4-19-07, 2:35 pm PDT
In a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales this week, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) called for the extradition of accused terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela.
Posada Carriles is currently awaiting trial on charges of falsifying his citizenship request and for naturalization fraud. He was freed on bond today and promptly left El Paso, TX where he was held and is expected to appear to face trial, according to the El Paso Times.
Posada Carriles is a CIA-trained operative implicated in a series of terrorists incidents, including the bombing of a civilian Cubana Aviación flight that killed 73 people on October 6, 1976.
Kucinich's letter cited a New York Times article in which Carter Cornick, a retired FBI counter-terrorism specialist, reportedly said that the Cubana Aviación bombing and another car bombing were planned at a June 1976 meeting in Santo Domingo which Posada Carriles attended. Cornick told the Times that Posada Carriles was involved “up to his eyeballs” in planning the attacks.
Upon searching his Venezuelan home at the time of the bombing, Venezuelan police found maps and other evidence tying Posada to the terrorist acts.
Further evidence in the Cubana Aviación case emerged in 2005 when the National Security Archive at George Washington University posted a declassified 1976 CIA document that quotes Posada Carriles as saying, “We are going to hit a Cuban airplane.”
Kucinich also cited a 1998 interview with The New York Times during which Posada Carriles openly boasted of organizing a series of bombings aimed at Cuban hotels, department stores, and other civilian targets during the summer of 1997. These bombings killed an Italian tourist and injured 11 other people.
Panamanian authorities arrested Posada Carriles in November 2000 for preparing a bomb to explode in the University of Panama’s Conference Hall, where Cuban President Fidel Castro was scheduled to speak. Hundreds of people were expected to attend this event, and massive civilian casualties were prevented only as a result of the discovery of the plot by Cuban intelligence beforehand.
Posada Carriles was convicted in a Panamanian court for his involvement in the planned terrorist attack only to be pardoned by Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso just days before she left office in August 2004.
Posada Carriles then fled from Venezuelan authorities who sought his capture and illegally entered the United States.
Kucinich's letter recalled President Bush's September 19, 2001 statement that “Anybody who harbors a terrorist, encourages terrorism, will be held accountable. I would strongly urge any nation in the world to reject terrorism, expel terrorists.”
And again earlier this month, Bush said, 'In order for this country to be credible, when the President says something, he must mean it.”
The failure to extradite Posada Carriles to Venezuela undermines the credibility of the US in the effort to stop global terrorism, Kucinich's letter argued. In fact, the release of Posada Carriles on bond earlier this week 'is inconsistent with the stated principles and policy of the United States with respect to the 'Global War on Terror' and mars US standing among the international community.'
In a press statement, Rep. Kucinich said, “The United States must cooperate with the global community to further the protection of our citizens from terrorists. Posada Carriles should be tried for his crimes and will be if extradited to Venezuela.'
Kucinich described the potential freeing Posada Carriles as 'a grave mistake.”
“Not only is there a likelihood that he would evade prosecution in the United States and elsewhere,' Kucinich added, 'but the United States will be sending the wrong message to the international community. The United States has stated that it will not tolerate the harboring or encouragement of terrorists. We must ensure that this government follows the policies it expounds.”
| | |
