http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,156792,00.html
MIAMI — Under growing international pressure, U.S. authorities Tuesday seized a Cuban exile accused by Fidel Castro’s overnment of masterminding a 1976 airliner bombing that killed 73 people. He had been seeking asylum in the United States.
Luis Posada Carriles, a 77-year-old former CIA operative and Venezuelan security official, was taken into custody by U.S. immigration authorities, the Homeland Security Department said in a statement.
The department did not say what it planned to do with Posada. Venezuela has asked for his extradition, and Cuba has asked that he be sent to Venezuela for retrial in the bombing or go before an international tribunal.
Generally, the U.S. government does not return people to countries acting on Cuba’s behalf, the department said. It has 48 hours to determine his immigration status.
Posada escaped from prison in Venezuela in 1985 while awaiting a prosecutor’s appeal of his second acquittal in the bombing of a Cuban jetliner near Barbados. His whereabouts had been unknown until he surfaced in Miami in March and sent word that he was seeking asylum.
The request brought protests from Cuba and put the United States in an awkward position, given the war against terror.
Earlier Tuesday, before he was taken into custody, Posada told reporters he was willing to abandon his asylum request and leave the United States for another country.
“If my petition for political asylum created any problem to the government of the United States, I am ready to reconsider my petition,” he said. “My only objective is to fight for the freedom of my country.”
U.S. officials seized Posada soon after he emerged from about two months in hiding and granted interviews to TV stations and The Miami Herald.
Posada was arrested at a home in the Miami area. He was initially taken to an immigration detention center, then flown by helicopter to an undisclosed location, said Posada’s friend and benefactor, Santiago Alvarez.
His attorney, Eduardo Soto, said the asylum request was being refiled because of Posada’s arrest. He also questioned the U.S. government’s timing.
“It was the U.S. government’s preconceived notion to detain him before we withdrew our application for asylum,” Soto said. “You don’t need to formally remove a person who wants to leave.”
Castro has demanded Posada’s arrest by U.S. authorities for his alleged role in the airliner bombing and other anti-Castro violence. That demand was echoed by thousands in protests in Havana on Tuesday.
Cuba’s parliament speaker, Ricardo Alarcon, said after Posada’s arrest that the Cuban government will wait to see if President Bush “lives up to his rhetoric or if they help an old friend.”
Venezuela recently approved an extradition request, and Castro has made numerous televised speeches calling Posada a terrorist and accusing the United States of a double standard on terror. The United States and Venezuela have an extradition treaty.
“The majority of Americans would never be in favor of harboring a terrorist,” said Wayne Smith, a former U.S. envoy to Cuba who now heads the Cuba program at the Washington-based Center for International Policy. If the United States were to grant asylum, Smith added, “we will be seen as hypocrites and as being against terrorism only when is suits our purposes.”
Pepe Hernandez, president of the Cuban American National Foundation, said Posada deserves a chance to seek asylum in the United States. Posada is seen as a hero by many in the Cuban-American community in South Florida.
“He’s been fighting one of the worst tyrannies this continent has experienced,” Hernandez said.
Posada and three others were pardoned last August by Panama’s president for their role in an alleged assassination plot in 2000 against Castro during a conference in Panama. Posada was also connected to a series of 1997 bombings of tourists sites in Cuba, one of which killed an Italian tourist.
In an interview in Tuesday’s Herald, Posada denied any involvement in the airliner bombing but refused to confirm or deny involvement in other attacks, telling the newspaper: “Let’s leave it to history.”
“I feel that I’ve committed many errors, more than most people,” he said. “But I’ve always believed in rebellion, in the armed struggle. I believe more and more every day that we will triumph against Castro. Victory will be ours.”
He has said he entered the United States through Mexico and came to Miami on a bus.
So what should we do with him? I think this is cut and dry-send him back to Venezuela (this, of course, being the only thing I think we should have to do with Venezuela). Now who’s going to be the first liberal wiener to tell me we should give a terrorist asylum? 😀
By: Colonial Bird - 19th May 2005 at 06:01
Plan A of spreading democracy may have hit a few snags, but Plan B of keeping the rest of the world amused is right on schedule 😀
Well, that’s something at least… 😉
By: SOC - 18th May 2005 at 23:47
HA! HAHAHAHA! HAHA! Ha..ha..ha *snort* Oh- that was funny. Really, hilarious!!!
Plan A of spreading democracy may have hit a few snags, but Plan B of keeping the rest of the world amused is right on schedule 😀
By: Colonial Bird - 18th May 2005 at 22:34
You need to put new batteries in your sarcasm detector 😀
mmm hmmm, I’m just saying…. 😉 Certainly don’t want me on my soapbox on multiple topics in the same thread!!!
I meant the US embassy in whatever country they are trying to escape from. I mean, come on, the guy did get all the way to the US from Venezuela.
Yes, thats true- sorry….
Apparently not, he was being held while the prosecutors tried him (or were preparing to try him) for a third time. He was already acquitted twice.
I was going to say something along the lines of “should be sent back unless he can prove that they have intent to treat him poorly or something, but it wasnt looking right so I left it out…. That is a good point though; and perhaps needs to be taken into consideration…
By: Colonial Bird - 18th May 2005 at 22:29
there is at least some thought put into it… .
HA! HAHAHAHA! HAHA! Ha..ha..ha *snort* Oh- that was funny. Really, hilarious!!!
