Cuban terror suspect sparks international spat

Luis Posada Carriles, a 77 year old Cuban exile, freedom fighter, ex-head of Venezualan police, may be extradited to Venezeula from the United States of America on 13 June next, Michael McCaughan reports

When US immigration police detained terror suspect Luis Posada Carriles two weeks ago, there were no guns drawn, no orange jumpsuit, not even a set of handcuffs. Shortly before his arrest, Posada Carriles summoned journalists to a secret location in Florida to deliver a public statement on his request for political asylum. Carriles' legal team subsequently announced they had received assurances from US authorities that their client would not be extradited to Venezuela even though that country had yet to file its completed request on the case. The basis for Carriles' asylum request, according to his lawyer, was his status as a "cold war soldier" who served the US government for most of his life.

Luis Posada Carriles is a Cuban exile who fled the Caribbean island in 1960 and has dedicated the past 45 years to unseating Fidel Castro by violent means. When he first arrived in Miami, he was hired by the CIA and also enlisted in the US army where he was trained in demolition, propaganda and intelligence operations. Carriles was appointed training instructor for militant exiles planning a second invasion after the disastrous 1961 Bay of Pigs assault. That invasion never materialised due to what the Pentagon privately described as "lack of predictable future mass discontent" among the Cuban people. The CIA provided Posada and his troops with weapons, boats and safe houses and in the absence of popular resistance to the Castro government Posada Carriles turned to random acts of terror and sabotage.

In 1967 Posada fell out of favour with his CIA handlers who accused him of "thefts from the CIA, plus other items" and he moved to Caracas, Venezuela, giving up his US residency, a decision he would live to regret.

Posada was appointed head of Digepol, Venezuela's intelligence agency in 1969 and subsequently became chief of operations at Disip, Venezuela's secret police. Posada continued to plot against Cuban targets and declassified US government documents, published earlier this month, revealed that Posada played a key role in the blowing up of a Cuban airliner in 1976, killing all 73 people on board. He was put on trial in Venezuela at the time and was initially acquitted but escaped from a Venezuelan prison in 1985 while awaiting an appeal.

Posada resumed his subversive career in Central America, supplying weapons to the Contras in their war against the Sandinista government while also working as a security advisor to a Guatemalan government which boasted one of the worst human right's records in the world.

When Nicaragua returned to the US political fold in 1990, Posada resumed his anti-Cuban activities, planting bombs in Cuban hotels to damage the island's lucrative tourist industry. The terror attacks resulted in the death of an Italian visitor in 1997. In an interview with the New York Times in 1998 Posada boasted of his involvement in the terror campaign against Cuban tourists, declaring that "at times you cannot avoid hurting innocent people".

Posada and three accomplices were arrested and jailed in Panama in 2000, caught in possession of plastic explosives and accused of plotting to kill Fidel Castro who was attending a regional summit there. Posada was released from prison last year when outgoing Panamanian President, Ms Mireya Moscoso, granted a pardon in the final hours of her Presidency. Posada's fellow conspirators returned to Miami but Posada remained in hiding until March of this year.

The Posada case acquired greater significance this week when Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, threatened to cut diplomatic ties with the US if that country failed to extradite the Cuban suspect. Posada Carriles is still wanted in Venezuela for his role in the 1976 airline explosion.

"The government of George W Bush is protecting an international terrorist," said President Chavez, in a televised address, "It will be necessary to apply international laws to that government."

The US government previously denied knowledge of Posada's whereabouts, even after his lawyer entered an asylum application on his behalf. Posada is currently being held at a federal detention centre in El Paso, Texas, where he was refused bail and will face an immigration judge on 13 June. US authorities have the option of extraditing him to Venezuela, deporting him to the last country he legally held residence (Belize) or granting him political asylum in the US.

At 77, Posada looks like a man who has reached the end of the line, his words indecipherable due to the impact of a dozen bullets received in a 1990 assassination attempt in Guatemala. Posada's entire family, including his parents, two brothers and a sister, remained in Cuba, committed to the revolution. Cuban leader Fidel Castro is enjoying a new lease of life as Chavez and other latin american leaders rally to his defense. However Posada Carriles remains an important symbol for the Miami-Cuban community in Florida which has enjoyed immense influence over the White House since 1959 and which remains dedicated to the violent ouster of Castro.

The extradition of Posada to Venezuela, should it prosper, would be interpreted by Miami-Cubans as an act of betrayal which could severely damage Governor Jeb Bush at the next election. The 1992 Venezuelan-US extradition treaty states that, "if a fugitive criminal claimed by one of the parties shall be also claimed by one or more powers pursuant to treaty provisions, on account of crimes committed within their jurisdiction, such criminal shall be delivered to that state whose demand is first received."

Venezuela is the only country so far to file an extradition request for Posada, making any attempt by the US to send Posada to a third country a violation of the treaty. In November 2002, Venezuela captured James Spencer, one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted, and handed him over to US authorities. President Chavez is determined to have the favour returned.

After a long, colourful career, Posada Carriles may finally be forced to accept retirement.