Luis Posada Carriles, a terror suspect abroad, enjoys a 'coming-out'
in Miami -
A dinner with 500 fellow Cuban exiles honors the militant and former
CIA operative, now 80 and still wanted in Venezuela on terrorism
charges.
By Carol J. Williams /
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer /
07/05/08 "Los Angeles Times" -- -- MIAMI -- The dapper octogenarian in
a crisp blue suit, his face smoothed by plastic surgery, swanned from
table to table in the candlelit banquet hall, bestowing kisses and
collecting accolades.
An aging movie star being feted by fans? A veteran politico taking his
bows?
No, the man being honored by 500 fellow Cuban Americans at a sold-out
gala was Luis Posada Carriles, the former CIA operative wanted in
Venezuela on terrorism charges and under a deportation order for
illegally entering the United States three years ago.
Posada, 80, has mostly kept a low profile since his release from a
Texas prison a year ago and a federal judge's dismissal of the only
U.S. charges against him -- making false statements to immigration
officials.
But recent events like the Friday dinner and an exhibition and sale of
his paintings last fall show that the man who spent his life trying to
topple the communist government of Fidel Castro has returned to the
social forefront of this city's exile community.
"We are coming to the end of a terrible stage. The end of our struggle
is near," Posada told the crowd of supporters in evening dress,
referring to Castro's failing health.
Venezuela's ambassador in Washington, Bernardo Alvarez Herrera,
condemned the celebration of Posada as a mockery of justice and
evidence of a Bush administration double standard in fighting
terrorism.
"This is outrageous, particularly because he kept talking about
violence," Alvarez said of Posada. "He said that the whole thing now
is 'to sharpen our machetes' " for a confrontation with leftist
regimes in Latin America.
The U.S. government has never given Venezuela a formal answer to its 3-
year-old request for extradition of Posada, despite a treaty providing
for such cooperation that has been in effect since 1922, the
ambassador said.
Posada, a naturalized Venezuelan citizen, is alleged to have
masterminded the bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1976 on which all 73
on board were killed, including a youth fencing team returning from a
tournament in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. He is also suspected of
plotting a series of hotel bombings in Havana in the late 1990s, one
of which killed an Italian tourist.
He has boasted of his many attempts to kill Castro and has allegedly
been involved in, according to court documents, "some of the most
infamous events of 20th century Central American politics."
Posada was serving time in a Panama prison for a 2000 assassination
attempt on Castro when outgoing Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso
pardoned him and three accomplices in August 2004 in what some
observers saw as a favor to President Bush to rally the Cuban-
dominated Florida vote for his reelection.
The three other Cuban Americans returned to Miami as heroes; Posada
arrived six months later, reportedly fetched from Mexico by a shrimp
boat owned by an anti-Castro benefactor.
As Venezuela, Cuba and human rights groups clamored for Posada's
extradition for trial on the plane-bombing charges, federal
authorities here arrested him in May 2005 for illegal entry. A federal
judge in Texas ordered him deported, but another judge prohibited his
being sent to Venezuela, heeding claims by Posada's lawyers that he
could face torture or execution there.
None of a half-dozen friendly countries contacted by the State
Department would agree to take Posada.
An immigration fraud case was brought by federal prosecutors later
that year but dismissed in May 2007. U.S. District Judge Kathleen
Cardone accused federal authorities of using trickery, fraud and
deceit in pursuing a criminal case against him.
Federal prosecutors appealed and are waiting for a ruling from the
U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, said Dean Boyd, spokesman for the
Justice Department.
Analysts speculate that the U.S. government has dodged calls for
prosecution of Posada for fear he would disclose details of CIA
involvement in coups, assassination plots and scandals, including the
Iran-Contra Affair.
Peter Kornbluh, head of the Cuba Documentation Project at George
Washington University's National Security Archive, has compiled
declassified CIA and FBI documents on Posada that show he remained in
close touch with Washington handlers throughout his covert service.
"The spectacle of a wanted international terrorist being publicly
feted as a hero in Miami makes a mockery of the Bush administration's
commitment to wage a war on terrorism," he said of Posada's coming-out
party.
Rep. William Delahunt (D-Mass.) convened a congressional hearing in
November on the administration's handling of the Posada case, arguing
that there was "compelling evidence" implicating Posada in the plane
bombing.
Delahunt said Tuesday that "there doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm"
under the current administration for prosecuting Posada, but that he
would push again for legal action against Posada after the fall
election. "To have Posada honored in such a way sends a terrible
statement to the rest of the world," the congressman said of the
tribute.
Posada, still under a supervision order with U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, entered the banquet to a standing ovation, his
face beaming and minus the scar from a 1990 attack by gunmen in
Guatemala.
"He's a real hero for Cuba. He's been fighting for the freedom of Cuba
since the day he arrived in the United States," said Hector Morales-
George, a retired surgeon who attended the dinner.
carol.williams@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
|
