BY SARA OLKON, ANABELLE DE GALE AND MARIKA LYNCH

 Oscar Lopez came to the United States on a raft with his two brothers, and the
 body of his stepfather who died along the way.

 Lopez remembered the grueling 1992 voyage on Thursday when he joined the
 street protests in downtown Miami -- one of hundreds of Cuban Americans whose
 own family stories fueled their desire to keep 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez in the
 United States. After the boy's mother died on the sea journey, his father said he
 should have custody of Elian back in Cuba. Federal immigration officials have
 agreed.

 Yeni Daniel, 15, came out to protest too, waving a green placard saying ``Back to
 No Future'' in support of Elian.

 The South Miami High student sneaked out of Cuba on a raft with her mother in
 1993. Her father didn't learn of the voyage until he heard about it on Radio Marti.

 ``I was in the exact situation Elian is in,'' Yeni said. ``When he found out, he was
 mad at first, but then he realized I'm better off here.

 ``I'm out here today to send Elian's dad a message from someone who really
 knows.''

 Elian's plight has moved many Cubans across Miami-Dade County to join the
 demonstrations -- including those who came on the Freedom Flights of the 1960s
 and '70s, and others who came on rafts over the past decade.

 But many other Cubans, who also know the pain of family separation, chose to
 stay away. Their hearts go out to Elian's Miami relatives, who want to keep the
 boy, but they believe he should be reunited with his father.

 After returning home from her night shift job at Miami International Airport, Nelia
 Perez watched the protests on TV. Perez agreed that Elian belongs with his
 surviving parent.

 ``I am a grandmother. I don't know anything about politics, but I know about love
 and caring, Perez said, choking on tears.

 Nearly 32 years ago she brought her daughter to the United States, and left her
 own mother behind.

 ``I left my mother there crying and crying and she died because she suffered from
 this,'' Perez said. ``I will take that to the grave.''

 While many protests in the past have united Cuban Americans against Castro,
 many exiles see Elian's case differently -- because at the heart of it is a little boy,
 one who recently lost his mother.

 ``I empathize so much with Elian,'' said attorney Barbara Cusack, who came to
 Miami on the Freedom Flights. ``When I saw his little face on his first day of
 school, I was sick to my stomach. It's such an intimidating experience, to face a
 whole new world.''

 Cusack said it was hard to leave her grandparents behind in Cuba.

 ``I wasn't half as traumatized as that little tyke because I came with my loving
 mother and two sisters,'' she said.

 ``But no material gain could ever replace the loss that I experienced. I would hate
 for him to miss out on his grandparents.''

 Herald staff writer Anabelle de Gale contributed to this report.
 

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald