PAUL BRINKLEY-ROGERS

 The chain-link fence in front of Elian's house has suddenly become international,
 with the banners of many nations fluttering in the stiff afternoon breeze alongside
 the huge Cuban and U.S. flags that have been there since Day One.

 The lineup of flags from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic,
 Honduras, Hungary, Israel, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and
 Venezuela -- plus the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico -- reflects the growing
 presence in the crowd of Elian partisans of citizens from these countries.

 More and more non-Hispanic whites are also turning up, carrying the Stars and
 Stripes and signs sharply critical of President Bill Clinton and U.S. Attorney
 General Janet Reno.

 Their motivation is often anti-government. Richard Baird, a 45-year-old refrigeration
 specialist from Tampa said, for example, he was in the crowd on Tuesday to ''get
 Washington out of a simple child custody issue.'' Steve Iaocobucci, 46, from Fort
 Lauderdale, whose sign said Reno should be jailed, said ''None of our so-called
 leaders have any backbone.''

 The reasons other non-Cubans are being drawn in recent days to what has been
 perceived as a purely Cuban-American issue are often religious.

 CAME FROM NICARAGUA

 ''I want Elian's family to know they are not alone,'' said Abel Lopez Garcia of
 León, Nicaragua, waving his country's blue and white flag over the sea of Cuban
 flags carried by protesters lined up at the police barricade on NW 2nd Street.
 ''All over Central America people are praying for the boy.

 ''The United States should not do anything crazy -- like bust in here and try to
 take him [Elian],'' said Lopez, 38, a Miami religious worker. ''This could look really
 bad for America if the President does not have the guts to do what is right.''

 Roberto Sanchez waved the Israel's Star of David banner, tied to a broomstick.

 Why Israel's flag, if he is Cuban?

 ''Elian is the Moses of the year 2000,'' said Sanchez, 65, of Miami. ''The Bible
 says Moses was found in the water [as a baby among the bullrushes].

 ''This is a sacred child,'' said Sanchez, who said his family is Jewish. ''So the flag
 of the Holy Land is appropriate here, because this street is holy land.''

 Bill Zuckerman, 50, from Sacramento, Ca., had taken an early Revolutionary War
 flag -- a coiled snake on a yellow background with the motto ''Don't Tread on Me''
 -- to the street.

 ''That flag represents my sentiments,'' said the aerospace worker, who took
 vacation time to fly out to Florida to join the protesters. ''I didn't bring the U.S. flag
 because that is a damned symbol of corruption. That's Clinton's flag.''

 MANY FLAGS

 Roberto Rodriguez, 71, sells 30 to 40 of these flags a day -- small cotton ones
 are $5 -- from his Ford Aerostar van parked at NW 3rd Street and 24th Avenue
 just around the block from Elian's house.

 The most popular, he said, is the flag of Cuba, followed in order of popularity by
 Puerto Rico, the U.S., Colombia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Honduras.

 ''I came here,'' he said, ''after I heard on the radio that people from these countries
 were coming here to give their support. I put out the flags and those people were
 very happy to have the chance to buy one.

 ''They are proud to be here with Elian and wave their colors.''

 Ruben Salazar, 42, from the Dominican Republic, held his country's red and blue
 flag with a white cross and stood in a crowd of Cuban-American men and women
 praying with their rosaries for divine intervention in Elian's fate.

 ''We are all brothers and sisters,'' said Salazar, a Miami restaurant worker.

 ''Here we are saying a simple prayer for help. God will not turn his face from this
 little boy. I am not from Cuba, but most of the people I work with are from there.
 How could I not come here to be with them after seeing the look on their faces
 when they talk about Elian?''

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald