Cuban Militant Luis Posada Carriles to Stand Trial in U.S.
A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles should stand trial for an alleged immigration violation in the United States. The decision is likely to inflame Cuba and Venezuela, which want to prosecute him for terrorism in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jetliner.
The decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans was expected to take the pressure off the Bush administration to respond to Venezuela's demands that Posada, who lives in Miami, be extradited to face trial for the bombing. The plane, en route from Venezuela to Havana, exploded in flight shortly after making a stop in Barbados. All 73 people aboard were killed.
At the time, Posada lived in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, and held joint Cuban and Venezuelan citizenship. Venezuela was a U.S. ally.
Posada, 80, worked for the CIA during the Cold War and has been tied to covert "black operations" in Latin America. His Miami lawyer has intimated that the man considered a freedom fighter by many fellow Cuban exiles could reveal information embarrassing to the government, including former President George H.W. Bush, who was director of central intelligence during part of Posada's CIA service.
Posada's communications with the spy agency -- disclosed in declassified documents obtained by the National Security Archive at George Washington University -- show that he told his handlers in Washington of plans to "hit" a Cuban airliner days before the Oct. 6, 1976, explosion. The incident is considered to be the first case of air terrorism in the Americas.
Venezuela had tried Posada for the bombing in the 1980s, but he was acquitted on a technicality. The government kept him in a Caracas jail pending retrial, but he escaped in 1985.
Panama convicted Posada of conspiracy in a 2000 attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro. But in 2004, the outgoing Panamanian president pardoned him and three other Cuban exiles from Miami in what was perceived as a favor to President Bush in an election year...
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The decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans was expected to take the pressure off the Bush administration to respond to Venezuela's demands that Posada, who lives in Miami, be extradited to face trial for the bombing. The plane, en route from Venezuela to Havana, exploded in flight shortly after making a stop in Barbados. All 73 people aboard were killed.
At the time, Posada lived in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, and held joint Cuban and Venezuelan citizenship. Venezuela was a U.S. ally.
Posada, 80, worked for the CIA during the Cold War and has been tied to covert "black operations" in Latin America. His Miami lawyer has intimated that the man considered a freedom fighter by many fellow Cuban exiles could reveal information embarrassing to the government, including former President George H.W. Bush, who was director of central intelligence during part of Posada's CIA service.
Posada's communications with the spy agency -- disclosed in declassified documents obtained by the National Security Archive at George Washington University -- show that he told his handlers in Washington of plans to "hit" a Cuban airliner days before the Oct. 6, 1976, explosion. The incident is considered to be the first case of air terrorism in the Americas.
Venezuela had tried Posada for the bombing in the 1980s, but he was acquitted on a technicality. The government kept him in a Caracas jail pending retrial, but he escaped in 1985.
Panama convicted Posada of conspiracy in a 2000 attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro. But in 2004, the outgoing Panamanian president pardoned him and three other Cuban exiles from Miami in what was perceived as a favor to President Bush in an election year...