Elián González, now 11, told CBS News he and Fidel Castro are good buddies, but he would still like to visit his Miami family.

BY LUISA YANEZ AND GLENN GARVIN

Elián González, who now refers to Fidel Castro as ''a father,'' says in a new television interview that his Miami relatives held him against his will during his sojourn here five years ago.

The Miami relatives tried to poison Elián's mind against his real father, Juan Miguel, the boy says, and ignored his wish to return home.

''They were telling me bad things about [my father],'' Elián tells CBS reporter Bob Simon in the interview, scheduled for broadcast at 7 p.m. Sunday on the program 60 Minutes. ``They were also telling me to tell [my father] that I did not want to go back to Cuba and I always told them that I wanted to.''

CBS released portions of the interview Thursday. Elián's Miami relatives immediately labeled the statements propaganda produced under pressure from the Cuban government.

''He is a brainwashed little kid afraid of Castro, just like everyone else,'' said Armando Gutiérrez, former spokesman for the González family. Gutiérrez said Thursday he never heard Elián say he wanted to return to Cuba during the countless hours he spent with the boy.

TURBULENT TIME

Elián, now 11, was the subject of an emotional political tug-of-war when fishermen found him floating in an inner tube two miles off Fort Lauderdale on Thanksgiving Day 1999. His mother and 10 others died during their attempt to flee Cuba and his father, backed by Castro, soon began demanding his return.

After 149 days of legal and political wrangling, Elián was seized by federal agents and sent back to the island.

His memories of that time are not happy ones, Elián says in the 60 Minutes interview.

''I would have nightmares and my uncles would talk to me about my mother -- it was better not to remind me of that because that tormented me -- I was very little,'' he says.

These days, he boasts, Castro is a pal who attended his grade school graduation. ''I also believe I am his friend,'' he says.

``Not only [do I think of Castro] as a friend, but also as a father.''

`MY FAMILY'

Nonetheless, Elián says, he would like to see his Miami relatives again: ``Despite everything they did -- the way they did it, it was wrong -- they are my family, my uncles.''

His comments were made in a 70-minute interview conducted at a museum near his home in Cárdenas, Cuba, in early September.

His father was present, but a CBS spokesman said no government officials monitored the interview and there were no ground rules about what questions could be asked.

A CBS camera crew also taped Elián at school and riding his bike.

''He's trying very hard to be a normal kid, which is difficult for him because everybody knows who he is and the regime trots him out now and then for appearances,'' says Simon, the CBS reporter.

``When you've talked to him for awhile and he relaxes and you ask him about his experience at sea, the depth of the trauma starts coming out.''

Delfín González, Elián's great-uncle often photographed playing with the boy, seemed surprised to hear that Elián said he wants to see his Miami family again.

''Well, tell him to get back here!'' González said.

EXILES NOT SURPRISED

Delfín González said he sees the boy on television, making speeches in support of the Cuban government and shakes his head.

''The exile community here predicted that would happen,'' he said.

``It's no surprise to me. But when you live in the devil's house, you have to do what he says.''

60 Minutes is scheduled to air from 7 to 8 p.m. Sunday on WFOR-CBS 4.

The 13-minute piece on Elián is set to run as the show's third segment, the highest-rated part of 60 Minutes.