By Madeline Baró Diaz
Miami Bureau

Opa-locka · Three Cuban exiles imprisoned in Panama for almost four years on charges related to an alleged plot to kill Fidel Castro reunited with their families on Thursday, after being pardoned by outgoing Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso.

That decision prompted the Cuban government to sever ties with Panama.

Guillermo Novo, Pedro Remón and Gaspar Jiménezreceived the pardon Thursday morning and hours later arrived at Opa-locka Airport, where about 50 family members and supporters welcomed them with hugs and tears.

"We are very grateful for this just judgment," Novo said. "I dreamt about this day, but I wasn't sure it would arrive."

Also pardoned was Luis Posada Carriles, an ex-CIA operative accused of being the plot's ringleader. Posada Carriles, who escaped a Venezuelan prison in 1985 while awaiting trial on charges he bombed a Cuban airliner, left Panama and apparently went into hiding in an undisclosed country after a tearful farewell with Novo, Remón and Jiménez.

The four men had been behind bars since November 2000 when, during the Ibero-American Summit in Panama, Castro claimed Posada Carriles was in the country, trying to assassinate him. The three Miami exiles, who are U.S. citizens, said they went to Panama expecting to meet a defecting Cuban general but were arrested along with Posada Carriles.

"It was definitely a trap," Remón said Thursday.

Panama denied Cuba's requests for extradition, and Posada Carriles and Jiménez were eventually sentenced to eight years for endangering public safety and falsifying documents. Novo and Remón received seven years for endangering public safety.

The pardons were the culmination of deteriorating diplomatic relations between Panama and Cuba.

Earlier this week, Moscoso, who hands over the presidency on Sept. 1 to Martin Torrijos, recalled Panama's ambassador from Havana and ordered the Cuban ambassador to leave Panama.

She said she released the men because "we know that if [the exiles] stay, they would face the possibility of being extradited to Venezuela or Cuba, where I am sure they would have been killed."

The Cuban government called Moscoso an "accomplice and protector of terrorism" and said she was acting in concert with the U.S. government and Miami Cubans.

The pardoned men said they beat Castro's government.

"Fidel Castro must be licking his wounds," Remón said. "I think this has been a victory for the Cuban people."

But others criticized the decision.

"These guys were found guilty of crimes," said Wayne Smith, senior fellow with the Center for International Policy. "Posada has been involved in terrorist efforts in the past, so to release them and go easy on them sends the wrong message."

Posada Carriles has denied involvement in the 1976 bombing of the civilian jetliner that killed 73 people but has been accused by the Cuban government of bombing Havana hotels and other deadly acts. Novo, Remón and Jimenez have also been previously associated with anti-Castro violence.

Many in South Florida's Cuban exile community, however, support the men and have raised thousands of dollars for their defense.

Seven-year-old Peter Remón, who last saw his father when he was 4, brought a Florida Marlins baseball cap for his dad.

"He likes Marlins like I do," Peter said.

After Remón arrived, he was asked what he had planned after he left the airport. He looked at Peter and replied, "We're going to play, right? We're going to play a lot."

Staff Writers Sandra Hernandez and Vanessa Bauzá contributed to this report, which was supplemented with information from the Associated Press.

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