Miami ? Angered by Cuban attacks, Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso on Tuesday was considering pardoning four anti-Castro Cuban exiles jailed in Panama and ordered the “immediate” departure of Cuba’s ambassador to Panama.

In Miami, leaders of a group of exiles who have supported the four by raising $400,000 for their defense said they were “elated” with Moscoso’s announcement but denied reports that they had lobbied the Panamanian president for pardons.

The twin actions by Moscoso, whose term expires Monday, plunged Panama-Cuba relations to a historic low and may leave the incoming government of President-elect Martin Torrijos with a diplomatic mess on its hands.

The flare-up began when Havana accused Panama of considering pardons for the four men to curry favor with Cubans in Miami, where the men have become a cause celebre in some exile circles. The Panamanian president was offended by the accusation.

“The president had not considered a pardon … but now she is,” Foreign Minister Harmodio Arias told The Miami Herald in a telephone interview from Panama, indicating her shift was an angry reaction to the Cuban complaints.

Arias met Cuban Ambassador Carlos Zamora on and handed him a note ordering him to leave. Panama recalled its ambassador from Havana on Monday.

The four men jailed include three Miami exiles and Luis Posada Carriles, an El Salvador resident labeled by Havana as its most-wanted terrorist. They were arrested in 2000 in Panama City after President Fidel Castro announced that the exiles were plotting to kill him.