The most obvious tip-off that the four men had lethal intent was the 15kg of explosives police found in their possession. Eventually they were convicted of plotting to assassinate a head of state.
To some, it looked like a clear case of international terrorism. To others, the four were freedom fighters trying to liberate their homeland.
The scene of the attempt was Panama in November 2000. The perpetrators were four Cuban exiles. Their target, prosecutors said, was Cuban President Fidel Castro, who was due in Panama to attend a summit conference.
Debate over the case has resurfaced with the decision of Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso last week to pardon the four.
Among some Cuban-Americans in Miami there was jubilation. The Cuban government was furious. The US State Department declined to criticize Moscoso's action.
"This was a decision made by the government of Panama," state department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said. "We never lobbied the Panamanian government to pardon anyone involved in this case, and I'd leave it to the government of Panama to discuss the action."
Representative William Delahunt, a Massachusetts Democrat, said he was stunned to learn of the pardon, adding that the state department loses credibility in refusing to voice outrage over the release of people he says are ``assassins, ... terrorists.''
Moscoso announced the pardon six days before the end of her term as president. President-elect Martin Torrijos was taking the oath of office yesterday in the presence of US Secretary of State Colin Powell and other foreign dignitaries.
The state department response may have been influenced by election-year politics, particularly the administration's interest in keeping the Cuban-American vote in President George W. Bush's column this November, much as it was in 2000.
Cuba has long complained about what it sees as a US double standard on terrorism. It insists the US harbors countless criminals from the pre-Castro military regime. It also alleges the US has done nothing to stop Florida-based anti-Castro groups from launching armed attacks on the island.
In response, the US maintains that Cuba supports groups on the US list of foreign terrorist organizations and provides a haven for numerous fugitives from US justice. Cuba is one of seven countries on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Moscoso said she decided on the pardon for humanitarian reasons, claiming she was fearful her successor would extradite the men to Cuba, where they would await a firing squad.
The circumstances of the pardon suggest close cooperation between the Panamanian government and wealthy Cuban-Americans in South Florida, one of whom chartered two small planes that picked up three of the exiles shortly after their release.
The fourth was Luis Posada Cariles, whom Castro has described as "the worst terrorist in the hemisphere." He is believed to be in Honduras.
Posada left Cuba after the 1959 revolution and has spent much of his life seeking Castro's ouster. He trained for the CIA-organized Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, though his group did not reach shore.
He is wanted by Venezuelan authorities for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban civilian jetliner that had taken off from Caracas. All 73 aboard were killed.
Posada and his colleagues say they were in Panama to help a Cuban official defect. They say they were framed by Cuban agents.
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