BY HERALD STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES

 Negotiations between the INS and the attorneys for Elian Gonzalez's Miami relatives
 broke down this afternoon as INS prepared to transfer custody of the boy to his father,
 who arrived in the United States today.

 U.S. immigration officials had hoped Juan Miguel Gonzalez's arrival would break
 a logjam in five days of talks with attorneys for the boy's great uncle Lazaro Gonzalez,
 who has been caring for the boy since he arrived in Miami in November.

 Immigration and Naturalization Service officials will shift temporary custody from
 the boy's great uncle to his father. They wanted to discuss when and where the
 transfer would take place, but attorneys for Lazaro Gonzalez had insisted they
 had not agreed to turn the boy over.

 Talks broke down this afternoon, however. Jose Garcia-Pedrosa, the family's
 attorney, said the negotiations ended primiarily because the government wouldn't
 promise to leave Elian with his Miami relatives.

 "The government will not guarantee that they will not try to take Elian away in the
 middle of the night,'' Garcia-Pedrosa said. He also said immigration officials refused
 to agree to a psychological evaluation determining whether Elian should be handed
 over to his father.

 Juan Miguel Gonzalez, who is expected to meet with Attorney General Janet Reno
 and other Justice Department officials on Friday, arrived at Dulles International
 Airport outside Washington, D.C. early this morning with his wife and his 6-month-old
 son. He immediately blasted U.S. politicians, journalists and Miami's Cuban community,
 accusing them of exploiting his son.

 Elian's mother and 10 others died on the trip across the Florida Straits. The boy
 survived and was rescued while clinging to an inner tube Thanksgiving Day.

 "It's been an agonizing experience to see my son submitted to cruel
 psychological pressures aimed at influencing his personality already weakened
 by the terrible trauma," Gonzalez said. "Worse still, Elian's been paraded and
 exhibited in public rallies and by the media with a clear intent to obtain political
 advantage from this tragedy."

 The Justice Department had said earlier today that if negotiations broke down,
 they would issue a letter today or tomorrow to Lazaro Gonzalez that indicates the
 boy's immigration parole will be transferred to Juan Miguel on a date to be
 determined.

 After sending that letter, the Justice Department would send a second letter
 mid-week next week specifying on how to comply with transferring the boy,
 indicating a time and a neutral site where the boy would be turned over.

 In Miami, family spokesman Armando Gutierrez said the family wants the father
 to come to Miami and work out the custody dispute with his uncles and cousins.
 Juan Miguel Gonzalez was set to stay with the head of the Cuban Interests
 Section in the Washington area, however.

 The family was hurt by Juan Miguel Gonzalez's comments this morning, which
 referred to them as "distant relatives," Gutierrez said. The remarks strengthened
 their beliefs that Gonzalez is being manipulated by the Cuban government.

 "Lazaro Gonzalez was almost in tears because he felt that was not his nephew,"
 Gutierrez said.

 Elian was examined by a psychologist Wednesday night, the third such
 evaluation arranged by the Miami relatives.

 By mid-afternoon today the crowd outside the Gonzalez home in Little Havana
 had swelled to about 200 people, as news of the father's arrival spread through
 Miami. Many chanted "Elian no se va" (Elian is not leaving).

 Elian knows his father is in the United States, said Delfin Gonzalez, Lazaro's
 brother. Reporters asked him what Elian's reaction had been.

 "He neither said yes nor no," Gonzalez said, implying Elian had little reaction to
 the news. "He is tranquil."

 Gonzalez said his family has not been able to speak to Juan Miguel since he
 arrived.

 The relatives have asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to
 overturn a federal judge's ruling in late March affirming the INS decision to return
 Elian to his father.

 Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder said his understanding is that Juan Miguel
 Gonzalez is willing to stay in the country until the appeal is completed.

 Herald staff writers Ana Radelat, Carol Rosenberg, Frank Davies, Marika Lynch,
 Andres Viglucci, and Jay Weaver and Herald staff translator Renato Perez
 contributed to this report. Online News Reporter Madeline Baró Diaz compiled the
 story.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald