HAVANA (AP) -- Elian Gonzalez and the rest of his family sent a Father's Day
                  greeting to President Fidel Castro on the eve of a Saturday rally by more than
                  300,000 people in eastern Cuba to protest the 6-year-old's extended stay in the
                  United States.

                  "On this Father's Day we want to send you an affectionate greeting and a
                  deserved kiss from all of us," read the letter sent to Castro and all Cuban fathers
                  and read Friday night on state television. "Especially to the father who we love
                  very much for his unequaled teaching and infinite love ... our
                  commander-in-chief" Fidel Castro.

                  Elian's name led the list of signatories, followed by his father, Juan Miguel
                  Gonzalez, his stepmother, Nersy, and five schoolmates from his hometown of
                  Cardenas, Cuba, who are staying with the family in the United States.

                  "We would like very much to be with you today, sharing the happiness that
                  characterizes our family," the letter read. "But, as you know the enemies of the
                  fatherland are delaying Elian's return."

                  The rally was among the largest that has been held in the Cuban countryside
                  since early December, when Cuba launched a national campaign of mass
                  gatherings demanding the boy's return.

                  "We know that the objective of the 'mafia' and the relatives is to gain time,"
                  student Yenes Alvarez told the crowd in the Plaza of the Revolution in
                  Camaguey, about 325 miles east of Havana. "We denounce their dirty intentions.
                  ... We must be better prepared and united in this battle."

                  The gathering was attended by Gen. Raul Castro, head of the Revolutionary
                  Armed Forces and younger brother of President Fidel Castro. State television
                  broadcast the event live, offering sweeping aerial views that showed the sea of
                  people waving red, white and blue banners fashioned after the Cuban flag.

                  On the eve of the rally, Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's National Assembly,
                  told a national television program that Cubans must prepare themselves for new
                  delays in Elian's return.

                  Alarcon criticized a court order preventing the child from leaving the United
                  States with his father while their relatives in Miami continue legal maneuvers
                  aimed at preventing them from returning to Cuba.

                  Alarcon, who has played a central role in the Elian case, said that the Miami
                  relatives' appeal last week of an appellate court decision siding with Elian's father
                  was a "great farce."

                  Elian has been at the center of an international custody battle since he was
                  rescued off the coast of Florida in late November after his mother and 10 others
                  died when their boat sank during a journey to the United States.

                  He lived with his Miami relatives for five months until their temporary custody of
                  the boy was revoked by the U.S. government and he was forcibly reunited with
                  his father in the United States on April 22.

                  The relatives asked the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday to
                  reverse a decision that would allow boy to return to Cuba with his father.

                  A three-judge panel of the 12-member court ruled two weeks ago that the
                  Immigration and Naturalization Service had the right to deny the boy an asylum
                  hearing requested by his relatives. But the ruling blocked Elian from returning to
                  Cuba immediately, giving the relatives two weeks to appeal.

                  Circuit Judge J.L. Edmondson ordered the government and lawyers for Elian's
                  father to file a joint response to the appeal by 11 a.m. Tuesday.