and I keep thinking that successive U.S. government have been hoping that he dies of old age here in the United States before extraditing him to Venezuela. If he dies, the extradition issue would be moot and the anti-Castro Cuban Mafia in Miami would not be offended and stop pouring money into both Repub and Demo coffers. (DUer Mika has posted extensively about Cuban American National Foundation monies being funneled to both parties.)
Posada "escaped" from a Venezuelan prison in 1985 where he had been serving time for his role in the blowing up of the Cuban jetliner. There has been a lot of speculation that CANF founder Jorge Mas Canosa provided bribe money to Venezuelan authorities at the time to allow Posada to escape.
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Many DUers know about this monster, but for those who may not, here is some background:
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Shortly after taking off from Barbados International Airport on October 6, 1976, a Cubana airliner with 73 passengers on board, mostly youngsters from the Cuban national fencing team, was blown up in midair, killing all aboard.
Twenty nine years after the most heinous terrorist act in our hemisphere took place, Luis Posada Carriles and Dr. Orlando Bosch, both masterminds of this and an endless string of other equally despicable crimes, have seen Dr. Bosch become a free man turned into a celebrity in Miami and Mr. Posada Carriles is on his way out of a Texas jail, where he was euphemistically accused of illegal entry into the United States, brutally ignoring the extradition request of the Venezuelan government, where he is a convicted fugitive of this and other crimes.
Alleging unfounded accusations of fear of torture in Venezuela, the Justice and Immigration Departments are protecting a known murderer, who in his own book, "How I Placed The Bomb", is an embarrassment to President George W. Bush doctrine of War on Terror.
If the United States Government fear of Mr. Posada being tortured in Venezuela was real and its fight against Osama Bin Laden, the Taliban, al Zarqawi et. al was genuine, why are they reluctant to send these individuals to the International Court in The Hague, as they did with other mass murderers from the Balkans?
Are we concerned about what Mr. Posada Carriles, a long time CIA operative with a revolting curriculum may disclose, while we hope for a timely heart attack or a convenient Harvey Oswald/Jack Ruby outcome?
Either way, the world knows where the truth lies and nothing will ever exonerate these murderers, their protectors or the policies that made these horrendous deeds possible.
Lots more information about Posada here:
(English and Spanish links)
http://afrocubaweb.com/posada.htm