BY FRANK DAVIES

 WASHINGTON -- One day after Elian Gonzalez's two grandmothers lobbied
 Congress to allow the boy's return to his father in Cuba, two of his Miami relatives
 and the two other survivors of the ill-fated November voyage came here to make
 the case for keeping him in Miami.

 In meetings on Capitol Hill and at a press conference at the National Press Club,
 the group gave a starkly different view of events from the grandmothers' version,
 especially about the wishes of Elisabeth Broton, the boy's mother who died at
 sea.

 The group, brought to Washington by the Cuban American National Foundation,
 also supports citizenship for the boy. That proposal, designed to take the case
 out of the hands of immigration officials, has divided Congress and may be taken
 up in the House and Senate next week.

 The two survivors, Arianne Horta and Nivaldo Fernandez, said Broton expressed
 her desire to bring Elian to the United States several times and was not coerced
 into making the trip by her boyfriend, as the two grandmothers said.

 ''They've been saying she was pressured, and that's a lie,'' said Horta, who
 decided not to take her own 5-year-old daughter on the boat. Horta said Broton
 had several opportunities to leave her son behind, but decided to bring Elian.

 The boat with 14 people capsized and Horta, Fernandez and Elian were the only
 survivors. Fernandez was in the water three days and recalled what Broton said
 before she drowned.

 DYING WISH

 ''Her only objective was that Elian reach American soil,'' Fernandez said. ''She
 said, 'Please, Nivaldo, don't permit anything to happen to my son.' ''

 Two of Elian's second cousins, Georgina Cid and William Fernandez, said
 Broton's wishes should be respected. And William Fernandez said that his cousin
 -- Elians father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez -- may have also wanted to come to the
 United States.

 ''I visited him in 1998 and he told me he would like to come,'' said William
 Fernandez. ''Now he is being manipulated by the Cuban government.''

 Joining the group lobbying in Washington was the Fort Lauderdale man, Donato
 Dalrymple, who rescued Elian on Thanksgiving Day.

 ''I know I'm only known as the fisherman, but I'm an American, and to send this
 boy back [to Cuba] would be a crime,'' he said.

 CITIZENSHIP BILL

 Sen. Connie Mack, the Florida Republican sponsoring the citizenship bill, and
 Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Miami Republican backing a companion bill in the
 House, said they expect some legislative action next week.

 Some Republicans in Congress are telling their leaders to move cautiously on the
 unusual private bill for citizenship.

 Others such as Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Rep. Steve Largent of
 Oklahoma oppose it outright.

 ''It's way too early to count votes on this, but we plan to next week,'' said Mack,
 who has enlisted the support of Majority Leader Trent Lott.

 Lott had originally hoped for quick action on the measure, but Wednesday he told
 reporters he would not commit to a timetable: ''There are a lot of extenuating
 circumstances. Obviously it could come up next week. But there are a lot of
 people looking at this issue and there may be developments between now and
 then.''
 

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald