BY ANA ACLE AND AMY DRISCOLL

 Political leaders from Miami to Tallahassee on Wednesday denounced the federal government's
 ``strong arm'' tactics in the Elian Gonzalez case, warning that President Clinton and Attorney
 General Janet Reno will be blamed for any violence if immigration officials send the boy
 back to Cuba.

 ``If their continued provocation, in the form of unjustified threats to revoke the boy's parole,
 leads to civil unrest and violence, we are holding the federal government responsible and
 specifically Janet Reno and President Bill Clinton,'' Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas said.

 Even Democratic politicians with close ties to the Clinton administration -- including Penelas and
 Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth -- joined a rare, bipartisan effort to halt plans by the
 U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service to revoke permission for the 6-year-old to stay in
 the United States.

 By day's end, Gov. Jeb Bush, U.S. Senators Connie Mack and Bob Graham, all six members
 of the Florida Cabinet and Vice President Al Gore had added their names to the list of those
 attempting to avert a showdown in Miami.

 Butterworth, chairman of Gore's campaign for president in Florida, says a sense of ``frustration''
 led him to join the other members of the Cabinet and the governor in publicly opposing the federal
 government's efforts to deport the boy.

 ``There are only nine officials elected statewide and all nine of us are on record asking for a
 hearing -- and that should speak volumes,'' Butterworth said Wednesday.

 ``This is no longer a Miami issue with a lot of Cubans who dislike Castro and will do all they
 can to harm Castro. . . . It is more than that,'' he said. ``You are seeing people around the country
 focusing in, and all we want now is what is fair for this child.''

 In Miami, Penelas organized a news conference at the federal courthouse, flanked by Cuban
 exiles and representatives of 15 area mayors, including Miami Mayor Joe Carollo.

 Penelas announced that local police will not assist federal agents in removing Elian from the
 home of his Miami relatives and issued a warning to the federal government: ``If blood is shed as a
 result of that provocation, I will hold them responsible.''

 `OUT OF CONTROL'

 Penelas, who has a close relationship with the Clinton administration, said later that he felt a
 duty to notify the federal government that the community is ``getting out of control.''

 ``This is not about politics for me,'' he said. ``This is about doing the right thing and I feel very
 strongly this community is being provoked. So if my action on the Elian Gonzalez thing in any
 way alienates Democrats, or if it causes a rift with the party, so be it. Those are the
 consequences I've got to pay. . . . ''

 Penelas and Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez, political foes, set aside their differences for Elian.

 ``The president as well as myself are a product of the appeals system of the United States,''
 said Martinez, convicted once on a corruption charge that was later overturned on appeal.
 ``My request to those who have the power is to allow the process of the appeals to go through.''

 Across the state Wednesday, party politics were set aside as fears grew that the situation
 in Miami would result in an ugly confrontation.

 In Tallahassee, a dozen Cuban-American legislators from Miami held an impromptu vigil
 in the rotunda of the Capitol, offering prayers and a lullaby for Elian.

 ``We're here because we're horrified and deeply regretful that this young boy has been
 treated by the full force of the White House, which is insisting on deporting him without
 his day in court,'' said Sen. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami.

 Meanwhile, Gov. Bush and the Cabinet -- including treasurer Bill Nelson, a high-profile
 Democrat running for the U.S. Senate -- passed a resolution urging the U.S. Justice
 Department to hold ``a full and impartial evidentiary hearing'' in which Elian's fate would
 be decided ``not on procedural issues but rather on whether his best interests are served
 by returning to Cuba or remaining in the United States.''

 BIPARTISAN LETTER

 Bush and Butterworth also sent a bipartisan letter to Clinton and Reno, asking the
 federal government to ``step back from the heat of the moment and take a more
 reflective view of this situation.''

 Calling the demands by the Immigration and Naturalization Service ``needlessly
 inflammatory in tone,'' the letter notes that ``tensions are rising over what is seen
 as a heavy-handed action'' by the INS and the Department of Justice.

 The letter stated that no state resources would be used to remove Elian. That
 means no state agencies -- neither state police nor the Department of Children
 and Families -- will assist the federal government in Elian's deportation, said Sally
 Bradshaw, the governor's chief of staff.

 Within the Clinton administration itself, Vice President Al Gore has attempted to
 maintain his distance from the Justice Department's handling of the Gonzalez
 matter. On Wednesday, Gore reiterated once again that he believes the boy, and
 his father, should get a fair hearing in domestic courts.

 ``My position has always been that this is a custody matter for the courts to
 decide, based on due process, with a full hearing in which all parties are heard,''
 he said in a statement.

 At a campaign stop last week in Orlando, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the
 Republican presidential candidate, criticized the administration's handling of
 Elian's case and said: ``I believe the best solution would be to welcome that boy's
 daddy to America, so that he could make a decision taking a great big breath of
 freedom. . . . Let the man understand why [the boy's mother] died in the first
 place.''

 Herald staff writers Karen Branch and Mark Silva contributed to this report.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald