Posada+Carriles,+Cuban+5,+Update

Posada Carriles/Cuban 5 Update
=Venezuela Asks US to Hand Over Posada Carriles=


 * By VOA News**


 * //15 June 2005//**

Venezuela has handed U.S. officials an extradition request for a Cuban exile who Caracas accuses of bombing a Cuban airliner nearly 30 years ago.

Venezuela's Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez said Wednesday his country is formally asking for the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles, whom he called a "terrorist."

Last month, U.S. officials rejected a Venezuelan request for his arrest, citing a lack of evidence against the Cuban exile who holds Venezuelan citizenship.

Mr. Posada Carriles, a former CIA operative, is currently being held on immigration charges in the United States.

Some 20 years ago, a Venezuelan court acquitted him of a role in the bombing, which killed 73 people. He later escaped from prison while awaiting a new trial.


 * From: http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-06-15-voa75.cfm**

=Posada does not qualify for asylum in the U.S. or for the Cuban Adjustment Act=

A judge in El Paso, Texas, set August 29 for the immigration hearing against terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, and proposed a bail hearing for June 24, which means that he remains in jail.

The terrorist will remain in the custody of the US immigration authorities after his first hearing on June 13 before Judge William Abbott, who is to decide shortly whether or not to transfer Posada Carriles to Miami, Florida.

Abbot, a judge for the Immigration Detention Center in El Paso, Texas is also expected to decide at the June 24 hearing, whether or not to set Posada Carriles free on bail. The terrorist is accused of having entered the United States illegally.

Posada Carriles’ defense lawyer, Eduardo Soto, argued that his client is a legal resident of the U.S. and that he never surrendered that status, in spite of the fact that “his involvement with the US government over 24-30 years kept him from returning to the United States.” What the lawyer did not say is that Posada Carriles was in Venezuela for a number of years before organizing the sabotage of the plane, therefore making that argument invalid for defending his residency in the United States if the judge strictly applies the law.

The terrorist is the author, from Venezuelan soil, of an attack on a Cuban airliner in 1976 that killed 73 people, attacks on hotels in Havana in 1997, killing one person, and many bombing attacks against Cuban interests abroad during the 1970s in connection with the CIA.

Below are some of the questions that attorney José Pertierra, a specialist in US immigration issues, answered for Cubadebate.

No. In order to qualify for asylum, a person needs to prove that they have reason to fear persecution. Such a fear should be reasonable and based on political views, religion, nationality, ethnicity or membership of a persecuted social group. (USC 1158) Any concern that Posada may have about being tried for crimes that he has committed in violation of the Venezuelan or Cuban penal codes does not qualify as “persecution” under the asylum law, because a judicial proceeding following due process of the law is not persecution (Chanco v. INS, 82 F .3d 298 9th Cir. 1996)
 * 1. Does Luis Posada Carriles qualify for asylum in the United States?**

Posada could argue that his responsibility for the sabotage of the Cubana Airlines flight has not been established, given that he escaped from jail before the case ended.
 * 2. How does it affect his possible asylum that he is a fugitive of Venezuelan justice for having blown up an airliner in mid-flight with 73 people on board?**

Nevertheless, the law does not require a criminal record to disqualify him from asylum. If there are reasons to believe that he has committed a serious crime outside of the United States, he does not qualify for asylum. (8 USC 1158 [b][2][A][iii]). But in addition, Posada admitted in 1998 to **The New York Times** that he organized the attacks on tourist facilities in Cuba. That cost the life of an Italian tourist, Fabio Di Celmo, and injured 11 people in 1997. The simple fact of having admitted the elements of a crime holds the same value before US law as if a court had convicted him. Also, a person who admits to having conspired to kill innocent people with bombs is by definition dangerous, and if there are reasons to think that the individual is a danger to the security of the country, he does not qualify for asylum. (8 USC 1182[b][2][A][iv]).


 * 3. According to the Cuban Adjustment Act, if a Cuban citizen has been in the United States for one year and one day with a visa or on parole, he or she qualifies for residency. Could Posada receive that benefit?**

No. Posada has not been granted parole (conditional permission to be in the country). Without parole, he does not qualify for the Cuban Adjustment Act. Supposing that he is granted parole, he would have to wait one year and one day to ask for residency, but even so, he would not qualify because his previous crimes prevent it. The law says that whoever admits to having committed acts that constitute the essential elements of a crime of a moral character is not admissible to the U.S. (8 USC. 182[a][2][A].) Posada confessed his terrorist acts to the US media. Any person who has been involved in terrorist activities with the intention of causing death does not qualify for residency. (8 USC 1182[a][3][B] and 8 USC [a][3][E][iii][i]).

No. The law stipulates that the Department of (Homeland) Security must detain people who are not admissible to the U.S. for having committed a crime of a moral nature or acts of terrorism. (8 USC 1226[c]).
 * 4. Could he be released under the legal concept of parole?**

Under Section 412 of the so-called Patriot Act, the Attorney General may detain individuals suspected of being terrorists while any legal process is underway. The fact that he cannot be set free on parole disqualifies Posada from the Cuban Adjustment Act.

No. Even if a person who is not eligible for asylum for previous crimes could be sheltered under the Convention Against Torture, in this case Posada does not classify, because legal sanctions under due process of law do not constitute torture. (Matter of J-E-,23 I&N Dec. 291, 297-99 [BIA 2002]).
 * 5. In spite of all the legal obstacles to asylum and to residency, could a terrorist such as Posada avoid being deported?**


 * 6. What legal mechanism could the US government use to shelter this terrorist?**

None.
 * **José Pertierra is a Cuban attorney. His offices are in Washington, D.C.**


 * From: http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2005/junio/mier15/25perti.html**

=World Wide Demand for the Extradition of Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela Grows=


 * Terrorists harbored while anti-terrorists languish in U.S. jails**


 * Keep the pressure on, avows many**


 * The Case of Posada Carriles**

6/14/2005--Across the United States and around the world, thousands of people took to the streets on June 13 to demand the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela. Posada Carriles is a known terrorist who has admitted to the New York Times and to several Miami news agencies his terrorist crimes against Cuba and other nations.

The case of Luis Posada Carriles is an exceptional example of the double standards set forth by the U.S. government which have sparked worldwide condemnation.

In March 2005 Luis Posada Carriles entered the United States illegally. The right-wing Cuban American community lauded his arrival widely yet the U.S. government stated that they did not know his whereabouts. Shortly afterwards, Luis Posada Carriles went on television in Miami to brag about his work. There was an immediate worldwide outcry to demand that Posada Carriles be detained for his crimes, including a demonstration of over a million in Havana, Cuba.

Washington was soon forced to take Posada Carriles into custody.

It is the height of utter hypocrisy for the Bush administration to harbor this terrorist in any way. It was only worldwide opposition including a letter from several members of Congress asking for justice that the Bush administration was even forced to detain Posada. How could an administration that has talked non stop of “fighting terrorism” protect and harbor the mastermind of a downing of a Cuban airplane, killing 73 people? Tourists have been killed in Cuba as a result of Posada Carriles actions. The lives of U.S. residents have also been endangered.

Posada Carriles has violated the sovereign rights of Cuba as well as El Salvador, Panama, and Venezuela. He has entered these countries and recruited mercenaries. In 2000, he was arrested and convicted in Panama for trying to kill President Fidel Castro. If this attempt had succeeded, the lives of innocent Panamanians would have been in serious danger. Furthermore, recently declassified CIA documents confirm Posada Carriles’ terrorist actions. Clearly, Posada Carriles and his colleagues such as Orlando Bosch, Jorge Mas Canosa are dangerous criminals who should be stopped.

Does the Bush administration have no concern for these horrible and dangerous actions? Are not the sovereign rights of other nations the concern of the Bush Administration even if it is their nemesis, Cuba?

Posada Carriles admitted to the New York Times in 1998 that he was behind the downing of the 1976 plane. Nonetheless, the U.S. has allowed him to travel the world and walk the streets of Miami with impunity.
 * The Case of the Cuban Five**

Yet five honorable persons languish in U.S. jails throughout the U.S. Their crime? They fought against terrorism.

