The indictment, returned in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and announced by the Justice Department here, alleged the defendants plotted for four years to kill Castro outside the United States and particularly during his trip to a summit meeting on Isla Margarita, Venezuela, in November 1997.
If convicted, they face up to life in prison, the department said.
At least one of the defendants, Jose Antonio Llama, is a member of the Cuban American National Foundation, but the foundation's president, Francisco ``Pepe'' Hernandez, was not charged in the indictment. Lawyers for both men had predicted in Miami last week that they would be charged with such a plot this week.
In addition to Llama, who is a member of the lobbying group's executive committee, others indicted today were: Jose Rodriguez, Alfredo Domingo Otero, Angel Manuel Alfonso, Angel Hernandez Rojo, Juan Bautista Marque and Francisco Secundino-Cordova.
Castro himself has accused the Cuban American National Foundation of plotting to kill him.
The indictment charges the conspirators with obtaining two .50-caliber semiautomatic rifles which were to be used as sniper rifles; a 46-foot boat, which was modified by the plotters to permit it to sail virtually anywhere in the waters in and around the Caribbean without refueling; and night-vision goggles and global positioning units to assist in assassinating Castro.
Other charges in the indictment include misuse of a vessel, false statements and smuggling.
The indictment is part of a continuing investigation by the FBI and Customs Service which was disclosed Oct. 27, 1997, when a U.S. Coast Guard cutter intercepted and boarded a boat off Puerto Rico that was carrying four of the conspirators. The sniper rifles, ammunition and some of the other equipment were found hidden in the boat, La Esperanza.
One of the four Cuban exiles aboard the boat allegedly blurted out that the men were on their way to Margarita to assassinate Castro.
Records showed that one of two sniper rifles seized on the boat was purchased by Hernandez and that the yacht was registered to Llama, authorities said.
``Ownership of a rifle or a boat does not make you guilty of a crime,'' attorney Jose M. Quinon said last week.
The owner of the second rifle, Evelio Pou, a veteran of the Bay of Pigs invasion, was questioned by the FBI but was not indicted.
``We fear that there are political reasons behind the actions that may take place next week,'' Quinon said last Thursday. The U.S. administration, he said, ``may be trying to come together with Cuba.''
A federal judge in San Juan gave U.S. Attorney Miguel Pereira until today to come up with new charges or take his case to trial.
Castro's government has repeatedly accused the foundation and its members of financing armed attacks against Cuba. The group maintains it works peacefully for democracy on the island.
Castro publicly commented on the case in a speech delivered July 26 in Santiago de Cuba, The Miami Herald reported Friday, citing Cuba's daily Communist Party newspaper Granma.
``Let's see how they can deny it,'' Castro said. ``Let's see how they can deny that the boat that was going to commit the attempt at Margarita -- captured by pure chance after sailing from Miami to Puerto Rico -- belongs to the foundation and that the weapons belong to the foundation. Let's see how they handle that problem.''
Another plan to assassinate Castro was discovered by federal agents last month, the Herald reported earlier this month.
© Copyright 1998 The Associated Press