonzalez Su Grupo, the best-known of the five Cuban bands that have spun off from the Buena Vista Social Club, had been scheduled to perform a concert at the Jackie Gleason Theater on Feb. 11.

''The bottom line is that they didn't feel safe after what happened with the Los Van Van show,'' said concert promoter Debbie Ohanian. ''The sad thing is that there are people here celebrating that fact as a victory.''

The first-ever Miami appearance by Cuban dance band Los Van Van drew nearly 4,000 protestors to Miami Arena on Oct. 9. Some right-wing Cuban exiles in Miami have dubbed Los Van Van the ''official band'' of Cuban President Fidel Castro, and have rallied against other Cuban artists who have tried to play in Miami.

Last August, a bomb threat at the Miami Beach Convention Center cut short a concert by Cuban musician Compay Segundo [ tickets ] and his quartet. Segundo is also a member of Buena Vista Social Club, a group of legendary Cuban musicians assembled and recorded in 1996 by Ry Cooder in Cuba. That gathering was the subject of a Wim Wenders documentary film that was released in June.

Buena Vista Social Club performed its only North American concert July 1 at New York's Carnegie Hall. The principal members of the group include guitarist Ry Cooder, vocalist Ibrahim Ferrer, pianist Ruben Gonzalez, guitarist/vocalist Eliades Ochoa, and guitarist/vocalist Compay Segundo.

A two-night stand in Amsterdam this April was the only other time that the group has performed on stage together.

Orquesta Ibrahim Ferrer y Ruben Gonzalez Su Grupo is currently on a North American theater tour that concludes in November. The group returns to tour North America in late January. Under the current U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, Cuban bands are allowed to perform in the U.S. because of cultural exchange exemptions, but may only receive a per-diem and may not profit.

Ohanian said that she is bringing Los Van Van back for another South Florida concert in December, but she is not publicizing the date or location of the performance. ''It will be a private show,'' she said. ''I want to try to avoid all of the hoopla and the press. The people who need to know about it will know.''