In 1996, Fernando Gonzalez, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernandez, and Ramon Labaniño were sent to Florida to monitor the actions of the Cuban right-wing community.

The Cuban government provided the information they gathered to the U.S. government in 1998. Instead of working to prevent another illegal attack against Cuba the US government arrested the five Cubans.

An unjust trial was held in the last place a fair trial could have taken place: Miami, Florida.

Ample evidence exists, prestigious experts including U.S. military officials proved that the Cuban Five, as the brothers have come to be known, were in no way a threat to the U.S. or guilty of the many charges. It has been well substantiated that this was not a fair trial but a political trial that has much more to do with U.S./Cuba relations than legal justice.

For over 45 years, the U.S. government has refused to normalize relations with Cuba. It has held the longest blockade in U.S. history against this country. Despite overwhelming opposition to these policies, the U.S. government remains entrenched against Cuba. Under both Democratic and Republican administrations, Cuba policy remains a hold over from the days of the Cold War.

The case of Luis Posada Carriles exposes the incredible double standards by the U.S. government, particularly on the issue of terrorism. The Bush administration must be held accountable for this.

Posada Carriles has harmed thousands of people. The Cuban Five protected their country and the lives of people from the U.S.

The pressure must be kept on the Bush administration to extradite Luis Posada Carriles. His case demands that a new trial be held on the case of the Cuban Five so that the truth can be revealed. The Cuban Five are innocent. It is only just that the Cuban Five be sent home now.


 * EXTRADITE LUIS POSADA CARRILES TO VENEZUELA FREE THE CUBAN FIVE**


 * From: http://www.iacenter.org/carriles_0605.htm**

=Nicaraguan Deputies Vote for Posada Carriles´Extradition=

Managua, Jun 15 (Prensa Latina) Nicaragua´s National Assembly Wednesday passed a resolution demanding the extradition to Venezuela of Cuban-born terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, who is wanted for his crimes of terror.

The Nicaraguan deputies assert in their motion that Posada Carriles should be tried by a Venezuelan court for the mid-flight explosion of a Cubana airliner in 1976, which Posada masterminded in Caracas where he was living under Venezuelan citizenship.

The initiative, presented by lawmaker Rita Fletes, was supported by opposition legislators of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC).

She told Prensa Latina Washington intends to protect its agent by delaying a simple trial for illegally entering US territory, instead of handing him over to Venezuela. "Posada´s criminal hand brought mourning to many Latin American families that were fighting for better living conditions, and against hunger and unemployment," the deputy stressed.

An immigratrion judge on Monday set for June 24 a bond hearing for Posada Carriles, as well as a residence hearing for August 29.

The notorious terrorist also became the right hand of the CIA in the dirty war the US launched against the Sandinista Popular Revolution in Nicaragua, Fletes sustained.

mh/dig/rr


 * From: [|http://www.plenglish.com/Article.asp?ID=%7B5DF51D8C-8BBC-4CCF-8C08-4EF7F1E76213%7D&language=EN]**

=Demonstration in Madrid over Luis Posada Carriles Extradition=

Ahora.cu / 10-06-2005

A march in solidarity with Cuba took place Thursday in front of the US embassy in Madrid to demand the immediate extradition of Cuban-born terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela.

Acccording to AIN News Agency, protest organizers denounced the Bush administration's protection of the man behind the 1976 in-flight sabotage of a Cuban airliner in which 73 people were killed of the coast of Barbados.

At the end of last week, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Foreign Ministers meeting in the Bahamas characterized Posada as, "an individual long associated with acts of violence against the Government of Cuba." The 15 nation body told the United States, "suspected terrorists should find no safe haven."

The organizers of the Madrid demonstration also demanded the liberation of the five Cuban men held as political prisoners by the US for infiltrating terrorist groups based in southern Florida to obtain information on terrorist plots against the island.

The Cuban Five were arrested in Miami in 1998 and sentenced in 2001 to extremely harsh jail terms in a highly politicized trial. At present, the case is awaiting the verdict of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta after the defense denounced irregularities committed along the process and demanded a new trial.


 * From: http://www.ahora.cu/english/SECTIONS/international/2005/Junio/10-06-05.htm**