BY ANA RADELAT
 Special to The Herald

 BETHESDA, Md. -- Montgomery County Police took charge of security
 arrangements Thursday around the suburban home of Cuba's chief diplomat
 in Washington, Fernando Remirez, who vacated his house to make room for
 Juan Miguel Gonzalez, his wife and young son.

 A lone Secret Service agent and several State Department security officers
 left their posts in front of the home shortly after Gonzalez and his family arrived
 in a seven-car police motorcade from Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

 The Cuban Interests Section waived the diplomatic immunity status of the
 Remirez residence and allowed the Montgomery County Police to come onto the
 property. Officers entered the house several times during the day, giving its
 occupants updates on the situation outside.

 The waiver could thwart any argument by the Miami relatives of Elian Gonzalez
 that turning the boy over to his father in the home would be surrendering him to
 Cuban territory.

 An army of journalists and media technicians invaded the high-income residential
 neighborhood. Police quickly set up orange-and-white plastic barricades to stop
 traffic into the block, directing the horde of media around the block to a spot about
 50 yards away from the brick, split-level home where the Gonzalez family is
 staying.

 A second cordoned-off area, behind the media section and about a block and half
 from the house, was set up to keep protesters from moving closer.

 ``If Elian comes here, everything is going to go up a notch,'' predicted
 Montgomery County spokesman David Weaver.

 `SENSE OF NORMALCY'

 In a letter delivered to area residents Wednesday night, Montgomery County
 Executive Douglas M. Duncan warned residents that Elian's father might soon be
 their neighbor and assured them the county would ``maintain some sense of
 normalcy.''

 Besides directing traffic away from the Remirez residence and making sure
 reporters stayed in their proper place, the principal duty of the two dozen
 uniformed Montgomery County police officers on the site appeared to be to
 ensure that the growing mob of journalists kept off the well-tended lawns and
 flower beds.

 Lt. William O'Toole, the police spokesman on the scene, disappointed many
 when he said that no porta-potties would be brought in.

 ``We don't want this to look like an encampment,'' he said.

 The police were also trying to establish communications with the home's
 inhabitants so officers could ``prepare for any changes in the situation,'' O'Toole
 said.

 ``They've been very hospitable, but there's no official spokesperson,'' O'Toole
 complained. ``We'd like to keep informed about what's going on.''

 SECURITY DETAIL

 One security problem that concerns the local police force is the apparent failure
 to decide which federal agency will be in charge of providing a security detail that
 would accompany Juan Miguel Gonzalez on his trips out of the house.

 Immigration and Naturalization Service spokeswoman Maria Cardona said the
 issue was ``still being discussed'' between the INS and the State Department.
 The failure to come to a decision about the security detail has reportedly
 complicated arrangements for Juan Miguel Gonzalez to meet with Attorney
 General Janet Reno.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald