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Immigration Hearing Set for Accused Terrorist and Cuban Militant
By Alicia A. Caldwell
The Associated Press
Monday 29 August 2005
El Paso, Texas-A judge set to hear testimony on whether an anti-Castro
militant accused of orchestrating the deadly bombing of a Cuban jetliner should
be deported has said he would consider whether the man ever helped commit terrorist
acts.
Luis Posada Carriles' hearing, expected to last a week, was set to begin Monday
afternoon. A group of protesters demanding his deportation gathered in front
of the federal immigration detention center before the opening of the hearing.
Posada, who is Cuban, is being held on charges that he sneaked into the United
States through Mexico in March. He was arrested in Miami in May.
At issue in the hearing is whether the one-time CIA operative should be granted
asylum in the United States despite requests by the Venezuelan government that
he be deported to that country.
Venezuelan officials have alleged that Posada, an ex-Venezuelan security official,
was in Caracas when he plotted the deadly 1976 bombing of a Cuban jetliner that
crashed off the coast of Barbados, killing 73 people.
A recently declassified CIA document quotes an unnamed former Venezuelan official
saying that shortly before the bombing Posada was heard to say that he and others
"are going to hit a Cuban airplane."
Posada, 77 and ailing, has denied any involvement in the bombing.
CIA documents also show the spy agency trained Posada in 1961 to participate
in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Immigration Judge William Abbott
last month asked lawyers in the case to prepare briefs on whether the invasion
was a terrorist act.
The judge said he would also consider whether Posada had ever provided material
support for acts of terror as part of the case.
Posada's lawyers have said he did not participate in the failed attempt to
topple Fidel Castro's communist government.
Posada's detention and the ongoing court proceedings have sparked international
outrage, with governments from Cuba to South America demanding his deportation
so he can be tried in the bombing.
He was acquitted by a Venezuelan military court but that decision was later
thrown out when it was decided that he should be tried in a civilian court.
He escaped from a Venezuelan jail in 1985 before the trial had been completed.
The chief of the Organization of American States said Monday that the U.S.
should extradite Posada if there is evidence of links to the 1976 bombing.
"If evidence against him exists in Venezuela, extradition must proceed,"
OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza said. "He should be extradited
to Venezuela to face justice."
He spoke in an interview with Venezuelan state television, a few hours before
Posada's hearing was to begin.
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