HAVANA (CNN) -- U.S. immigration officials, in Havana for joint U.S.-Cuba
                  immigration talks, met Monday with the father of a 6-year-old Cuban boy
                  shipwrecked last month off the Florida coast.

                  The boy, Elian Gonzalez, became the center of an international custody
                  dispute when he was plucked from Atlantic Ocean waters off Fort
                  Lauderdale, Florida, on November 25.

                  U.S. and Cuban officials confirmed that the meeting took place before the
                  start of Monday's biannual talks between the two nations.

                  "I understand that the (Immigration and Naturalization Service) representative
                  already met with Elian's father and got the documents and much more," senior
                  Cuban official Ricardo Alarcon told reporters at the start of the talks. "Having
                  finally discovered that Juan Miguel Gonzalez is the boy's father, the only thing
                  they have to do is return the boy to him."

                  Clinging to an inner tube, the boy was one of three survivors of a boat
                  accident that killed his mother, stepfather, and eight others. The group
                  had been attempting to enter the United States illegally from Cuba.

                  Elian was placed with relatives in Miami while the United States and Cuba
                  battled over his fate.

                  Juan Miguel Gonzalez has called for his son's return, and Cuba has mounted
                  mass rallies demanding the boy be returned to his father.

                  The Cuban government called a moratorium on the protests on Sunday,
                  apparently hoping to create a better climate for the immigration talks.

                  The U.S. officials had requested that Gonzalez provide documents proving
                  his claim to be the boy's father.

                  Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's National Assembly, on Sunday
                  repeated his government's demand for Elian's return, but said the
                  U.S.-Cuban talks will go forward Monday as scheduled.

                  "The boy belongs to his father, belongs to his family, and nobody should
                  interfere with that," Alarcon told CNN.

                  Spencer Eig, a lawyer representing Elian's U.S. relatives, told CNN on
                  Sunday that the boy is happy with his family in Miami and has never asked
                  to go back to his father.

                  "The best thing for Elian is that his father continue to sacrifice, and then
                  hopefully we'll be able to work out the situation," Eig said.

                   Eig also said that if the boy's fate has become a "political football" between
                   the two nations, as some have suggested, then "perhaps Mr. Alarcon
                   and the Cuban government should call a time out."

                  Alarcon said that despite the standoff over Elian, Cuban officials "look
                  forward to very serious discussions" with U.S. officials on Monday about
                  an American policy that he said "encourages illegal immigration, promotes
                  death, promotes suffering."

                  Cuban officials are expected to press U.S. negotiators to correct what they
                  perceive as dangerous flaws in U.S. policy on Cuban migrants.

                  U.S. Sens. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, and Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, said
                  they didn't think the international custody dispute should get in the way of
                  Monday's talks or bring a chill to the recent thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations.

                  "It's a great opportunity for us to move forward in the relationship, not
                  backward," Kerry said.

                  The talks in Havana are intended to review immigration accords reached
                  between the United States and Cuba after a 1994 exodus in which more
                  than 37,000 Cubans flooded into south Florida.

                  The accords under discussion in Havana were designed to stop refugees
                  from fleeing Cuba under dangerous circumstances, frequently in rickety
                  vessels.

                  Under the agreements, U.S. officials are to send Cubans rescued at sea
                  back to Cuba and allow those who make it to land to stay. The two nations
                  meet every six months to review the pacts, with the venue alternating
                  between Washington and Havana.

                  "We are looking forward to meeting with them again on Monday to discuss
                  a full range of migration-related events," said William Brownfield, a deputy
                  assistant secretary of state for Latin American affairs.

                  At massive rallies outside the U.S. Interests Section in Havana over the past
                  week, Cubans have been demanding Elian's return. Cuban exiles in Miami
                  lobbied White House officials on Saturday to keep him in Florida.

                  U.S. Vice President Al Gore endorsed bringing Gonzalez to Florida as a
                  visitor to make his case. Gore said he wants "to make sure the views of the
                  boy's father are honored in the process."

                  "The child's mother sacrificed her life for her dream so that this boy would
                  grow up in freedom," Gore said. "I would like to see the boy's father express
                  himself without intimidation or fear concerning this boy's future."

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