The families of three fliers shot down by the Cuban Air Force posted their consolidated bill Thursday for compensatory and punitive damages -- $79.9 million.

No one from the Republic of Cuba, or its air force, was present to receive it or to argue against it.

But in a presentation that was as short as it was emotional, family lawyers told Senior U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King that whatever he chooses to do, he will be sending a message to other nations that they must pay for any acts of terrorism that are found to be sponsored against American citizens.

``I think your judgment will speak volumes,'' said Miami lawyer Aaron Podhurst, one of several attorneys working for the families. ``This judgment will in part carry out the will of Congress and let these families know that in this country, unlike other countries, justice prevails.

``I think I could ask for $100 million in each case and not be embarrassed,'' he added.

Armando Alejandre, 45; Carlos Alberto Costa, 29; and Mario Manuel de la Pena, 24, were shot down Feb. 24, 1996. Family attorneys said the three were searching for Cuban rafters seeking passage to the United States.

A fourth flier, Pablo Morales, was also killed. But he could not be a part of court action because he was not a U.S. citizen.

Each of the American victims' families filed wrongful-death lawsuits in U.S. District Court against Cuba and the Cuban air force last year. The cases were later consolidated into one.

Cuba's refusal to respond in court resulted in a default judgment against it. But the judge still has to determine the extent of the damages.

During a three-day, nonjury trial that started last Thursday, attorneys and witnesses said Soviet-made MiGs shot down the two unarmed Cessnas north of Cuba in international waters.

The trial was the first of its kind under the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. The law allows families of American citizens to collect damages from countries designated by the U.S. government as sponsors of terrorism. The families hope to collect from ``hundreds of millions'' in frozen Cuban assets. Another case is pending on behalf of families who lost relatives in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Lawyers in the Miami case argued that the fliers had been searching for Cuban rafters seeking to make their way to the United States, only to be murdered by the Cuban Air Force. The men's bodies were never recovered.

Podhurst and fellow attorney Frank Angones argued that millions in damages were warranted because the victims were on career paths that would have yielded substantial amounts of money for themselves and their families.

Cuba, which has retained attorneys in the past to represent its interests in American courts, refused to recognize the court's jurisdiction.

``No U.S. court is competent to judge either the Republic of Cuba or its institutions, much less the events of Feb. 24, 1996,'' the Castro government said in a diplomatic note to the State Department.

Cuba also rejected a report compiled by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a Montreal-based arm of the United Nations. The report, which was introduced into evidence at trial, concluded that the doomed planes were flying outside Cuba's territorial waters.

Angones said Cuba sat out the trial because its position is indefensible.

``Cuba didn't show only for one reason,'' he told the judge Thursday. ``They knew they couldn't possibly win.''

Judge King promised he would rule as soon as possible. He accepted a suggested order of final judgment from the attorneys. But he said he wants to write an order of his own.

Later, Podhurst acknowledged that more steps would have to be taken to enforce any judgment and that payments probably would not come quickly. But he indicated that it made little sense for Congress to enact the anti-terrorism law and not follow through on its provisions.

``Congress did not pass this for Pyrrhic victories or paper judgments,'' he said.

Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald