2005-2016 Presidents Bush and Obama Refused Venezuela’s Requests to Extradite the Terrorist Luis Posada Carriles 

Luis Posada Carriles was Born in Cuba in 1928. From1959-1961, Posada was an anti-Castro saboteur in Cuba. In 1961 he fled to the US. In 1963, Posada enlisted in the US Army and was trained at Ft Benning. He became a CIA Employee and organized anti-Castro terrorist attacks. “The CIA taught us everything,” Posada has said. “They taught us explosives, how to kill, bomb, trained us in acts of sabotage.” [1] The CIA posted Posada to Venezuela. Posada became a naturalized Venezuelan citizen. He became Head of Operations for the Venezuelan Directorate of Intelligence (DISIP). As Head of Venezuelan Intelligence, Posada set out “to wipe out the leftist guerrilla movements that Castro was supporting in Venezuela. I persecuted them very, very hard. Many, many people got killed.” [1] In 1974, Posada left the DISIP and set up a private security agency in Caracas.

On October 6,1976 Cubana Flight 455 took off from Guyana to Cuba with stops in Trinidad and Barbados.73 people were on board including 24 members of the Cuban youth fencing team who had just won the gold medals in the Central American Championship Games. Shortly after takeoff from Barbados, two bombs exploded. The plane crashed into the ocean. There were no survivors. Two employees of Posada’s Security Agency were convicted of planting the bombs. Posada was accused of planning the bombing from his Caracas office. He was arrested on October 12,1976 and was tried several times. While awaiting a new trial, he escaped prison in 1985.

From 1985 until 2005, Posada lived in Central America: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala. He planned several attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro. He organized bombings of Cuban tourist facilities (One tourist was killed in Havana). Posada was referred to as: “One of the most dangerous terrorists in recent history.” [2]

Posada illegally entered the US in March 2005. He lived in Miami and on May 16,2005 held a press conference requesting asylum. Posada was arrested and held for illegal entry into the U.S. The Venezuelan government requested that Posada be extradited to Venezuela. On May 17, twenty members of Congress sent a letter to President Bush supporting Venezuela’s extradition request. [4] In September 2005 a Texas Immigration Court judge ruled that Posada could not be deported to Venezuela because he could be tortured. The refusal of the U.S. to extradite Posada was seen as a response to Florida politics: [3]

·        “Extraditing Mr Posada would embitter members of Miami’s Cuban-American community, some of whom are close allies and financial backers of President Bush and his brother Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida.”

 In October2005 at the 15th Ibero-American Summit in Spain, heads of state from 19 Latin American countries plus Spain and Portugal unanimously passed a Resolution denouncing the hypocrisy of the US’s “selective approach “to terrorism. The Resolution demanded that the US extradite Posada to Venezuela.

 Posada was held in detention in Texas until May 8, 2007 when charges of immigration fraud were dismissed. The Government of Cuba called for a coordinated day of action denouncing Posada’s release. On May 11, 2007, demonstrations took place in Mexico, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Spain, and Canada and in more than a dozen U.S. cities. The US ignored repeated Venezuelan requests to extradite Posada. From 2007 until his death in 2018, Posada lived openly in Miami, Florida.US government concerns about a Posada trial:[5][6]

•        “Posada’s lawyer has preemptively warned that if charged, his client would likely reveal extensive collaboration with the CIA “

•        “Repeated reference has been made to the damage Posada could do the US government by revealing the extent of his activities while in the employ of the United States.”

     

1.New York Times, A Bomber’s Tale: Decades of Intrigue; Life in the Shadows, Trying to Bring Down Castro, July 13, 1998.

2. Kornbluh, P. Former CIA Asset Luis Posada Goes to Trial, Nation, January 5, 2011

3. New York Times, U.S. Rejects Venezuelan Move on Extradition of Bombing Suspect, May 28, 2005.

4. Venezuelanalysis, Venezuela Demands Posada be Tried for Terrorism not Immigration, May 25, 2005.

5. Los Angeles Times, A Terrorist Walks, Editorial, April 23, 2007.

6. LADB, Posada Carriles Charges Dropped; Terrorist Goes Free in US, May 17, 2007.

       


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