From Herald Wire Services

 HAVANA -- Cuba will respond to a U.S. decision to transfer $93 million of frozen
 Cuban assets to the relatives of victims of the Brothers to the Rescue shoot-down
 in 1996, National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcón said Thursday.

 Alarcón described the authorization made on Monday as ``very grave'' and ``a
 recurring aggression.''

 The planes were downed ``while violating national air space,'' he said.

 ``Cuba is not obliged to announce at every moment what it's going to do, but you
 may be certain that we shall provide a response,'' Alarcón told the official news
 agency Prensa Latina.

 The bank transfer, set for today, includes $58 million in compensatory damages
 for the relatives of three of the four fliers killed over the Florida Straits on Feb. 24,
 1996, and an additional $35 million in court-imposed sanctions against the
 government of Fidel Castro.

 Alarcón said Washington's action ``absolutely negates the possibility of any
 Cuban commercial transaction in [the United States]'' and ``closes any
 possibility, even hypothetical, of negotiation between the two countries.''

 ``By diverting the frozen accounts, [the U.S.] not only strips Cuba of its legitimate
 funds but also materially supports the elements involved in terrorist actions
 against this country,'' he said.

 ``The United States does not have the right to use something it doesn't own,''
 Alarcón said.

 ``To make things worse, the American government with that authorization
 encourages future terrorist acts and provocations'' against Cuba.

 The money, held in the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, comes from
 long-distance telephone revenue paid by AT&T and other American companies to
 the Cuban government.

 Alarcón recalled that Cuba in December cut direct telephone communications
 with U.S. companies that refused to pay a special tax on calls between the U.S.
 and Cuba.