BY FRANK DAVIES AND JAY WEAVER

 WASHINGTON -- A group of House Democrats, child advocates and lawyers
 Thursday criticized the Clinton administration for delaying the return of Elian
 Gonzalez to his father in Cuba, and kicked off three days of meetings and rallies
 to press their case.

 Several speakers at a Capitol Hill press conference said Attorney General Janet
 Reno and immigration officials had bent to the political will of Cuban-American
 exiles in South Florida in not moving swiftly to return the boy, who has stayed
 with Miami relatives since he was rescued at sea on Thanksgiving Day.

 ``Janet Reno has failed to exercise her authority, and I find it hard to explain to
 people how our government can be intimidated by a small group of people in
 Miami who hate Castro,'' said Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat.

 Jose Pertierra, a Cuban-American immigration attorney in Washington, said:
 ``Many Cuban Americans, certainly in Miami, favor Elians return to his father but
 are afraid to say so.''

 The boys case will be considered Tuesday in Miami federal court. U.S. Senior
 District Judge William Hoeveler may decide whether he has the jurisdiction, at the
 request of the Miami relatives, to consider blocking the Immigration and
 Naturalization Service decision made on Jan. 5 to return the boy. Elian lost his
 mother on tragic boat trip from Cuba to Florida. His father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez,
 has pleaded for his return to Cuba.

 LOBBYING CONGRESS

 The coalition of return-Elian advocates, including several religious leaders, plans
 to lobby members of Congress today and hold a march and rally Saturday in
 Lafayette Park across from the White House.

 They are trying to counter efforts by the Miami relatives and Sister Jeanne
 OLaughlin, president of Barry University, who have urged members to consider a
 citizenship bill for the boy that would take his case to family court.

 Sister Alice Zachmann, a member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, has
 worked for human rights in Guatemala and said that ``as a Catholic, I always
 uphold the sanctity of the family as one of our most basic human rights.''

 She was joined by Thom Fassett, general secretary of the United Methodist
 Church, the Rev. Lucius Walker, executive director of Pastors for Peace, and the
 Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, a former general secretary of the National Council of
 Churches who has met with the boys family in Cuba several times.

 Walter Benda, a member of the Childrens Rights Council, said that any further
 delay in returning Elian could endanger the chances of hundreds of U.S. parents
 seeking the return of children kept in other countries.

 FATHER'S REQUESTS

 Frustrated by the federal government's failure to return his son, Elian's father Juan
 Gonzalez launched a letter-writing campaign this month to pressure immigration
 officials into following through on their promise to send the boy back home.

 The father also asked the INS to move Elian from the home of Elian's great-uncle
 Lazaro Gonzalez to that of another great-uncle, Manuel Gonzalez. And, the father
 requested that Cuban officials in Washington, D.C., be allowed to visit his son to
 check up on his condition.

 The INS completed its response to his concerns on Thursday, but declined to
 disclose its content because the agency had not sent the letter through the U.S.
 Interests Section in Havana to Elian's father. A spokeswoman said the response
 would be faxed this morning.

 ``We're still trying to figure out how to get it to the father,'' INS spokeswoman
 Maria Cardona said Thursday.

 FATHER TO VISIT?

 Meanwhile, there was widespread speculation that Elian's father might come to
 Washington next week as the dispute takes center stage in Miami federal court.

 Clinton administration officials said the father has not applied for a visa.

 Campbell, of the National Council of Churches, which has been working closely
 with Elian's father and the Cuban government to win the boy's return, said there
 are no firm plans for Juan Gonzalez to visit Washington.

 ``There is no decision when or if the father would come,'' Campbell said. ``But, the
 fact is, it's under consideration and more serious than it was before.

 ``I remain committed that [Elian] should go home,'' she added. ``I'm getting
 worried that it has taken so long. It's in that spirit there is a renewed discussion
 about the father coming here. But I don't think he will come next week.''

 BISHOP CRITICIZED

 That was not the only story circulating through Miami on Thursday. Callers to
 Spanish-language radio denounced Auxiliary Bishop Augustin Ramon, who is
 generally revered in the Cuban exile community, for allegedly saying during an
 interview with Channel 51 that the boy should be sent back to his father.

 But in that television interview, Ramon actually said: ``Children belong to their
 parents and their family. The case of Elian should be decided by his family, not
 by the church nor by the community.''

 Herald staff writer Ana Acle and Herald translator Renato Perez also contributed
 to this report.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald