MIAMI (CNN) -- About 100,000 Cuban-Americans and their supporters
                  gathered in the Little Havana area of Miami on Saturday for what organizers called the
                  biggest demonstration yet against the forced removal of Elian Gonzalez from the
                  home of his Miami relatives.

                  "This is a moment where the three generations of Cubans that are here are
                  coming together in favor of supporting the child Elian and denouncing the aggressive
                  way that they entered his home," said Andres Nazario Sargen, of Alpha 66, an
                  anti-Castro group.

                  Elian is staying in Queensland, Maryland, with his Cuban father, Juan Miguel
                  Gonzalez, his stepmother Nercy and his baby half-brother Hianny. The family
                  traveled to the United States from Cuba to await pending court cases in Elian's
                  custody case. U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service officials, acting on a
                  ruling that he be returned to his father, seized him from his great-uncle Lazaro
                  Gonzalez's Little Havana house on April 22.

                  Miami Police Lt. Rene Landa said about 100,000 people attended the protest,
                  according to The Miami Herald. The protest was held near Miami's Bay of Pigs
                  Memorial and began at 3 p.m., breaking up about two hours later.

                 Great-uncle appeals for calm

                  Leading up to the protest, Elian's great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez made a plea for calm.

                  "Elian is gone for now and my heart is broken," he said in a statement released Friday. "But South
                  Florida must stay united. We cannot allow this tragedy to destroy our community."

                  Police stayed visibly distant from the chanting demonstrators, many of whom carried signs
                  denouncing U.S. President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno, who has
                  championed the INS ruling to return Elian to his father.

                  Police cordoned off 23 blocks of the main route along Calle Ocho, or Eighth Street, as the crowds
                  of people, many dressed in black and waving Cuban and U.S. flags, marched in formation.

                  The procession included Cuban-American veterans groups and marching bands, including
                  one from Lincoln-Marti School, which Elian attended while living with his Miami relatives.

                  Overhead, two aircraft flew from Brothers to the Rescue, the exile group formed to search the
                  Florida Straits for Cubans attempting to reach Florida by raft.

                  Mothers Against Repression joined the march with about 40 women, all dressed in black,
                  marching with about 300 supporters, men and women.

                 Miami relatives did not participate in protest

                  Manny Diaz, one of the Miami relatives' attorneys, said the Gonzalez family would not
                  participate in the march. But Donato Dalrymple, the man who plucked Elian from the sea last
                  Thanksgiving, was among the crowd.

                  "All we want is freedom," said Arnold Villar, a Little Havana resident. "Don't let the truth get
                  covered up by what a few people are doing or what people think is happening in Miami."

                  Ricardo Ferrieya, a Cuban-born accountant, distributed copies of a letter urging protesters to
                  write to politicians in Washington, D.C., and demanded an investigation into the raid.

                  "They have to listen. It's as simple as that," he said.

                 Two counter-demonstrations held

                  In a separate, much smaller rally that billed itself as "pro-American," demonstrators lined the
                  streets for five blocks in south Miami-DadeCounty.

                  Participants expressed support for Attorney General Janet Reno's decision to remove Elian
                  from the Gonzalez home. They waved U.S. and Confederate flags. One person held a sign reading
                  "Janet Reno for President." The crowd included whites and African-Americans.

                  About 100 people participated in a third march, which took place in Coconut Grove, where they
                  called for the firing of Miami Mayor Joe Carollo.

                  The mayor has been at the center of controversy for recent comments and actions concerning the
                  Elian case. Carollo fired City Manager Donald Warshaw on Thursday. He said he took the action
                  because the manager refused to fire Police Chief William O'Brien, who knew of, but did not inform
                  the mayor of the impending raid to take Elian from the Gonzalez home.

                  Warshaw will be allowed to remain in his post until May 7.

                  On Friday, O'Brien announced his retirement after 25 years on the force.

                  "I refuse to be the chief of police in a city that has someone as divisive and
                  destructive as Joe Carollo as mayor," O'Brien said at a Friday news conference.
                  O'Brien said he was required by law to stay quiet about the raid.

                  At a separate gathering 15 miles north of Miami, at Pembroke Pines, federal
                  agents had a picnic to celebrate the success of the raid that reunited Elian with
                  his father.

                  "We have a reason to celebrate, we did something that everyone said could not
                  be done," Immigration and Naturalization Service district director Bob Wallis told
                  the Miami television station WFOR.

                  Many Cuban exiles took to the streets in protest soon after INS agents raided the
                  home of Elian's Miami relatives last weekend. The demonstrators set more than
                  200 fires, burning mostly tires and trash. More than 300 arrests were made by
                  police in last weekend's protests.

                 More visitors for Elian

                  Meanwhile, Fernando Remirez, Cuba's diplomatic representative in Washington,
                  went to the State Department Friday to ask for a Cuban diplomatic presence at
                  the Queenstown, Maryland, home where Elian is staying, a department official
                  said.

                  The U.S. State Department official, who asked not to be identified, said the
                  request was under discussion, but added that the department did not believe there
                  was a compelling reason to grant it.

                  On Friday, Elian was visited by two of his Cuban kindergarten classmates. Two
                  boys and two girls accompanied by three parents and Elian's Cuban doctor
                  arrived late Thursday night.

                  Elian's former teacher, Agueda Fleitas, and his 10-year-old cousin Yosmani
                  Betancourt flew to Washington to visit the boy on Wednesday and also are
                  staying at the Maryland home, according to the Cuban Interests Section in
                  Washington.

                 Senate postpones hearing on raid

                  Also on Friday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch
                  indefinitely postponed next week's hearing on the government's raid to
                  seize Elian because the U.S. Justice Department was unable to provide all
                  documents requested by a Friday deadline.

                  Hatch, R-Utah, had asked Reno to provide all documents related to the
                  surveillance of the Miami residence of the Gonzalez family, the search
                  warrant used for the raid, the decision to send INS agents into the
                  home to remove the boy and the conduct of the operation.

                  Jeanne Lopatto, a committee spokeswoman, said the government could not
                  provide all the documentation by Friday's 5 p.m. deadline, so the chairman
                  decided to delay the hearing. The hearing will be rescheduled in the coming
                  weeks.

                  Committee members have said they want to determine whether armed federal
                  agents used too much force in the raid. Agents broke in, whisked the boy out of
                  the home and flew him to Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, where
                  Elian was reunited with his father.

                  Elian is under a federal appeals court order to remain in the United States until the
                  court rules on the Miami relatives' bid for him to have an asylum hearing.

                  The child has been at the center of a custody fight since he was rescued off the
                  coast of Florida last November 25 after floating 50 hours on an inner tube. He
                  had been on a boat with other Cubans trying to reach the United States. When it
                  sank, his mother and 10 other Cubans drowned.

                  The boy was placed in the temporary custody of great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez in
                  Miami and stayed with him five months before federal agents seized him.

                   Correspondent Patty Davis, Congressional Correspondent Chris Black and The Associated
                   Press contributed to this report.