Court to hear Posada extradition case Aug. 29

It is off the front pages in the U.S. media, but news of the case of Luis Posada Carriles is very much a hot topic in Venezuela and Cuba.

And in the progressive and Cuba solidarity movements in the United States, the demand to extradite Posada Carriles to Venezuela continues to gather momentum. National actions demanding extradition will be held on Aug. 29 throughout the United States. That same day Posada Carriles’ immigration status is scheduled for review in a court in El Paso, Texas.

Luis Posada Carriles was taken into U.S. custody in Miami on May 17 and detained on immigration charges. The arrest came only after an intense international campaign denouncing Posada Carriles’ terrorist actions against Cuba and elsewhere.

The case quickly became an Achilles heel for the Bush administration.

People around the world and in the United States were outraged by the fact that the Bush administration had waged a so-called “war against terror” while the U.S. government was harboring a known terrorist, Posada Carriles.

A wealth of information documents the infamous history of terrorist acts against Cuba carried out by Posada Carriles. The information has been reported in news accounts—including Posada Carriles’ own admission to the New York Times in 1998.

Now declassified CIA documents detail his acts of terror, and his collaboration with the CIA.

Posada Carriles is the chief plotter behind many assassination attempts against Cuba’s President Fidel Castro as well as bombs set in Cuba’s tourist sites.

Posada Carriles orchestrated the bombing of a Cubana airliner in 1976 that killed 73 people. Plans as well as the bombs themselves were made at two Hilton Hotels in Caracas, Venezuela.

Venezuela demands extradition

The government of Venezuela is requesting the extradition of Posada Carriles because the Cubana airline tragedy was hatched in that country.

The case for the extradition of Posada Carriles to Venezuela is strong. If the U.S. government refuses or circumvents it, this would be a blatant violation of international law.

A well-known Cuban-American lawyer in Washington, D.C., José Pertierra, an expert on immigration law, is currently employed by the Venezuelan government to represent it in the extradition case. In a June 22 interview with a progressive Cuban American radio station in Miami, Pertierra explained why the case for extradition is so strong.

Pertierra pointed out that the standard for extradition requests is broad. “It is not necessary to demonstrate guilt,” he said. “It is enough to demonstrate probable cause that the individual is guilty.”

The case has strong legal grounds, too, because of the 1922 Treaty of Extradition between the United States and Venezuela.

In the United States, extradition cases are handled by the state department. Venezuela has submitted a wealth of material documenting Posada Carriles’ role in the Cubana Airline incident.

The material includes Hernán Ricardo’s confession. Ricardo placed the bomb in the Cubana airliner. He admits being an agent for Posada Carriles.

Posada Carriles, a naturalized Vene zuelan citizen, entered the United States in March without documents. He was in Miami illegally—and even held a news conference announcing his presence.

Posada Carriles has filed for political asylum. He says he wants to remain in the United States.

According to Pertierra, state department regulations establish that the extradition process takes precedent over Posada Carriles’ immigration process.

If the federal judge determines on Aug. 29 that there is a case for extradition and Posada Carriles is denied asylum, the case goes to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Pertierra says that Rice has three options: She can extradite, refuse to extradite or she can extradite while placing conditions on Venezuela.

For over 45 years, Cuba has worked hard to expose the role of the likes of Luis Posada Carriles in their horrific crimes against the Cuban people. But he, along with other counter-revolutionaries such as Orlando Bosch, have been nurtured and protected by the U.S. government. The first President George Bush, for example, pardoned Bosch despite his terrorist activities.

It was the struggle of the Cuban people and their many supporters in the United States and around the world that led to Posada Carriles’ detention.

If justice is served in El Paso, Posada Carriles will be extradited to Venezuela—where he will face a fair trial for the charges of murder of the 73 people on the Cubana plane. No asylum should be granted to Luis Posada Carriles. The extradition treaty between Venezuela and the United States should be honored.

Gutierrez is the New York coordinator of the Committee to Free the Cuban 5.