MIAMI (CNN) -- U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said Thursday that
                  she hopes the Immigration and Naturalization Service will decide soon
                  whether 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez will stay in the United States or be
                  returned to Cuba.

                  "When you think of all that he's been through, getting him situated where he
                  should be situated, where he knows that he can pursue a future, is very important,"
                  said Reno. "And I would hope it would be before the end of the year."

                  Meanwhile, some people think the boy has become a pawn in a struggle between
                  the United States and Cuba.

                  Elian was rescued from the Atlantic Ocean on November 25 after a boat
                  carrying Cuban immigrants sank off the Florida coast. His mother was among
                  10 people aboard the boat who died in the shipwreck.

                  Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, is divorced from Elian's mother and
                  was not aboard the boat. He met with U.S. immigration officials in Havana
                  on Monday to press his case for Elian to be returned to Cuba.

                  The boy's relatives in Florida are lobbying to keep the child so he can grow
                  up in the United States.

                  Out of the spotlight on Thursday

                  On a rainy day in Miami, Elian spent most of Thursday behind closed doors,
                  away from the spotlight. A spokesman says his relatives in Miami will no
                  longer speak to the media or give advance information on their plans.

                  The decision follows a visit on Wednesday to a school in the Little Havana
                  section of Miami that offered a scholarship to Elian.

                  Surrounded by photographers at the school, the boy appeared unsure and
                  timid as adults led children in chanting his name. The attention soon got out
                  of control, and a family spokesman ordered the media to back off.

                  "Let the kid have some room here," said the spokesman. "If not,
                  everybody's going to get out of this place. You almost knocked him down.
                  Come on, everyone out. Everyone, the press, all the way to the back; we'll
                  give you room. Right now, let's go."

                  Such events have raised questions about what is best for Elian and whether
                  his case is being exploited by Cuban President Fidel Castro and the
                  Cuban-American exile community to advance their own agendas.

                  Castro interview broadcast

                  Rep. Ileana-Ros Lehtinen, R-Florida, who posed for pictures with Elian,
                  blames Cuba for much of the media glare.

                  "We hope the Castro regime does not continue with their declarations about
                  the boy and their massive protests, because that brings more of an interest
                  on behalf of the media," said Lehtinen. Massive demonstrations in Havana
                  for Elian's return to Cuba have ceased.

                  But Castro said in a television interview broadcast Wednesday that he
                  feared the boy's Cuban-American guardians in the United States were trying
                  to manipulate Elian and "dazzle" him with toys and outings such as a
                  weekend trip to Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom theme park in
                  Florida.

                  "Time matters here," Castro said. He expressed concern that the longer Elian
                  stays in the United States, the harder it would be for him to readapt to life in
                  Cuba.

                  Elian's relatives in Miami say he is a political refugee who would have a
                  better life with them and should stay in the United States.

                  Reno, who will review the INS decision, said she wants the agony to follow
                  the law, the facts and make the right decision.