By Andrew Cawthorne
HAVANA, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The paternal grandmother of 6- year-old Cuban shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez said on Wednesday that she is willing to travel briefly to the United States on condition that it is simply to bring her grandson back.
``I will only be there for five minutes, the time I will need to pick him up wherever they have him -- in a church, in immigration or wherever they place him. Five minutes, no more,'' Mariela Quintana told Cuban state news agency Prensa Latina.
Her comment, more an expression of hope than a concrete plan at this stage, nevertheless reinforced Cuba's position that Elian's father or any of his four grandparents here should only go to Florida with guarantees of the boy's passage home.
The United States said on Tuesday it supported the idea of a visit to Miami by the grandmothers of Elian, and would speed up the processing of any visa applications. But Cuba is worried that without assurances, the relatives will be entangled in U.S. legal and political battles.
More than seven weeks have passed since Elian was picked up on Nov. 25 in the sea off Florida, prompting a custody dispute between his relatives in Cuba and the United States, who disagree on where the boy should now be brought up.
The issue quickly escalated into a political dispute between Cuban President Fidel Castro's government, which backs Elian's father's claim, and anti-communist Cuban-American exile groups in Miami, which want him brought up in the United States.
Elian's mother and 10 other illegal migrants died after the capsize of the boat bringing them out of Cuba, but the boy miraculously survived two days and nights holding onto an inner tube.
The U.S. Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) has ruled that Elian belongs with his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, who lives in Cuba and was divorced from the mother.
But implementation of that decision has been delayed while Elian's relatives challenge it in court. Further complicating the issue, the U.S. Congress may consider a proposal to award him American nationality.
Staff at the U.S. Interests' Section in Cuba said they have not received any visa request from Elian's relatives here, but would give any such request priority treatment.
The paternal grandmother, Quintana, who lives in Elian's town of birth, Cardenas, added in her comments Wednesday that she wanted to go and collect Elian ``because he belongs to us according to law.'' The boy's father has repeatedly said he personally did not want to go to Miami.
Asked if she would be prepared to meet with the U.S. relatives currently looking after Elian, Quintana replied: ``I don't know if I can calmly stand seeing them in front of me.''
A senior Cuban official, Ricardo Alarcon, reiterated on Wednesday his government's disgust with the delay in returning Elian in line with the INS ruling.
``What they are trying to do is extend the kidnapping, prolong it,'' he said in an interview on state television, noting Wednesday's scheduled attempt by the relatives to block the INS decision in a Miami court. Alarcon heads Cuba's National Assembly.
Elian's relatives in Cuba were free to go where they wanted but should be careful not to get drawn into legal and political manoeuvres in Miami designed ``to extend the abuse,'' he warned.
``Are we talking about going to pick up the child? Who guarantees it will be like that?'' asked Alarcon, Castro's point man on U.S. relations.
Beyond the war of words, daily protests were continuing in Cuba, with youngsters, students and members of the legal profession gathering to demand Elian's return scheduled for Wednesday evening at Havana's Conventions Palace.
On Monday and Tuesday evenings, state television held lengthy round-table discussions -- broadcast live across the nation -- with psychiatrists and teachers discussing the case and the psychological damage they say Elian is suffering.
Massive demonstrations outside the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana have let up briefly while workmen move in to build a ``permanent stage'' for demonstrations outside the compound on the capital's picturesque seafront Malecon boulevard.
20:46 01-19-00
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