From Associated Press

HAVANA -- The most famous boy in Cuba, 7-year-old Elian Gonzalez, stood by Fidel Castro's side in a rare public appearance today at a colorful and politically
tinged children's performance.

"Socialist children," thousands of boys and girls in school uniforms sang at the closing ceremony at a meeting of the Pioneers, the island's communist group for
schoolchildren. "Steadfast! Steadfast!"

Elian smiled as he walked into a Havana amphitheater with his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, and his 2-year-old half-brother Hianny.

Sitting in the front row, they watched series of children in colorful costumes sing, dance and perform skits on a stage built outside the U.S. Interests Section-- the
American mission here-- during Gonzalez's battle for his son's return from the United States.

Castro, who embraced Gonzalez's fight for his son last year and made it a national cause that eventually captured the world's attention, sat in the same row and
greeted Elian with a kiss after the performance wrapped up an hour later.

Wearing his traditional olive green uniform, the Cuban president spent a few more minutes greeting other children with kisses and pats on the head. Neither Castro's
nor Elian's attendance was announced in advance.

The Cuban government organized hundreds of rallies, marches and other gatherings across the island over seven months last year to demand Elian's repatriation,
insisting that he had been "kidnapped" by the Miami relatives fighting to keep him in the United States.

Gonzalez returned with Elian to Cuba a year ago last month after winning a child custody battle that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Castro's government promised to protect the motherless boy's privacy after his return, and the child has rarely been seen in public since then.

Elian's mother and 10 others died in late November 1999 when their boat capsized during an attempt to immigrate from Cuba to the United States by sea. Elian was
rescued by two men on a fishing trip off the coast of Florida after they found him floating on an inner tube.

The resulting custody battle divided Cubans on both sides of the Florida straits, pitting the communist government against its ideological enemies in Miami's Cuban
exile community.

Havana backed Gonzalez's argument for his right to custody as Elian's sole surviving parent.

Elian's Miami relatives and the anti-Castro exiles who backed them argued that Elian would have a better life and more opportunities off the communist island.

Copyright 2001, Los Angeles Times