HAVANA (CNN) -- Four of Cuba's most prominent dissidents were sentenced
                  Monday for acts of sedition against the communist government.

                  The most severe sentence was a five-year term handed down to Vladimoro Roca, 56,
                  a former military pilot and the son of the late Cuban communist leader Blas Roca.

                  Attorney Rene Gomez Manzano, 55, and engineer Felix Bonne, 59, were each
                  sentenced to four years in jail. Marta Beatriz Roque, 53, an economist, was
                  sentenced to three and a half years. The prison terms were announced on state-run
                  television Monday afternoon.

                  "It is wrong, it is unjust," said Roca's wife, Magaly de Armas, who learned of her
                  husband's sentence on the news. "They didn't even call."

                  The four have already spent 19 months in jail. They were arrested in July 1997 for
                  criticizing a Communist Party document they say failed to address Cuba's
                  economic problems.

                  Prosecutors also accused them of encouraging Cubans to boycott elections and
                  other acts of civil disobedience. They were also condemned for holding news
                  conferences with outside media and exhorting international businessmen not to
                  invest in Cuba.

                  Trade consequences for Cuba?

                  The trial of the four was held behind closed doors during the first week of March, a
                  move that drew criticism from many countries, including Cuba's top trading
                  partners.

                  Canada, several European countries and the Vatican have all called on President
                  Fidel Castro's government to free the dissidents.

                  Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien said Monday he was "disappointed" in the
                  verdict and would review his country's bilateral relations with Cuba.

                  The trial may also have a negative impact on Cuba's improved relations with its
                  Latin American neighbors and Europe.

                  King Juan Carlos II of Spain is expected to visit this spring and Cuba will also host
                  the Ibero-American Summit this fall -- two events which could turn into a forum for
                  human rights complaints.

                  Crackdown on subversion

                  Communist officials reject the characterization of the four as political prisoners.
                  They insist that the Cuban government only jails people for common crimes.

                  A panel of five judges sentenced the dissidents for "repeated crimes as laid out in
                  the penal code," the television statement said. Prosecutors had asked for sentences
                  of six years for Roca and five years each for the other defendants.

                  "Even though the damages done to our country were very serious, and the
                  anti-patriotic character of the acts very serious, the tribunal stuck strictly to the laws
                  that existed at the time the acts happened," the statement said.

                  The government has issued a number of new, tougher anti-subversion measures
                  during the past months.

                  One such law, entitled the "Protection of National Independence and Economy,"
                  penalizes those who cooperate with outside media to promote the U.S. embargo or
                  change Cuba's political system.

                  Immediate appeal

                  Family members said that the four rejected offers to go into exile instead of
                  standing trial. Some expressed relief that they did not receive the maximum
                  sentence.

                  "From the point of view of our family, I feel OK. Soon we will have Marta Beatriz
                  at home again. With nearly two years already fulfilled, and benefits for good
                  behavior, she is nearly in the street again," said a nephew, Joel Alfonso Roque.

                  Roca's wife was more defiant and announced plans for an immediate appeal.

                  "From the start, we were never in agreement with the arrest," she said. "We want
                  him (Roca) free, and we are going to carry on fighting for that."