HAVANA (AP) -- In the United States, the images of Elian Gonzalez
                  being showered with Christmas toys are proof of the generosity and
                  plenty there. In Cuba, those same images are offered as proof of
                  America's cynical exploitation of him and of the crass materialism of Fidel
                  Castro's enemies in America.

                  The 6-year-old Cuban boy found clinging to an inner tube off Florida last
                  month, after a harrowing voyage in which he lost his mother, has become
                  Castro's political poster child.

                  The boy's bewildered face looks out from a billboard outside the U.S. diplomatic
                  mission, T-shirts of supporters, posters hoisted high at demonstrations demanding
                  his return.

                  Cuba's aging communist ruler has launched a campaign of well-attended
                  rallies, televised appearances and advertisements that have rallied his
                  countrymen and galvanized many younger Cubans whose ties to Castro
                  were perhaps most tenuous.

                  "What would you rather have? Toys or health care?" a boy about 8 years
                  old asks classmates in a scene shown on government television.

                  "We want health care!" the children reply.

                  Castro criticized what he called "the grotesque and incredible display of
                  ostentatious gifts that show they will go to any cost to buy the soul of a
                  6-year-old boy." In the role of kindly grandfather, he has assured Elian's
                  classmates that the boy will return.

                  Soon to enter his 41st year in power, the 73-year-old Castro often
                  expresses concerns about Cuban youth and their role in a communist system
                  still recovering from the Soviet Union's collapse a decade ago.

                  Whatever they may think of Castro, Cubans clearly have been moved by the
                  plight of a boy who lost his mother at sea and is separated from his father
                  and four grandparents in Cuba. The government portrays him as trapped in a
                  foreign land, ringed by "wolves" and "mafia ringleaders" -- references to the
                  Cuban exiles living in Florida who fiercely oppose Castro and want Elian to
                  remain there.

                  As he has in the past, Castro has effectively stirred the country's strong
                  sense of nationalism with the idea of its old nemesis, the United States, again
                  playing Goliath to Cuba's David. "We will save Elian," has become the new
                  rallying cry.

                  Elian was found November 25 by two sport fishermen, two days after the boat
                  carrying him, his mother and other Cubans sank during an apparent attempt to reach
                  the United States.

                  Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, says his ex-wife did not get his permission to
                  take the boy out of Cuba, and wants him back. Elian's Miami relatives say they can
                  give him a better life off the communist island.

                  In Castro's campaign for the boy's return, young Cubans play a leading role.

                  Wearing the white shirts, red jumpers or shorts and neckerchiefs of the Young
                  Communist Pioneers, children as young as 6 and 7 have spoken before thousands
                  at protest rallies, criticizing the United States and Miami exiles for trying to "steal our Elian."

                  Many people attend because they feel strongly about the case or think it is
                  their civic duty. Others go because of the festive atmosphere at the events,
                  often featuring popular musicians such as troubadour Silvio Rodriguez or
                  Compay Segundo of Buenavista Social Club fame.

                  Not all Havana residents are enthused about being bused by the government
                  to yet another demonstration outside the U.S. Interests Section. At one
                  recent protest, hundreds of arriving people were seen picking up posters and
                  leaving.

                  Some teen-agers offer their own version of the protest chant "Elian, our
                  friend! Cuba is with you!" Between guffaws, some have been heard
                  chanting, "Elian, our friend! "Take us with you!"

                  But younger children have been affected by the stories about Elian,
                  according to many Cubans. His plight is discussed in classrooms across the
                  nation, where teachers use it to underscore the differences between socialist
                  and capitalist societies.

                  Some young children who made the annual pilgrimage December 17 with
                  their families to the St. Lazarus shrine, one of Cuba's holiest sites, said they
                  asked the saint to bring Elian home.

                  Parents tell of their children clinging to them, worrying that they will lose
                  them if they let go.

                  "My boy hugs me tight every day when he gets home from school," Alexis
                  Pineiro, 35, said of 12-year-old Josiel. "He talks about Elian every day. And
                  he is worried he won't come back because of all the things they are giving
                  him over there."

                  Teresita Eredia says her 10-year-old daughter Anais keeps asking, "Mami,
                  you would never take me and my little sister out there on a raft, would you?"

                  "And I have to tell her, no, no, my girl, don't even think about it," said
                  Eredia, a 34-year-old housekeeper and single mother. "We're staying here."