The judge also gave the defence a May 20 deadline to file motions in the
                  case, so that prosecutors will have time to respond to them and the judge to
                  rule on them before the trial.

                  The seven Cuban-American defendants, including a leader of the powerful
                  exile group, Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), have been
                  charged in a failed plot to kill Castro during a Latin American summit
                  meeting in Venezuela in November 1997.

                  Four of the men -- Angel Manuel Alfonso, Angel Hernandez Rojo, Juan
                  Battista Marquez and Francisco Secundino Cordova -- were arrested in
                  October 1997, after the U.S. Coast Guard boarded their boat and found
                  two assault rifles and other military equipment. The boat was travelling off
                  the west coast of Puerto Rico.

                  They were originally charged with illegal weapons possession, but in a
                  superseding indictment the charges were upgraded to include conspiracy to
                  assassinate Castro.

                  The second indictment also named Jose Antonio Llamas, Jose Rodriguez
                  and Alfredo Domingo Otero. Llamas is a board member of the CANF.

                  One of the guns found on the boat was registered to Jose "Pepe"
                  Hernandez, the foundation's president.

                  In January, Laffitte moved the trial to the Southern District of Florida, home
                  to some 800,000 Cuban-Americans and a hotbed of anti-Castro sentiment,
                  saying many of the alleged crimes had been committed there. But he ruled
                  last month that moving the case to a crowded docket like that in south
                  Florida would lead to a delay in the case.

                  The seven face up to life in prison if convicted on the charges.