Center for International Policy

As printed in
The Collegiate Times of Virginia Tech
May 2, 2007

US lets International Terrorist go Free

By Brett Morris

Luis Posada Carriles, a wanted international terrorist, has been freed by the United States. Posada is a Cuban-born Venezuelan national and fervent anti-Castro terrorist, who has been implicated in various atrocities throughout Latin America. Posada is wanted by Venezuela for blowing up an airplane, Cubana Flight 455, in 1976, murdering all 73 people on board. Posada was then running a private detective agency in Venezuela.

Two of his employees, Freddy Lugo and Hernan Ricardo Lozano, were traced by Cuban, Venezuelan and U.S. investigators, who were suspected for placing the bombs on the airline. They confessed to the crime. A week later, Posada was arrested for masterminding the attack. He later escaped from prison.

Posada had been hired by the U.S. to carry out various atrocities throughout Latin America. He has been implicated in helping the dictator Pinochet (who we installed by overthrowing Chile's democratically elected leader) and his secret police, blowing up hotels in Havana, participating in the illegal contra war against Nicaragua, and various other violent actions.

None of these accusations are controversial. Justice Department lawyers regard him as a threat and attempted to block his release from an immigration jail in the U.S. (he is accused of illegally entering the U.S.). Declassified records from the CIA and FBI, which anyone can find online, talk openly about Posada's crimes.

The Bush administration released him from the immigration detention center, enraging Cuba and Venezuela, who are seeking Posada's extradition for his crimes.

This affair demonstrates the complete and utter hypocrisy the U.S. government has when dealing with terrorism and extradition issues. This issue stands in stark contrast to the invasion of Afghanistan. If the insane logic of the Bush Doctrine - "those who harbor terrorists are as guilty as the terrorists themselves" - were to be followed by Venezuela and Cuba, then they should invade the U.S., kill thousands of innocent people, and basically destroy the country because the U.S. is harboring terrorists.

After all, this is what we did to Afghanistan when they "refused" to hand bin Laden over to us. It should go without saying that if it's wrong for Venezuela to invade the U.S., which I think it is, then it's also wrong for the U.S. to invade Afghanistan (interestingly, however, a Venezuelan invasion of the U.S. would probably be more justified than the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan was, as Venezuela has actually provided evidence about Posada's terrorist campaigns to the U.S., while the U.S. provided no evidence to Afghanistan about bin Laden's terrorist activities).

Setting terrorists like Posada free is illegal under international law, according to D.C.-based attorney Jose Pertierra: "The law says you extradite or prosecute, but you don't free him into the streets of Miami," where he is probably going to catch up with a fellow international terrorist, Orlando Bosch, who was pardoned by Bush I.

The U.S. should immediately extradite Posada for his terrorist activities. The evidence is clear. Handing Posada over to Cuba or Venezuela would improve relations with the two states, while justice would be served where he could serve a sentence for his crimes.

Why won't the U.S. extradite Posada? The official reason is the U.S. is worried that Venezuela might torture him, which I suspect is some kind of joke. But the real reason is that extraditing "him for trial could send a worrisome signal to covert foreign agents that they cannot count on unconditional protection from the U.S. government, and it could expose the CIA to embarrassing public disclosures from a former operative."

So in other words, we won't extradite him because other criminals we've hired might get the message that if they participate in illegal activities they too might have to face justice one day, a devastating possibility no doubt. And of course, there's the whole issue about "embarrassment" for the CIA because of its atrocities worldwide.