From staff and wire reports

MIAMI -- Miami residents are bracing for a threatened one-day general strike by many of the city's 800,000 member Cuban-American community to protest the raid removing 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez from the home of his Miami relatives.

Protesters predicted Tuesday's threatened general strike would turn the city into a "dead zone," while Miami City Manager Donald Warshaw said the day would simply be "business as usual."

Officials with Miami International Airport, the Port of Miami, law enforcement, schools and several banks all said operations would continue, though they acknowledged nonessential workers may take personal days. Many non-Cuban-American businesses also said they expected no interruptions in service.

But many businesses, especially in Miami's so-called Little Havana neighborhood, announced they would shut their doors on Tuesday, significant because Cuban-American's make up the largest ethnic group in Miami-Dade County, with 800,000 people -- the largest pocket of Cuban-Americans in the United States.

Strike organizers pledged their protest would be a quiet one, in contrast to the scattered Little Havana demonstrations that broke out after Elian was taken in a surprise pre-dawn raid Saturday morning. Some demonstrators threw rocks at police and others set fires in the streets. More than 200 people were arrested, according to police.

Meanwhile, Elian, his father Juan Miguel Gonzalez, his wife and Elian's infant half-brother remain cloistered on the grounds of Andrews Air Force Base, outside Washington. There, officials have refused entry to Elian's Miami relatives, who failed a third consecutive day Monday to see the boy and/or meet with his father.

Reno mulled a personal visit

U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno says she briefly considered personally visiting the home of Elian Gonzalez' Miami relatives alone, to bring the boy out for return to his Cuban father. But she eventually rejected the idea, Reno says, because she concluded she might be a "more negative force" than would be appropriate.

Reno defended the decision to use armed agents to remove the 6-year-old from the Gonzalez home, saying that reports of weapons in the home had presented "cause for concern."

The attorney general's comments, broadcast late Monday on ABC's "Nightline," come the night before her scheduled Capitol Hill meeting Tuesday to brief members of Congress, some of whom are calling for congressional hearings on whether excessive force was used in Saturday's raid on the Miami house by armed federal agents.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Mississippi) will host a meeting for a small group of senators to privately question Reno and other Justice Department officials about her decision to seize Elian Gonzalez Saturday morning.

Cousin: No chance to say goodbye

After being turned away a third time Monday from the Maryland air base where Elian, Juan Gonzalez and his wife and infant child have been staying since Saturday, Elian's cousin Marisleysis Gonzalez, who cared for the boy for months in the Miami home, pleaded to meet with Juan Gonzalez and/or the boy.

"I am looking forward to seeing him (Elian) and to at least be able to give him a kiss," she said, "Not like they took him out of the house, that I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye. And I don't think that this is fair."

Despite their lack of success, Elian's Miami family members said they intended to remain in Washington and to continue to seek access to Juan Gonzalez and his son.

Dr. Gustavo Cadavid, a government psychiatrist who accompanied Elian during his trip from Miami to New York, said, however, that the boy needs private time to grieve the loss of his mother before the Miami relatives re-enter the picture.

The Miami relatives cared for the boy after he was rescued November 25 off the Florida coast, one of three survivors of a shipwreck that left his mother and ten others dead.

Reno: Miami relatives said 'unkind things'

During the ABC interview, Reno said Elian's Miami relatives made comments earlier in the standoff that contributed to her decision not to personally attempt to take the child from the Miami home. Reno said "they had some rather unkind things to say" about her to others after their meeting, and that reflected a possible "negative force" she might have had on a personal mission.

Responding to the issue of excessive force and the taking of Elian at gunpoint by agents wearing military-style uniforms, Reno said she had reason to believe there might be guns in the house or among protesters outside.

"The reason people wear helmets and the reason people wear body armor is so they don't get shot," Reno said.

"I think it is very important when you don't know what is going to happen either inside the house or outside the house," Reno said, "when the owner of the house or the person responsible for the house said, 'You're going to have to take the child by force,' that we be prepared for all eventualities."

Reno also revealed that the emotion-charged confrontation Saturday morning brought her to tears at one point. "It hurts to see a little boy in those circumstances. It hurts to see what has happened to that little boy over time," she said.

But during an appearance Monday on PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Reno expressed no regrets about her performance in the matter, saying that she would make the same decisions and take the same actions all over again, given the same circumstances.

Capitol Hill meeting could lead to hearings

The attorney general's meeting with senators on Capitol Hill Tuesday could play a part in determining whether the U.S. Senate will hold hearings on the raid, said John Czwartack, spokesman for Lott.

"Lott wants to hear from the attorney general herself how she got to the place where she decided to use the action she chose and why such force was brought to bear," Czwartack said. "And he is inviting senators who have questions of bipartisan concern."

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Illinois), said Monday he is instructing his staff to begin a preliminary inquiry into the tactics of the raid.

For its part, the White House continued to defend the raid and said Elian's Miami relatives were responsible for the armed seizure.

President Clinton felt the raid was "the right thing to do and was the only alternative remaining," White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said. "All of this could have been avoided. None of this had to happen. This happened because the family did not respect the legal process here that dictated the father should be reunited with the young boy."

Lawyers point fingers for failed negotiations

On Monday lawyers for both Juan Gonzalez and Elian's Miami relatives accused one another of being responsible for failed negotiations that led to the raid. Roger Bernstein, an attorney for Elian's U.S. relatives, blamed the failure on demands made by Reno and Gregory Craig, a U.S. lawyer who represents Elian's father.

"He (Gregory Craig) is ultimately responsible for that raid taking place, as is Janet Reno," Bernstein told CNN.

One of the Miami community leaders who was involved in those negotiations denied the negotiations had broken down. He said he was surprised by the raid, which took place while he was on the phone with Reno, his longtime friend.

"I have the utmost respect for the attorney general of the United States," said attorney Aaron Podhurst. "She was my friend 30 years ago. She's my friend today, and I feel for her like she feels for me."

But Podhurst added, "Now, I do not agree that we weren't close to a settlement. I believe everybody was acting in good faith. I believe the Miami Gonzalez family was acting in good faith. And I believe we had made substantial progress."

Family may move to Maryland countryside

Juan Gonzalez is now considering where his family will reside while they await resolution of an asylum request that is pending before the Eleventh U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta. A hearing is set for May 11.

On Sunday, federal officials said they were considering moving from the air base to the very private Wye River Plantation conference center on Maryland's Eastern Shore, the site of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in 1998.

Correspondents Brian Cabell and Kate Snow, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.