ALFONSO CHARDY

 The Miami relatives of Elian Gonzalez asked U.S. officials Tuesday to give visas
 not only to the boy's father but his entire family in Cuba so they can decide freely
 on U.S. soil whether to take the child back to the island.

 Otherwise, the Miami relatives insisted, Elian's father alone could be under duress
 in claiming his son because Fidel Castro would in essence hold the rest of the
 family ``hostage'' until he returns with the boy.

 Lazaro and Delfin Gonzalez, Elian's great-uncles in Miami, conveyed the request
 to U.S. Reps. Dan Burton, R-Ind., and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, during the
 second and final day of special hearings on Cuba at the Sweetwater City Hall.

 They and Rep. Lincoln Diaz Balart, R-Miami, immediately wrote to Attorney
 General Janet Reno, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and the Immigration
 and Naturalization Service asking that U.S. visas be extended to the father, Juan
 Miguel Gonzalez; his common-law wife, Nelcy Carmenata Castillo; and their
 child, Giani Gonzalez in Cuba.

 In Washington, a senior State Department official said the United States will
 make a decision ``soon'' on whether Elian will be returned to Cuba and confirmed
 that the U.S. government would like the boy's father to travel here as soon as
 possible to see his son.

 DECISION EXPECTED

 ``We do expect a decision soon,'' State Department spokesman James P. Rubin
 said, adding that the United States is ready to grant an immediate visitor's visa for
 Elian's father. ``The State Department is prepared to expedite a nonimmigrant visa
 for Mr. Gonzalez, if he decides he wants to travel to the United States to see his
 son.''

 Armando Gutierrez, Elian's Miami family spokesman, said the relatives here
 approached congressional leaders after published reports Tuesday suggested that
 the U.S. government had asked Cuba to allow the child's father to travel to the
 United States for two reasons: to appear at a Jan. 21 INS inspection of Elian in
 Miami; or to escort the child back to Cuba because the INS essentially has
 concluded that the child should be reunited with his family on the island.

 But Maria Cardona, an INS spokeswoman in Washington, said both reports were
 wrong.

 It is true, she said, that the U.S. government has extended an invitation to Elian's
 father to travel here, but has not linked the trip to the inspection or taking his son
 back.

 ``We have always said that we would welcome the father to come to the United
 States at any time during this process, though it is not necessary for him to
 come here for INS to make a decision,'' Cardona said.

 NO SECRET DEAL

 She also said that a trip to the United States by Elian's father should not be
 interpreted as a signal that INS has decided to return Elian and that Cuba has
 been advised.

 ``We have given no assurances to the Cuban government as to what our decision
 will be and we're still on track to making a decision as quickly as possible,''
 Cardona said.

 Cardona said the offer was for ``whatever he wishes to do.''

 Asked if that included claiming his son or asking to stay, Cardona said ``yes,'' but
 added that if he claimed Elian, the father would still have to wait for an INS
 decision.

 Separately, The Associated Press quoted a U.S. official who asked not to be
 identified that the Clinton administration has asked the Cuban government to
 allow Elian's father to personally escort the boy back home if the decision is to
 return the child.

 The official said the request does not prejudge the outcome of the case and is
 merely a contingency plan. Cuban authorities said they would consider the
 request, the official told The AP.

 A U.S. official who asked not to be identified told The Herald in Washington on
 Tuesday that the issue of bringing Elian's father to the United States was linked
 to a question the Clinton administration recently asked the Cuban government:
 ``Would you give the father an exit visa?

 `COMMON SENSE'

 The U.S. official said the father's presence in the United States would ``be of
 common sense'' for several reasons. One is that it would be best for the child to
 return home with his father, if that's to be his fate, the official said.

 In the past, INS has said that Commissioner Doris Meissner will determine Elian's
 immigration status and who speaks for him -- his father or his Miami relatives.

 Attorneys retained by Elian's Miami relatives don't want INS to unilaterally decide
 the child's fate. They want the case settled in court as a custody battle among
 relatives.

 Elian is here because his mother brought him on a risky smuggled boat trip from
 Cuba. The mother and 10 other Cubans died when the boat sank. Two men on a
 Thanksgiving Day fishing trip discovered Elian clinging to an inner tube off the
 coast of Fort Lauderdale.

 As adults pondered his future, Elian had his first day in a Miami school Tuesday.

 Accompanied by his great-uncle Lazaro, who led him by the hand, Elian showed
 up for classes at the private Lincoln Marti School in Little Havana, where owner
 Demetrio Perez, a Miami-Dade County School Board member, has waived tuition.

 ``He had a great day in school,'' said Gutierrez, the Miami family spokesman, who
 picked up Elian after school Tuesday afternoon. ``They gave him homework and
 had a birthday party for another kid in school. He's looking forward to going back
 tomorrow.''

 Herald writer Ana Radelat in Washington and the Associated Press contributed to
 this report.