Cuba Pledges Justice in Posada Case
Havana, Jan10, 2006. (Prensa Latina) In the face of the likely release in the US of Cuban born terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, demand for justice and his extradition to Venezuela increases.
Maria M. Morales, whose father died on a Cuban aircraft sabotaged 1976, said Washington had lost the opportunity to show its true intention in fighting terrorism when it tried Posada Carriles only for illegally sneaking into the country.
She added the process against the mastermind behind the bombing of a Cuban jetliner in Barbados that killed 73 people, including the whole national youth fencing team, has been stretched out for months.
For the plaintiff lawyer Jose Pertierra various international treaties oblige President George W. Bush to send Posada Carriles to Venezuela to be tried for several crimes.
Speaking at the TV-radio news analysis hour Round Table, journalist Rogelio Polanco emphasized the US government only arrested him after it was pressured by public opinion, presenting charges for his illegal entry nation and not for his extended terrorist record.
Polanco stressed the criminal could be released January 24 after serving 90 days in prison as planned by a US judge.
For his part, Cuban commentator Lazaro Barredo recalled the close ties between Posada and the Central Intelligence Agency, which paid, trained and protected him.
Meanwhile, reporter Reinaldo Taladrid showed declassified US government documents linking the terrorist to John F. Kennedy´s assassination.
On November 2000, Posada Carriles and three other terrorists were arrested in Panama City when they were preparing a bomb attack against Cuban President Fidel Castro at the University of Panama, on the occasion of the 10th Ibero American Summit.
They were tried and sentenced to lenient jail terms, were exonerated by outgoing president Mireya Moscoso in the summer of 2004.