BY ANA RADELAT
 Special to The Herald

 WASHINGTON -- About 150 members of Mothers Against Repression came to
 Washington on Wednesday to help Elian Gonzalez's Miami kin spread their side
 of the story to the news media and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

 The women, dressed in mourning black, went straight to the Justice Department
 to march silently in protest of Attorney General Janet Reno's decision to separate
 Elian from his Miami relatives in Saturday's predawn raid.

 ``What we're here for is support,'' said Rosa de la Cruz.

 Her husband, Carlos de la Cruz, was one of the community representatives
 negotiating with the Justice Department in the house in Little Havana before the
 raid by federal agents. He paid for a chartered flight to bring the women to
 Washington.

 Daughter Isabel Ernst, who lives in Washington, was outraged that Reno didn't
 allow more time for the warring family members to agree on a deal.

 ``My dad was inside the house negotiating in good faith,'' Ernst said. ``What if he
 had had a heart attack?''

 During their one-day whirlwind visit to Washington, members of the group went to
 a dozen Senate offices.

 Ninoska Perez, Cuban American National Foundation official who joined the
 group, said they told lawmakers that ``the Justice Department lied'' about
 circumstances of the raid.

 Group president Silvia Iriondo said her organization is concerned about Elian's
 well-being. She warned that he might soon be surrounded by visitors from Cuba
 whose mission is to ``brainwash'' Elian.

 ``It's very nice to hear that these four children are coming from Cuba, but knowing
 Fidel Castro, it's part of a macabre plan to brainwash the child,'' she said.

 Their silent protest at the White House delighted tourists who snapped photos
 and gawked. One visiting schoolgirl dared to shout out ``Elian belongs to his
 father.'' But most people were polite.

 Jose Basulto, leader of Brothers to the Rescue, however, held a sign that said
 ``Rule of law for Elian. Why not for the shoot-down of our U.S. planes on
 4-24-96?'' Four Brothers to the Rescue pilots were shot down over the Florida
 Straits by the Cuban air force on that day.

 ``I'm here as a friend,'' Basulto explained.

 Several members of the Democracy Movement also joined the protesting
 Cuban-American women.

 The group ended its day by marching past the Cuban Interests Section, where
 protesters earlier this month scuffled with Cuban diplomats.

 A young man accompanying the group called himself ``security.'' He said he
 hoped there would be another clash, but there was none.

 While most women kept their code of silence, some started to grumble that they
 were tired and begged to head for the buses and the airport for their trip home.
 Several groaned when Iriondo said they had to march past the Cuban diplomatic
 mission for another 40 minutes. One woman bitterly complained that there was no
 Cuban coffee to be found in Washington.

 But Alicia Martinez-Fonts and Maria Madruga, partners in a Miami advertising
 agency, said the trip was worth it. ``The public is totally misinformed as to what
 the whole issue is about. The public thinks it's a father and son reunion. But it's
 really about the whole issue of human rights in Cuba,'' Madruga said.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald