BY JUAN O. TAMAYO

 The Cuban government cautioned its citizens against ``false optimism Tuesday in
 the wake of a U.S. judge's refusal to block the return of Elian Gonzalez, saying
 the dispute is far from over.

 ``It is necessary to analyze the apparently positive news with serenity and cold
 blood, without underestimating the obstacles . . . that must still be overcome to
 win the return . . . of the kidnapped child, a communique said.

 The brief statement appeared to recognize that the battle over the 6-year-old child
 will take time to wind its way through the U.S. legal system, and that his return to
 Cuba is not imminent.

 Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, made no immediate comments on the ruling
 by Judge K. Michael Moore rejecting a request by the child's Miami relatives that
 he order to INS to grant him an asylum hearing.

 The government communique said the news from Miami ``should not allow us to
 fall into false optimism or excessive illusions. . . . Perhaps this battle that our
 country is waging today will still require great efforts.

 In an update of its Internet edition on Tuesday, the Communist Party newspaper
 Granma topped its front page with a wire dispatch from Miami on Moore's
 decision and provided a link to the English-language text of the ruling, but did not
 comment on it.

 Six Cuban journalists, a psychologist and a legal experts who took part in a
 televised analysis of the ruling later Tuesday pronounced themselves satisfied but
 urged Washington to act ``rapidly and energetically'' to return the child to Cuba.
 Cuban President Fidel Castro was at the TV studio during the discussion, but did
 not take part.

 The chief of the Cuban diplomatic mission in Washington, Fernando Remirez de
 Estenoz, participated by telephone, saying that reaction throughout the United
 States -- except Miami -- had been positive and that his office has received
 ``numerous calls of support'' from U.S. Congress members.

 ``Elian's case has opened the eyes of many Americans as to the exact meaning
 of the [U.S.] policy against Cuba and the negative influence wielded by
 counter-revolutionary groups in Miami,'' Remirez de Estenoz told the eight
 analysts.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald