By JUAN O. TAMAYO
             Herald Staff Writer

             The Justice Department urged a Miami judge Thursday to block an attempt to
             seize millions of dollars in U.S. payments to Havana, saying the move was illegal
             and could sever U.S.-Cuba telephone links.

             Justice's action came in a suit by relatives of the victims of the Brothers to the
             Rescue shoot-downs in 1996, who were awarded a $187 million judgment against
             Havana by Miami federal Judge James Lawrence King in 1997.

             The relatives have since been battling to collect on the judgment, and recently filed
             notice that they intended to garnishee payments made to Cuba's phone company
             by AT&T, MCI and six other U.S. telephone firms.

             ``Our government is once again stepping in on the side of terrorists, said Frank
             Angones, one of the relatives' lawyers. ``We must force Cuba to accept its guilt,
             since our government has not seen fit to prosecute.''

             In a 17-page ``Statement of Interest, Justice Department lawyers used an unusual
             opening argument: The U.S. trade embargo bans any financial dealings with Cuba,
             including garnishments, unless specifically licensed by Washington.

             It added that Cuba's ETECSA phone company, a joint venture between the
             government and an Italian firm, is an independent firm and therefore cannot be
             roped into the relatives' suit against the Cuban government and its air force.

             ``The United States condemns the unlawful acts committed by [Cuba] and
             sympathizes with the devastating losses experienced by the plaintiffs, it said.
             ``Nevertheless, plaintiffs' interests must defer to . . . law.

             But the statement went beyond legalities and into foreign policy, noting that
             Havana had vowed that it would cut U.S.-Cuba telephone links if its share of the
             income is garnisheed.

             ``Our position is very simple: If these services are not paid for, then these services
             will not continue, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alejandro Gonzalez repeated
             Thursday.

             ``This result would seriously impair the United States' foreign policy and
             humanitarian goals with respect to Cuba, the Justice Department statement said,
             adding:

             ``Branches of the government have determined that maintaining direct
             telecommunications services toward Cuba is a critical element of our policy
             toward Cuba, and in particular of our policy to encourage development of a civil
             society independent of the Cuban government and to promote an eventual
             peaceful transition to democracy.

             The U.S. government, the statement added, ``has a strong humanitarian interest in
             enabling family members in both countries to maintain direct person-to-person
             contact.

             The statement is the second that the Justice Department has filed in the
             complicated maneuvering unleashed as the relatives of the Brothers to the Rescue
             victims sought to collect on Judge King's $187 million judgment.

             The relatives first went after tens of millions of dollars in Cuban assets in the United
             States frozen by the State Department since the 1960s, but ran into opposition
             from the State and Treasury departments.

             They then turned to the money being paid to Cuba by U.S. telephone firms as
             Havana's share of the costs of U.S.-Cuba telephone links. That amounted to an
             estimated $60 million to $70 million in 1997.

             Further complicating the issue was a provision passed by Congress last year
             specifically lifting any immunity that might protect the U.S. assets of foreign nations
             blamed for terror attacks that kill U.S. citizens.

             The provision was designed to help the relatives of victims of the Brothers to the
             Rescue downings -- shot down by Cuban MiGs over international airspace -- as
             well as the Pan Am Flight 007 downing in Lockerbie and a terror attack in Israel
             that killed an American teenager.

             President Clinton signed the bill into law but immediately suspended its application
             under a disputed interpretation of its text.

             The relatives of the victims involved in all three cases care about justice and not
             money, Angones said.

             ``The only weapon the families have in their hands is to pursue the Cuban
             government through its assets, he said. ``It is clearly not what they want, but for
             the time being it is a moral sanction.

             Herald staff writer David Kidwell contributed to this report.
 

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