Fidel Castro had planned to attend the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle, but was warned by an official in the State Department that he might face legal problems if he did. Because Castro told Time magazine in 1996 that he had ordered the shoot down of the two Cessnas in Feb 96, he could be held liable for the $187 million judgment issued in the wrongful death suit. His aircraft might have been seized upon arrival, or at least, relatives of the slain Cuban expatriates might have tried to do so.--Stephen V Cole