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Victims of Cabaña flight 455 |
Today (Monday Jan. 10th ) in El Paso, Texas, a U.S. government farce will take place with the opening of the trial of terrorist Luis Posada Carriles in federal district court. Instead of facing charges of premeditated murder—for the bombing deaths of 73 people who died in a Cuban airliner on Oct. 6, 1976, and other crimes—Posada will only be tried for perjury and immigration
fraud.
fraud.
It is widely known that Posada is responsible for the bombing of Cabaña Airlines flight 455 in 1976, which killed 73 passengers and crew members. In 1997, Posada directed a series of bombings in Havana hotels by hiring Central American mercenaries to plant the bombs. The perjury and immigration fraud charges are related to Posada’s illegal and secret entry into the United States in late March 2005, and false statements that he made to U.S. immigration officials.
In a 2006 interview with U.S. immigration, he was asked whether he had a role in procuring the help of mercenaries who planted bombs in Havana hotels in the summer of 1997. In one of those bombings, an Italian tourist, Fabio Di Celmo, was killed when shrapnel struck him in the lobby of the Copacabana Hotel in Havana on Sept. 4, 1997.
A proud, confessed killer
In a July 13, 1998 New York Times interview with journalist Ann Louise Bardach, Posada boasted of his directing role in those bombings. He also gave the names of his financiers in the Cuban American National Foundation. Posada notoriously told Bardach about Di Celmo’s murder, “I sleep like a baby … That Italian was sitting in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
In a 2006 interview with U.S. immigration, he was asked whether he had a role in procuring the help of mercenaries who planted bombs in Havana hotels in the summer of 1997. In one of those bombings, an Italian tourist, Fabio Di Celmo, was killed when shrapnel struck him in the lobby of the Copacabana Hotel in Havana on Sept. 4, 1997.
A proud, confessed killer
In a July 13, 1998 New York Times interview with journalist Ann Louise Bardach, Posada boasted of his directing role in those bombings. He also gave the names of his financiers in the Cuban American National Foundation. Posada notoriously told Bardach about Di Celmo’s murder, “I sleep like a baby … That Italian was sitting in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
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Self-confessed terrorist Luis Posada Carriles |
Despite Posada’s admission to Bardach over the murder of Di Celmo, U.S. prosecutors are only using that evidence to prove that he made false statements to them. A twice-convened Newark, N.J., grand jury’s evidence of funds that were wired to Posada — for the hotel bombs he produced — will also be presented in El Paso. But again, only for the perjury charge.
By trying Posada for perjury and fraud, Washington is hoping that it will escape worldwide condemnation for its refusal to have Posada face real justice and prosecution for his terrorist murders. The U.S. government is fully aware of his murderous crimes because he carried them out in various Latin American countries on behalf of the Central Intelligence Agency.
The only reason Posada is even in court on Jan. 10th is due to national and international outrage over the impunity and freedom he continues to enjoy in Miami, where he walks the streets a free man.
This is why, as Posada is in the docket for charges that will only yield a minor sentence if he is convicted, activists will be outside the courtroom in El Paso to expose his real crimes of terror to the world.
As José Pertierra, Venezuela’s attorney in the extradition matter, has explained, Washington’s prosecution of Posada raises many doubts about the government’s real intent.
Pertierra says: “The real purpose of the pending trial in El Paso is to hamper the extradition request to Caracas, keep Posada on the street, and save the U.S. government a full trial that would place it next to the terrorist, on the defendant’s bench. That is why the strategy is to delay the process.”
By trying Posada for perjury and fraud, Washington is hoping that it will escape worldwide condemnation for its refusal to have Posada face real justice and prosecution for his terrorist murders. The U.S. government is fully aware of his murderous crimes because he carried them out in various Latin American countries on behalf of the Central Intelligence Agency.
The only reason Posada is even in court on Jan. 10th is due to national and international outrage over the impunity and freedom he continues to enjoy in Miami, where he walks the streets a free man.
This is why, as Posada is in the docket for charges that will only yield a minor sentence if he is convicted, activists will be outside the courtroom in El Paso to expose his real crimes of terror to the world.
As José Pertierra, Venezuela’s attorney in the extradition matter, has explained, Washington’s prosecution of Posada raises many doubts about the government’s real intent.
Pertierra says: “The real purpose of the pending trial in El Paso is to hamper the extradition request to Caracas, keep Posada on the street, and save the U.S. government a full trial that would place it next to the terrorist, on the defendant’s bench. That is why the strategy is to delay the process.”
People's Tribunal deals with the real issues
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| Luis Posada is a former CIA Asset click |
The “People’s Tribunal,” hosted by the Unitarian Universalist Community of El Paso, 4425 Byron St., El Paso,” will hear the charges of terrorism against Posada and his accomplices. The U.S. government’s support for the Miami terrorists will also be on trial.
Participants in the People's Tribunal included:
- Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General
- Jose Pertierra, Venezuela's attorney for the extradition order of Posada
- Keith Bolender, author of "Voices From the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba," (hear an interview with Keith Bolender here)
- Gloria La Riva, coordinator, National Committee to Free the Cuban Five
- Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition
- Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Co-founder, Partnership for Civil Justice Fund
We’ll bring you the Tribunal’s results
as soon as they are available.
Also See
Excerpts from trial of Salvadoran terrorist shown 'soon' in Cuban TV special
