BY TERRY JACKSON
 
 On Wednesday morning ABC showed Elian Gonzalez being asked several times
 about whether he wants to return to Cuba -- an apparent reversal of the network's
 stand on Tuesday, when Good Morning America anchor Diane Sawyer said the
 tape would not air because of concerns it might further ``inflame'' the situation.

 In Wednesday's GMA broadcast, Sawyer asked Elian about Cuba, whether he
 wants his father to come here, and whether he would go back to Cuba if his
 cousin, Marisleysis Gonzalez, went with him.

 Elian's response to each question -- as related by an interpreter and repeated in
 English by Sawyer -- was unequivocal: He doesn't want to go back.

 The 6-year-old's responses were short and often displayed a natural childlike
 tone.

 When Sawyer asked him what he liked about Cuba, Elian, who was distractedly
 fanning the pages of a book, said ``nothing.'' Later, Sawyer asked Elian what he
 liked about Miami, and again he replied ``nothing.''

 ``Would you like it if your dad came to visit here?'' Sawyer asked.

 The boy whispered no.

 ``No? Why not?'' Sawyer asked.

 ``Because he'll take me to Cuba and I don't want to go to Cuba,'' Elian responded.

 ``Would you like it if he stayed here?'' Sawyer asked.

 ``He can stay here. I don't want to go,'' Elian said.

 As Sawyer wrapped up the interview, which was conducted last Thursday
 afternoon and Friday morning in a classroom at the Lincoln-Marti School in Little
 Havana, she asked one last question.

 Would Elian go to Cuba if his cousin Marisleysis -- who has formed a
 surrogate-mother bond with Elian -- went to live there as well? ``Not then, either,''
 Elian said.

 An ABC spokeswoman said Wednesday the network's decision to air Elian
 talking about returning to Cuba was not a reversal of its earlier position.

 ``I don't think we said one thing one day and did one thing the next,'' Eileen
 Murphy said.

 But that view hinges on a small distinction: It's Sawyer's English, not Elian's
 Spanish, that is heard on the tape answering the Cuba questions.

 Portions of Sawyer's interview with Elian were also scheduled to be aired
 Wednesday evening on 20/20, a newsmagazine that Sawyer also anchors.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald