[CSM] Cuba wants 'terrorist suspect' returned from US

I'll give W the benefit of the doubt, but when he stated "those who harbor terrorists are as guilty as the terrorists themselves", I don't think he was referring to us harboring terrorists, but rather only anti-American terrorists. If we harbor the terrorists and if they want to harm a country that is against our interests, then that's fine and dandy because harming Cuba is harming a totalitarian regime, which in turn promotes democracy and frees the world.

Total sarcasm BTW

 

I'd say send him back to Cuba or Venezuela. The evidence points to him being a terrorist and a murderer.

Not sending him back to be tried would be very hypocritical of us.

 

How about serving as conservative Republican's spiritual leader?

Sarcasm aside, I'd say this is indeed a thorny issue for any US administration, not just GOP. After all, who doesn't want Florida's ever-growing electoral votes?

Double standards and hypocrisy have gone hand-in-hand with many US policies (foreign and domestic alike) for ages. It's really up to the citizens of this nation to choose the least of the all evils.

 

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

Let me sing you a song of a terrible wrong

when the flags are flying at half mast.

A young may dead all riddled in lead

and he died on a street in Belfast.

And the radio said there's another shot dead

and he died with a gun in his hand.

But they didn't say why Billy Reid had to die

Cause he died to free Ireland.

 

Update

May 17, 2005, 3:18PM
U.S. detains accused Cuban bomber Posada
Reuters News Service

MIAMI � Under growing international pressure, U.S. authorities today seized a Cuban exile accused by Fidel Castro's government of masterminding a 1976 airliner bombing that killed 73 people. He had been seeking asylum in the United States.
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Luis Posada Carriles, a former CIA operative and Venezuelan security official, was taken into custody by the Department of Homeland Security, the department said in a statement.

The department did not say what it planned to do with Posada. But it said that generally, the U.S. government does not return people to Cuba or to countries acting on Cuba's behalf. The department said it has 48 hours to decide his status.

Posada, 77, is wanted by Venezuela for escaping from prison in 1985 while awaiting a prosecutor's appeal of his second acquittal in the bombing of a Cubana Airlines jetliner near Barbados. His whereabouts had been unknown until he surfaced in Miami in March and sent word that he was seeking asylum.

U.S. officials took him into custody after he granted interviews to TV stations and The Miami Herald for the first time since he surfaced here two months ago.

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 today.

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."

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 today's Miami 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."

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What can be expected in 48 hours?
1) Asylum
2) Deportation
3) Misteriously disappeared

 

Knowing how GWB values his South Florida constituency so much he will probably give Posada a medal for blowing up a Cuban airliner.

 

I just watched the Nightline about this situation and it seems like quite a tangled web.

Posada was initially recruited by the Kennedy mission for the Bay of Pigs and ended up maintaining ties with the CIA and FBI. There's also evidence that the CIA knew ahead of time that his group was planning on bombing the Cubana Airline.

The report also showed Cubans protesting in South Florida for Posada's freedom calling him a hero of Cuba.

 

Anyone who panders that constituency is selling their soul.

 

Posada has been charged with "illegally entering the country". So much for the "war on terror". It should know officially be renamed the "war on the truth".

Link

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Thursday filed immigration violation charges against a Cuban exile who is wanted by Venezuela to face trial for the bombing a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people nearly 30 years ago.

Luis Posada Carriles was charged with illegal entry, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said in a statement. It said that Posada would be held without bond and that an initial hearing would be held in an immigration court on June 13.

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has served Mr. Posada with a charging document alleging that he entered the United States without inspection in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act," the statement said.

Venezuela wants to extradite Posada, a Venezuelan citizen, to put him on trial for masterminding from Caracas the bombing of the Cubana airline plane off Barbados in 1976.

Posada, 77, has denied involvement in the attack. The U.S. Justice Department is still reviewing Venezuela's request.

Posada's presence in the United States has presented Washington with a dilemma on how to reconcile its sympathy for politically influential Cuban exiles with its tough stance against terrorism suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Posada, a former CIA collaborator and anti-communist militant, said in interviews that he slipped into the United States in March. He originally sought political asylum but later withdrew the request.

Posada was arrested on Tuesday -- the same day that Cuban President Cuban President Fidel Castro led a march of about one million people in Havana to demand that the United States act against Posada.

While the United States has not said anything about whether it would send Posada to Venezuela, a previous statement by ICE threw into question whether it would approve sending him to a country that is so friendly with Cuba.

"As a matter of immigration law and policy, ICE does not generally remove people to Cuba, nor does ICE generally remove people to countries believed to be acting on Cuba's behalf," it said in a statement on Tuesday.

 

I find it interesting that those who decry the US practice of sending suspected terrorists to countries where they could be tortured are NOW criticising the US for contemplating NOT sending a suspected terrorist to a country that tortures prisoners. Go figure.

 

The reason is because until recently he wasn't one of our prisoners. I would be happy not turning him over to Cuba, and trying him for terrorism here. Or perhaps he should be put in gitmo without being able to see a lawyer, or have a trial, and held there.

 

FB,

I like you but as usual your response doesn't make any sense. 'The reason' people (who decry the US practice of sending suspected terrorists to countries where they could be tortured are NOW criticising the US for contemplating NOT sending a suspected terrorist to a country that tortures prisoners) 'is because until recently he wasn't one of our prisoners.'

That makes no sense.

And you can take a stab at gitmo but its hardly relevant.

 

Hayes I think what FB is saying is that it's about the "with us or against us" mantra that some feel W isn't upholding. If this guy is a terrorist and we want other countries to join us in the fight, shouldn't we be helping other countries too? It's a two way street.

Or is it?

 

I was saying that at the time people were upset with the U.S. for harboring a terrorist the man was running free. So returning him to nation with a poor human rights record wasn't an issue. It only became an issue that could possibly take on a sense of irony after the U.S. took him into custody.

Putting him in gitmo is relevant here, because the man is a terrorist who blew up a civilian airliner killing many civilians. Since I have seen you make the argument that this is a war against terrorism and not just al-qaeda, then Posada seems like a prime target for gitmo.

 

He escaped from a Venezuelan prison. He was there for allegedly plotting the Cuban airliner bombing while in Caracas. Venezuela and the US already have an existing extradition treaty in place. Venezuela has already made repeated demands to the US that Posada be turned over to their jurisdiction so that he may be brought to justice according to Venezuelan law. They have assured the US that Posada will not be turned over to Cuba.

So, are you opposed to the US handing over Posada to Venezuela?

 

That would be great if it was the actual reason why they weren't sending him there, but of course it is not, and everybody knows it. The reason why is being held onto is the same reason why his cohort and mass murderer Orlando Bosch got a presidential pardon from George 1 despite blowing up an airliner and kiling 76 people - south florida politics.

 

No.

Whether or not the administration's motive is based on th south florida cuban lobby or not is irrelevant to my point.

 

Good, so then you agree that Posada should be extradited to Venezuela.