BBC'S Richard Lister: Four-year plot to assassinate the Cuban leader

The defendants allegedly plotted to murder Mr Castro when he would have been outside of Cuba, in Isla Margarita, Venezuela, at an international conference.

The defendants could face sentences of life imprisonment if convicted on the charges

In October 1997, US coastguards intercepted a boat off Puerto Rico, carrying weapons, ammunition and military supplies.

One of the men on board is alleged to have said they were on their way to the island off the Venezuelan coast to assassinate the Cuban leader.

Link to a Cuban exile group

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.

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 in Cuba.

Mr Castro publicly commented on the case in a speech in July.

"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," he said.

The seven defendants are charged with obtaining two semiautomatic rifles, a 46-foot boat, night-vision goggles and other equipment to assist in the alleged assassination plot.

Other charges in the indictment include misuse of a vessel, false statements and smuggling.