The Truth v. Posada Carriles

Been pretty busy lately, but I am planning to write fully on the issue of cultural exchanges between the US and Cuba, given the recent news of the musical group The Police going to Cuba.

Also, I plan to write more about the Luis Posada Carriles case and its possible turn into a media circus. Just this past Monday on a local Spanish show, A Mano Limpia, host Oscar Haza described the Carriles case as "Elian II". I was very surprised to hear it, especially since I had that idea in my head since last week. Indeed, there are similar motivations in both cases because some Carriles supporters are the same ones that tried to ignore the law in the Elian Gonzalez case. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, I just found a great website for Cuban news: Cuba A La Mano by the IPS News Agency. There's an English version with good reports, but the Spanish version has much better reporting. In the Spanish version, there's a great article about the Carriles case, which includes quotes from Peter Kornbluh from the National Security Archive, and the ever-determined Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo. Plenty of articles for good reading.

Or you can go to the uncompromising and informative CubaNet website, where there's an interesting article by Luis Cino in Havana, Cuba, expressing his interpretation over the "outrage" on the Carriles case, and how it finds apathy by some Cuban baseball watchers. Excellent points about how regular people perceive certain political issues, especially when they have bigger things on their minds. But, it doesn't address the plight of the innocent victims, nor issues that relate to social justice and its larger meanings. But, rather tends to find a paradox in fighting for something greater, but not knowing where to begin.

Finally, I wanted to point out that I have added links to the National Security Archive and its reports on the 1976 Cubana Airline bombing and its connections to Luis Posada Carriles. No question that the most informative report is the summary released on the 30th anniversary of the event.

Many skeptics who support Carriles, or have "no opinion", continue to avoid the evidence presented by these sources. In doing so they contradict themselves in many respects by condemning OTHER "terrorists" based on similar evidence, and also by condemning other "criminals" by the standards they refuse to apply to the Carriles case.

The most serious charge against the Cuban Five was for "conspiracy to commit murder." According to one source of reference, "Conspiracy is often a complex and controversial crime because a person can be charged with conspiracy even if the crime they helped plot did not actually take place. A person can also be charged with conspiracy even if they did not contribute to, or know that, the crime was going to be carried out."

The evidence at the National Security Archive shows clearly that Carriles was involved in a "conspiracy" with those who directly carried out the bombing. There are also affidavits that point to "conspiracy to commit."

So, the real question is: will those who condemned the Cuban Five (WASP Network) for conspiracy apply the same standards to Luis Posada Carriles? An honest person would not hesitate to answer.