HAVANA (CNN) -- Juan Miguel Gonzalez is expressing new confidence
                  that his 6-year-old son Elian will eventually be returned to Cuba from the
                  United States.

                  The international custody battle over Elian Gonzalez was the subject of a
                  meeting Monday between Elian's father and two U.S. immigration officials
                  in Cardenas, Cuba, about 152 kilometers (95 miles) east of Havana.

                  "They were really frank with me," Gonzalez said, "and they agree the boy
                  should form part of his family and return here. I perceived support from them,
                  and I am sure they will help me."

                  But Gonzalez might have received the wrong impression. Later Monday, U.S.
                  officials said the immigration officers only promised Gonzalez they would get
                  the custody process going quickly.

                  "I can tell you they (U.S. officials) were not there in any way to take sides on
                  the case," said U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service spokeswoman
                  Maria Cardona in Washington.

                  U.S. certifies that Gonzalez is boy's dad

                  U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin said the purpose of the
                  Cuba meeting was to receive from Gonzalez the documentation "certifying
                  that he is the boy's father, that he can legally exercise parental authority, and
                  also to find out directly from him his wishes for the child. The contents of the
                  interview are now part of an INS case file and are confidential."

                  Russ Bergeron, an INS spokesman, said Gonzalez has established that he is
                  the father of the boy. But other officials said the issue of parental rights has
                  yet to be decided.

                  Such rights involve a determination as to whether the father had a genuine
                  relationship with the boy and was not an absentee parent.

                  Father says 6-year-old 'is missing it here'

                  Gonzalez said he has spoken with Elian by phone almost daily.

                  "He is missing it here," he said, "In fact, on one occasion, he even cried
                  talking to us. He's missing everything that's his. He wants to see me,"
                  Gonzalez said.

                  Elian was found November 25, clinging to an inner tube off the coast of Fort
                  Lauderdale, Florida, after a boat accident that killed his mother and nine
                  other people.

                  Since his rescue, he's been staying with relatives in Florida, and the State
                  Department has said the boy's return is in the hands of the INS.

                  Relatives in Florida to file for custody

                  On Monday, an attorney representing Elian's relatives in Florida said she
                  planned to file for custody of the boy on their behalf. Attorney Carmen
                  Morales said she will argue that it is detrimental to return Elian to his father
                  as long as his father remains in Cuba.

                  Lawyers have already filed for U.S. political asylum on Elian's behalf.

                  Elian's great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, and the boy were at Universal Studios
                  Florida in Orlando on Monday when they received a call about the father's
                  meeting with INS officials, said family spokesman Robert Curbelo.

                  The great-uncle started to cry and decided not to tell Elian or the other
                  dozen relatives on the trip until they return to Miami.

                  Meeting coincides with U.S.-Cuban migration talks

                  Havana said the boy's case illustrated the folly of U.S. immigration policy
                  toward Cuba, the subject of Monday's opening of biannual migration talks
                  with U.S. officials in Havana.

                  The Gonzalez case threatened to dominate the talks, meant to monitor two
                  U.S.-Cuban accords signed in the wake of an exodus of boat people in the
                  summer of 1994.

                  Havana demanded that Washington end its so-called "wet-foot/dry-foot"
                  policy under which Cubans who touch U.S. soil are allowed to stay, while
                  those intercepted at sea are sent home.

                  Cuba said the policy encourages dangerous and illegal immigration.

                  Although there were no breakthroughs, both sides agreed to accelerate the
                  pace of the talks, which could resume as soon as January.

                   Havana Bureau Chief Lucia Newman, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to
                                           this report.