By: SOC - 18th May 2005 at 22:28
SOC- Don’t turn this into an issue about Mexico!
You need to put new batteries in your sarcasm detector 😀
People who are seeking valid asylum can’t always afford first class airfare across the atlantic and bus fair to the embassy, Sean….
I meant the US embassy in whatever country they are trying to escape from. I mean, come on, the guy did get all the way to the US from Venezuela.
If he was aquitted I imagine they would have let him go.
Apparently not, he was being held while the prosecutors tried him (or were preparing to try him) for a third time. He was already acquitted twice.
By: Colonial Bird - 18th May 2005 at 22:22
C’mon Grey! Be nice! 🙂
SOC- Don’t turn this into an issue about Mexico! He couldve just as easily gotten in through Canada mind you! People who are seeking asylum for valid reasons should get in any way they can and advise the embassy that they are seeking asylum as soon as possible. People who are seeking valid asylum can’t always afford first class airfare across the atlantic and bus fair to the embassy, Sean….
As far as escaping from prison, well there you go- send him back to Venezuela for trial. If he was aquitted I imagine they would have let him go.
I suppose it is possible that he may have a valid reason to request for asylum, I mean c’mon! He was a CIA operative and a special forces for Venezuela. Were these supposed crimes committed purely during his spare time? I’m still thinking he should be returned to Venezuela unless he can prove why he shouldnt be; but I’m a bit uneasy with it.
As far as Castro goes- the man should just keep his mouth shut. Doesn’t he know a good thing when he has it?
By: SOC - 18th May 2005 at 22:22
Come on, not every Moslem terrorist is a card-carrying member of Al-Qaeda’s Jihad United club. If we picked up a member of Hamas in the US who wanted asylum for being accused of blowing up a building in Israel you can bet he’d be extradited. It all depends on the situation, really. We don’t detain Moslems who are pulled over for speeding on terrorist charges, there is at least some thought put into it, whether you agree with the thought process or not.
By: Grey Area - 18th May 2005 at 22:16
Sophistry, Sean.
You can do better than that! 😀
By: SOC - 18th May 2005 at 22:14
Actually at 8:35 this morning I was pretty bored and probably would have asked anyway 😀
Regardless, if he was a Moslem, he still would have been acquitted twice on the exact charge Castro is babbling about. And even if he was a Moslem in a different situation (let’s say he was accused of blowing up a hotel or something in Zaire), we wouldn’t arbitrarily hold him and try him here or something because he did something years ago that was unrelated to the US. If we picked the guy up in Iraq or Afghanistan I could see us holding onto him, but this situation is different.
By: Grey Area - 18th May 2005 at 22:09
If he was a Moslem you wouldn’t even be asking the question, SOC.
By: SOC - 18th May 2005 at 22:06
I say send him to Venezuela- he seems to be a known terrorist who has blood on his hands.
Alright if we keep agreeing on things people are going to start asking questions 😀
Asylum should be for people who are fleeing tyranny or persecution based soley upon religion or race, etc. etc.
While I agree with that, I don’t necessarily think an asylum hearing is a valid reason to enter the country illegally. People wanting asylum should go to the embassy. If they need to be protected or something, they can be held there.
This man seems only want to get out of being punished for his crimes.
That’s the only slightly sticky part-he escaped from prision while the prosecution was appealing his 2nd acquittal for blowing up the jetliner. From a legal standpoint, sure, he’s guilty of running out of jail, but he’s not guilty of blowing up the jetliner. The real question is whether or not anyone believes that. Given his connections to other activity, I sure don’t, but you can bet people who want him granted asylum will bring up the fact that he was acquitted twice. How backwards is the legal system down there, anyway?
Although, emphasizing the potential airliner destroying activities will also add fuel to the “we need a fence on the border” argument: he did, after all, enter illegally. From Mexico. So at least some good will probably come out of all of this 😀 Of course, for that to happen, the politicians in DC would have to stop bitching about fillibusters for 5 minutes.
By: Colonial Bird - 18th May 2005 at 21:47
SOC-
I say send him to Venezuela- he seems to be a known terrorist who has blood on his hands. Asylum should be for people who are fleeing tyranny or persecution based soley upon religion or race, etc. etc. This man seems only want to get out of being punished for his crimes. Terrorism is not a means to an end; it only makes things worse. Perhaps we could ask the family of the Italian tourist what should be done with Mr. Carriles…?
Extradite him; let Venezuela retry him and throw him back in prison. He is an escaped prisoner and a known terrorist; there should be no question about it. Asylum, right. What a coward.
By: SOC - 18th May 2005 at 21:42
I finish my uni finals on Friday. I shall read it then. Can’t promise I’ll reply though 😀
Fair enough! Good luck with your exams.
By: Flying chick - 18th May 2005 at 21:18
I finish my uni finals on Friday. I shall read it then. Can’t promise I’ll reply though 😀
By: SOC - 18th May 2005 at 19:15
Please. 4 out of the 36 threads I’ve started in the GD forum have anything to do with the subject, and 2 of the last 60 posts I’ve made have anything remotely to do with it.
By: Flying chick - 18th May 2005 at 17:27
I would make a comment about human rights but I can’t be bothered to read another article about terrorism so I can’t possibly comment with any authority in this case.
Sorry to disappoint, but your posts do seem to centre around one topic somewhat.
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May 18, 2005 at 2:35 pm