On May 11, the day when the sham trial of Luis Posada Carriles on immigration fraud charges was due to start, activists in dozens of cities worldwide demonstrated. The protests targeted the dropping of all charges against the most notorious terrorist in the Western hemisphere, leaving him to walk the streets of Miami a free man.
Posada is a CIA-trained international terrorist that has faithfully served the United States government since the early 1960s. He is a “CIA man,” and nothing illustrates this rotten relationship better than his recent release from U.S. custody—a kind of payment for so many years of loyal service.
Posada has been an obedient tool of the United States government in its ongoing war against Cuba, Latin American independence movements and the organized left.
Decades of U.S.-sponsored terrorism
In the 1970s, the CIA installed Posada as a high level official in the Venezuelan intelligence service, DISIP, a post where he oversaw the bloody suppression of the Venezuelan left. He was involved in brutal murders, torture and the disappearance of hundreds of people.
Posada and his partner Orlando Bosch authored the Oct. 6, 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner. The terrorist act killed all 73 people on board, many of whom were young athletes and students.
In 2000, Posada and his terrorist friends were caught in Panama with 33 pounds of C-4 explosives where they were planning to blow up a university auditorium filled with students during an address by Cuban President Fidel Castro.
These are only some examples on the long list of crimes committed by Posada during a lifetime of service for the CIA. A new documentary by Venezuelan filmmaker Angel Palacios, “Posada: Terrorism Made in the U.S.A.,” provides damning evidence of the U.S. role in training and directing the terrorist actions of Posada.
The U.S. was forced to arrest Posada in June 2005 for illegally entering the country. This only happened after enormous international pressure was put on the Bush administration.
The White House and Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez refused to either charge Posada as a terrorist or to extradite him to Venezuela where he is wanted for the murder of the victims of the 1976 plane bombing. Instead, they have engaged in a two yearlong game, trying to appear to be doing something while actually not doing anything at all.
Demonstrations in over 30 cities
On May 8, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone freed Posada from custody. He was waiting to stand trial for minor crimes—sneaking into the country and lying to government officials. Following the outrageous decision, protests erupted around the world in over 30 cities on May 11.
In the United States, demonstrations were held in New York City, Washington, D.C., El Paso, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Boston, Milwaukee, Albuquerque, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Seattle.
In Canada, protests occurred in Vancouver, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Toronto.
While in Latin America, Ciudad Juárez and Mexico City, Mexico; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; and three cities in El Salvador—San Salvador, Santa Ana and San Vicente—all had militant actions.
In El Paso, San Francisco, and Seattle a wall of photos of the victims of Posada’s plane bombing was erected at the protest sites, along with a banners demanding freedom for the Cuban Five anti-terrorists. Demonstrators repeated the same chants recited by millions of Cubans ten days earlier on International Workers Day—”Bush fascista! Posada terrorista!”
In Miami, dozens of protestors gathered in front of the immigration building to protest the dismissed indictment of Luis Posada Carriles on immigration and fraud charges. The protest received extensive media coverage from The Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald, The Sun-Sentinel, Le Monde, TV stations 23, 51, 6, and 4, and from EFE, AFP, and Reuters.
In Los Angeles, around 50 protesters picketed outside the federal building in the heart of downtown. Speakers from the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), Latino Movement USA, Office of the Americas, the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five and the Party for Socialism and Liberation denounced he government’s support for anti-Cuba terrorism.
In New York, around 100 people took part in a protest outside the federal plaza in the heart of downtown Manhattan. Speakers pointed out the hypocrisy of the U.S. government’s “war on terror,” when it comes to terrorists they themselves trained and directed. Brian Becker, National Coordinator of ANSWER, noted that Posada should be understood as only one soldier in a CIA-trained counterrevolutionary army.
In Santiago, Chile, members of the Chilean Movement in Solidarity with Cuba demonstrated in front of the U.S. embassy against the outrage and in support of freedom for the Cuban Five.
In Montreal, Canada, 30 demonstrators formed a picket line in front of the U.S. Consulate. In Vancouver, two events were co-organized by Free the Cuban 5 Committee-Vancouver and Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba. Over 80 people gathered at the U.S. Consulate, after which over 60 people participated in an educational forum.
By far the largest protest outside Cuba was held in Mexico City:
“Mexicans gave a massive response to the call by the Movement in Solidarity with Cuba, to protest the freedom of the self-admitted terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, in this capital.
“Some 8,000 to 9,000 people joined in front of the U.S. embassy, to repudiate the infamous decision of the government of George W. Bush.”
José Pertierra, the lawyer representing Venezuela in its bid to extradite Posada, emphasized the need for continued protest. “Public pressure will eventually force the White House to charge Posada Carriles with terrorism and murder,” said Pertierra.
