Cuba and exiles in Miami disagree over sentences for anti-Castro activists convicted of plotting to kill Fidel four years ago in Panama City.

BY ELAINE DE VALLE

The Cuban government and exiles in Miami on Wednesday clashed over the prison terms of six to eight years handed down by a Panamanian judge to four exiles convicted on charges linked to an alleged plot to assassinate President Fidel Castro.

Cubans in Miami called for Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso to pardon the men, jailed since their arrest in 2000, while others accused her of cozying up to Castro.

Miriam Novo, 52, wife of defendant Guillermo Novo, told The Herald that she was only half surprised by the verdict.

''I expected absolution. There was never any proof,'' she said. But, she added, part of her expected it.

DEEP SKEPTICISM

''We have always had faith in the justice system of democracies, but in the case of Panama you can see that the Cuban regime has used intimidation, blackmail and bribery,'' she added. ``Castro's arm is long.''

''This sentence has been bought and paid for by the government of Cuba,'' said Hector Fabian, member of a committee supporting the Panama four.

Relatives and supporters have long held that the men were set up by Castro agents in an elaborate scheme to nab Luis Posada Carriles, a longtime anti-Castro militant accused of blowing up a Cubana de Aviación flight in 1976, killing 73 passengers, and several Havana hotel bombings in the 1990s.

''The intent was clearly to frame Luis,'' said Santiago Alvarez, a friend of the four who has helped raise funds for their defense. A general contractor, he would say only that hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised for the men's defense.

Cuba's Foreign Ministry issued a statement published in the official Granma newspaper Wednesday arguing that the sentences handed down to the Cuban exiles Tuesday were not long enough.

OFFICIAL REACTION

''The penalties imposed do not correspond to the gravity of the acts committed in the Republic of Panama,'' said the statement, the first official Havana reaction to the exiles' conviction.

The four, plus a Cuban exile living in Panama, were arrested shortly after Castro announced a plot to kill him during an Ibero-American summit in Panama City in November 2000.

Panamanian courts later ruled there was not enough evidence to accuse the men of attempted murder or possession of explosives. They were convicted of endangering the country's security.

The men convicted were Posada, Novo, Gaspar Jiménez, Pedro Remón and César Matamoros, the Cuban living in Panama. A sixth man, Panamanian José Hurtado, Posada's driver, was sentenced to four years as an accomplice.