BY JOHN RICE
 Associated Press

 HAVANA -- Elian Gonzalez's grandmothers arrived back in Cuba on Sunday
 without the child they had hoped to bring home, but they were greeted as
 heroines nonetheless with an enormous government-organized parade through the
 streets of the Cuban capital.

 ``We are leaving, but Elian is still'' in the United States, said the 6-year-old boy's
 paternal grandmother, Mariela Quintana, as she wrapped up her campaign for the
 child's return to Cuba. Quintana spoke before leaving with maternal grandmother
 Raquel Rodriguez on a private plane from Washington's Dulles International
 Airport.

 ``He will never be happy [in the United States], because he grew up in Cuba,'' she
 said. ``He is a Cuban boy. He has a father. He has four grandparents and an
 entire family back there.''

 The boy's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, embraced the women as they stepped
 off a business jet at Jose Marti International Airport, then rode with them in a
 convertible as they waved at the crowds of hundreds of thousands of people
 waving Cuban flags.

 Government TV and radio stations, which broadcast the event live, had repeatedly
 announced the route of the 16-mile ``caravan of dignity'' through Havana, and
 newspapers published schedules for special buses to take people to it.

 Even the national soccer championship game, which had been scheduled for
 Sunday, was postponed for a week so players and spectators could attend the
 event.

 The grandmothers were returning after ``brave and extraordinary work in the United
 States, overcoming great obstacles and transmitting a persuasive message to the
 U.S. people,'' said a government statement published on the front pages of all
 newspapers here Sunday.

 Since the grandmothers left Havana on Jan. 21, the government has given
 increasingly massive TV and newspaper coverage to their tour of the United
 States, crediting them with helping sway U.S. public opinion toward Elian's return.

 ``The heroic behavior of these humble and good-natured grandmothers has gained
 the respect, the admiration of the people who will await them with a warm and
 massive reception,'' the government's statement said.

 The women -- until recently obscure housewives from the provincial city of
 Cardenas -- have found themselves on worldwide television meeting lawmakers
 and U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.

 ``We think we have a step forward, but still my grandson is here,'' Rodriguez, the
 maternal grandmother, said before leaving Washington.

 ``I would like to thank the American people and the Cuban Americans who are
 here and who have helped us,'' she said. ``We would like to remind them to keep
 helping us, because Elian is still here.''

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald