HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's foreign ministry Thursday condemned as "extra-territorial'' a lawsuit brought by the families of three men killed when two planes were shot down last year.
Asked about the civil lawsuit that opened in a Miami court earlier Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Miguel Alfonso said the legal action was based on an extra-territorial law.
He said it was in line with the tendencies of courts in Florida, reiterating Cuba's view that they are swayed by opposition to President Fidel Castro's communist government.
The civil lawsuit against the Cuban government and its air force was brought by families of three of four men killed on Feb. 24, 1996, shooting down by Cuban fighter jets of two planes operated by a Miami-based Cuban exile organization.
The lawsuit in Miami opened with the reading of dramatic transcripts of radio messages in the last minutes of the men.
To win their case the plaintiffs must establish that the planes were shot down in international waters. The lawsuit is the first to be brought under the 1996 Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, which allows U.S. citizens to sue foreign governments that Washington says sponsor "terrorism.''
The plaintiffs' lawyers say the planes from the Brothers to the Rescue exile organization were over international waters and unarmed when they were attacked without warning.
Havana maintains they were in its airspace and ignored warnings to leave. It says Cuba tolerated numerous violations of its airspace by exile-operated planes before the incident.
The shooting down of the planes provoked an international outcry, led by Havana's longstanding political foe the United States, which toughened its economic embargo against Cuba.
20:01 11-13-97