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Right-Wing Terrorist Posada Carriles Gets Postponement of
Bail Hearing
by Mark
Ostapiak / July 2005 issue of Socialist Action newspaper
The U.S. government has become increasingly isolated internationally
for the way that it has handled the Luis Posada Carriles case, applying a
double standard in its so-called war on terrorism. Left with little room
for political maneuver, it got a momentary reprieve on June 24 in an El
Paso, Texas, federal court, where U.S. Immigration Judge William Lee Abbott
agreed to attorney Eduardo Soto’s request to postpone Posada’s bail hearing
for 30 days.
Posada, who admitted in a 1998 New York Times interview having received
CIA training in explosives, sabotage, killing, and bomb making, has
dedicated over 40 years planning and executing hundreds of terrorist
acts throughout Cuba, Latin America, and the U.S. In the same Times
interview he boasted about his role in a series of 1997 hotel bombings in
Cuba, one of which killed an Italian tourist and injured eleven others.
Posada is most notorious for the planning and funding of the Oct. 6,
1976, bombing of a Cubana Airlines plane, which killed 73 people when it
exploded in mid-air over the island of Barbados.
Posada took refuge in Florida for at least one month before the U.S.
took action, buckling under pressure generated, in part, by exposes in
important mainstream press throughout the world. The Department of Homeland
Security arrested Posada on May 17, following a press conference
that day when he announced that he would seek asylum in the U.S. He was
charged with illegally entering the country, a minor felony.
A June 13 hearing in El Paso set June 24 and Aug. 29 as the dates for
hearings regarding bail and immigration violations, respectively. June 13
also marked a day of nationwide protests in over 20 cities, including New
York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The central demand
was to extradite Posada to Venezuela, where he is a citizen.
Soto made the postponement request claiming that he needs time to
review newly submitted documents from Venezuela and previous documents from
Cuba, both highlighting Posada’s involvement in terrorist acts.
The June 24 Agencia Cubana de Noticias reported that "according
to Miami-based media outlets Soto seeks to exclude from the case the
documents proving that Posada Carriles is guilty of terrorist acts,
delivered by the Cuban government to the FBI during a meeting in Havana on
June 16-17, 1998."
Admissibility of these documents, many of which are recently
declassified FBI and CIA records, is key to the case, especially in
relation to the Aug. 29
immigration hearing. Jose Petierra, lead prosecuting attorney
working on Venezuela’s behalf, said in a June 22 Radio Progreso interview
that based on a 1922 extradition treaty between the U.S. and Venezuela, "immigration
hearings should be suspended for extradition hearings."
Petierra has also explained that Venezuela met the three standards
for their extradition request (officially submitted to the U.S. on June 15)
to take effect, as outlined in the 1922 treaty: 1) There is a warrant for
Posada’s arrest in Venezuela; 2) The crime for which he is accused is
contained in the Venezuela penal code; 3) United States law contains a
mirror image of the statute that Venezuela accuses Posada of violating, in
this case, the law against homicide. Homicide is the number-one
extraditable offense listed
in the 1922 treaty.
Thus, to deliberate anything other than Posada’s extradition during the
Aug. 29 hearings would be a blatant abrogation of the 1922 treaty, and the
U.S.
would face legal repercussions, not to mention serious political repercussions.
In relation to Cuba and Venezuela, the U.S. government seems to be
measuring what political blows they can give and take around the Posada
case. It’s clear that their creditability in the war on terror has
suffered. Consequently, they had to pull a punch in regard to a change of
venue to Miami.
Marking a significant victory for Cuba and Venezuela, on June 16,
Judge Abbott denied Posada’s request to move the trial to Miami, where he
would have received even more favorable treatment than he has enjoyed thus far.
Miami is the historic base for right-wing Cuban-exile groups who
have dedicated the past 30 years to launching attacks against Cuba and are
sympathetic to Posada, among other notable terrorists. Orlando Bosch,
arrested by the U.S. in 1968 for terrorism (he was pardoned in 1990
by then president Bush Sr.), has a street named after him in Miami.
Drawing on the outcry generated by Washington’s soft handling of
Posada’s case, Cuba convened "International Encounter against
Terrorism, for Truth
and Justice," a conference in Havana, June 2-4. Organized in less than a week’s time,
the conference drew 1500 participants from over 60 countries to build support
from around the world to fight against U.S. sponsored terror.
Cuba and Venezuela will continue focusing international scrutiny on
the United States government, which has been backed into a corner alongside
its long-time ally, Posada. The example of both countries continues to
garner support among a growing layer of society that is standing up against
U.S. efforts to police the world using terror and violence.
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