MIAMI--Cuban President Fidel Castro fears the American
                                             relatives of a Cuban boy at the center of an international custody
                                             fight are trying to destroy the 6 -year-old's identity, NBC's
                                             "Today" show reported today.
                                                  "Time matters here. How long can a child's mind be changed?"
                                             Castro told the network in a taped interview. "Why do they want
                                             to delay this return of the child, to be able to change the child's
                                             mentality, to destroy his identity?"
                                                  Elian Gonzalez was found clinging to an inner tube last month
                                             off the South Florida coast after his mother and stepfather were
                                             killed trying to escape Cuba.
                                                  Who should ultimately get custody of Elian has strained
                                             relations between his father in Cuba and his extended family in the
                                             United States since the boy's arrival on Thanksgiving Day.
                                                  The custody fight also has strained U.S.-Cuban ties. Thousands
                                             in Cuba have marched in the streets waving posters of Elian, and
                                             exiles opposed to Castro have also made him a cause celebre in
                                             Miami.
                                                  Castro said he found Elian's much-photographed trips this
                                             week to Walt Disney World and Universal Studios offensive and
                                             criticized the boy's contact with anti-Castro activists.
                                                  "They are trying to simply dazzle the child with all these things.
                                             According to the father, the boy has been coerced. They feel that
                                             their boy is not acting naturally," Castro said.
                                                  In a message to President Clinton, the Cuban leader said: "I
                                             have confidence in the common sense and talents of your people."
                                             As for the boy staying in America, Castro said: "I don't think you
                                             will make that mistake."