BY SUSANNAH A. NESMITH

The man who barricaded himself inside the newsroom of El Nuevo Herald in November pleaded no contest to assault and burglary charges and received two years probation today.

José Varela, a freelance cartoonist for El Nuevo Herald, caused a tense 3 ½ hour stand-off before surrendering peacefully on Nov 24.

Wearing a black polo shirt with ''FBI'' printed on the back, Varela walked into The Miami Herald's building, gave a Cohiba cigar to the lobby security guard and took the elevator to the sixth-floor newsroom. He often dropped off his cartoons at El Nuevo's newsroom, and security guards say they never saw a weapon.

But once he reached the sixth floor, Varela brandished a hunting knife and what appeared to be a submachine gun. Police later determined the gun was a toy.

When he could not find Executive Editor Humberto Castelló, Varela declared himself editor of El Nuevo Herald, a Spanish-language newspaper published by The Miami Herald Media Co.

Hours later, after speaking with a Miami police negotiator, Varela was taken out of the building in handcuffs. No one was injured.

Detectives charged Varela, 50, with three counts of aggravated assault.

Today Circuit Judge David Young sentenced Varela to two years of probation with the special conditions that he attend anger control classes, continue psychiatric counseling and make a donation to a victim's assistance fund.

Young withheld adjudication, meaning Varela's record will not reflect a conviction if he complies with the conditions of his probation.

Varela could have faced life in prison if he had been convicted on all three counts of aggravated assault that prosecutors initially charged him with.

El Nuevo Herald's newsroom is on the sixth floor of the main Herald building in downtown Miami along Biscayne Bay. The Miami Herald's newsroom is on the fifth floor.