In the Cuban capital, Havana, an estimated one hundred and fifty thousand demonstrators have take part in another government-organised protest to demand the return of the boy at the centre of a custody battle between the United States and Cuba, Elian Gonzalez.

Correspondents say the rally was one of the biggest so far.

Actors and singers said the boy's identity was being -- as they put it -- murdered.

The BBC correspondent in Havana says that, despite the rhetoric, the authorities do not seem to want to escalate the dispute.

A Cuban official said the government's tactic was to appeal to the United States public and isolate the Cubans in Miami.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service