The prize will be presented at a Nov. 3 banquet.

SANDRA MARQUEZ GARCIA

 A free-speech foundation established by USA Today founder Al Neuharth has
 awarded a $1 million prize in honor of Elián González and will use the money to
 help refugee children.

 The Arlington, Va.-based Freedom Forum did not have the option of giving the $1
 million award to Elián or his father, who has custody of the boy and lives in Cuba.

 ``There are laws that prohibit us from giving money to Cuban nationals,'' said
 Donna Fowler, a spokeswoman for the foundation.

 A nine-member committee comprising journalists, academics and foundation
 board members chose the 6-year-old Cuban sea disaster survivor as the first
 recipient of the Al Neuharth Free Spirit Award ``for the spirit he displayed during
 his ocean ordeal and during the subsequent tug of war over his future.''

 The $1 million prize -- established last year with a $25 million endowment in the
 name of the foundation's retired trustee -- will be used to create the Free Spirit
 Youth Refugee Fund. The fund will provide humanitarian assistance and
 scholarship aid to needy refugee children from any country who are living in the
 United States.

 Elián was found lashed to an inner tube last Thanksgiving Day, one of three
 survivors from a boat that capsized as it tried to reach Florida from Cuba. His
 mother and 10 others died during the perilous sea crossing.

 Following a seven-month custody battle that culminated with the INS raid that
 seized Elián from the home of his Miami relatives, Elián and his father returned to
 Cuba in June.

 The foundation will hold an award banquet Nov. 3 to present the prize. Charles
 Overby, chairman and chief executive of the foundation, said it will try to contact
 the Cuban boy's relatives in Cuba and Miami to notify them of the award and the
 ceremony next month.

 Phone calls to spokesmen for the boy's relatives in Miami and Cuba were not
 returned late Tuesday.

 The Associated Press contributed to this report.