On April 8, prosecutors indicted the terrorist Luis Posada Carriles in a federal court in El Paso, Texas. This indictment is the first time the U.S. government has linked Posada to the bombings of popular tourist attractions in Havana during the summer of 1997.
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Posada has been wanted in Cuba and Venezuela in connection with these attacks and his role in the downing of Cubana flight 455, which murdered 73 people in 1976. Venezuela petitioned the United States for extradition of Posada. The U.S. State Department has yet to respond to this request. In accordance with the U.S.-Venezuela extradition agreement of 1922, Venezuela has full authority to demand extradition.
This is an important development, as Posada has been allowed to walk with impunity in the United States even though he admitted to Ann Louis Bardach, a New York Times reporter, that he received money from the Cuban American National Foundation to purchase explosives used in the Havana bombings.
Livio di Celmo, whose brother was murdered by one of Posada’s terrorist attacks, was relieved to see the United States finally charge Posada. In a press conference arranged shortly after the indictment by the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, di Celmo stated, “I have been waiting 12 years since 1997 for the U.S. government to officially link Posada to international terrorism.” It is a frustration shared by many who lost loved ones through Posada’s cowardly acts.
Gloria La Riva, an activist for the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) and coordinator of the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, vowed an active presence during the arraignment and trial of Posada. La Riva pointed to the hypocrisy of jailing the Cuban Five, five Cuban men who were monitoring anti-Cuba terror organizations active in Miami in an effort to protect their homeland and, by contrast, the U.S. protection that was afforded Posada, who has admitted to terrorism.
Jose Pertierra, Venezuela’s attorney in the extradition matter, said, “[T]he Government of Venezuela insists that the United States should follow up on our request for extradition, which is still pending before the U.S. government, and actually extradite Posada Carriles to Venezuela for the murder of 73 persons aboard that Cubana de Aviación flight back in 1976.”
The ANSWER Coalition spearheaded a campaign for Posada’s arrest and extradition immediately after his arrival in 2005. Brian Becker, national director of ANSWER, told the press, “We will undertake a new advocacy campaign, asking the people of the United States to let the Obama administration and members of Congress know that real justice requires that Posada be indicted not only for lying about terrorism, or his association with terrorists, but for engaging in terrorist activities including during the time that he was an operative for the Central Intelligence Agency.”
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the Partnership for Civil Justice described the Freedom of Information Act request that PCJ filed demanding information about money transfers that may have occurred between Miami-based terrorists and the U.S. government.
The current indictments might be a precursor to additional charges against Posada. La Riva pointed out that pressure must be maintained on the U.S. government to bring Posada to justice. At the same time, the fight for the release of the Cuban Five, held in U.S. prisons for political reasons, must continue.
With recent developments and the thawing of relations between the United States and Cuba, now is a critical time to fight for the Cuban Five’s release and demand that Posada be brought to justice for crimes against humanity.
