Whoa! Code Pink is coming to Little Havana, and to target Luis Posada Carriles? That's brave.Just when you thought that everyone forgot about the Posada case, last month the Sun-Sentinel ran an editorial making excellent comments:
"...the poor handling of the Luis Posada Carriles case makes America look like a country talking out of both sides of its mouth, and that looking the other way is counterproductive to the goal of a democratic Cuba... [US] Federal prosecutors don't appear to be building a case. In fact, the Bush administration has not shown much interest in the issue... In not aggressively pursuing the truth in this case, the message sent is that it is only terrorism when people do bad things to governments we like... BOTTOM LINE: Get to the bottom of the airliner bombing."
There's also news that a Spanish organization called The Friendship with Cuba Federation of Valencia is organizing a mock trial, just like Cuba's last year, to symbolically charge Posada for conspiracy in the 1976 Cubana airline explosion. And, in Panama, three former government official have been charged with abuse of authority for their collaboration in the release of Luis Posada Carriles after he was pardoned by former President Mireya Moscoso in 2004. According to one source, the three former officials "violated the law by acting before Moscoso's decision [to pardon] was recognized as lawful." The Moscoso pardon was delivered just days before she left office. The current President of Panama has publicly disagreed with the Moscoso pardons.
So here comes Code Pink.
According to El Nuevo Herald, and the Code Pink website, members of the US anti-war organization are headed to Miami for a weekend-long campaign demanding that Luis Posada Carriles be included on a FBI list of wanted terrorists, and to honor the International Day to Shut Down Guantanamo. Code Pink has several activities scheduled for Friday until Monday, which can be viewed at the Code Pink Florida Blog.
The most courageous of the scheduled events seems to be the meeting at the famous Versailles Cuban Restaurant on Saturday. According to El Nuevo Herald, Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin explained that Saturday's event will focus on "talk[ing] to the people," and collecting signatures for postcards that they will be handing out. They are planning to collect 5000 signed postcards that demand the arrest of Luis Posada Carriles, which will later be delivered to the Miami FBI office headquarters on Monday. Code Pink will be at Versailles from 11am until 6pm.
The campaign is also a response to recent news that the FBI will be unveiling digital billboards in several major US cities "to highlight those who we're looking for the most in a given area: violent criminals, kidnap victims, missing kids, bank robbers, even terrorists." According to their website, Code Pink is planning to have their own billboards in Miami saying "Wanted for Terrorism" with Posada's picture on it. They are planning that for February.
No doubt that there will be a counter-protest. But, if people are aware of the activism by Code Pink and their members, they won't let opposition stop them. Just last month, Medea Benjamin was in Pakistan protesting against the Musharraf government. She was held for four hours and deported, this just to name just a few times she's been detained.
But, the counter-attacks by the hard-line have already begun.
2 comments:
Posada was in jail in Venezuela for years and was not convicted. The problem is there was no proof of wrong-doing. Of course, many who have no access whatsoever to the evidence are eager to rush to judgment
There will be no appeal. The only charge against Posada was an immigration violation which has been dropped.. The reason why Castro and Chavez have to stay in power is that they day they step down they will be arrested for crimes against humanity which greatly outweigh those perpetrated by Saddam They face certain death by firing squad. The US does not cooperate with these regimes nor does it have an extradition treaty. This is the reality of the situation.
Conjecture and opinion does not hold up, the rule of law prevails.
Hello Matt,
I have written much over the Posada case and encourage you and other readers to look at past posts. I've also analyzed the arguments by Posada's main defenders and have found several holes in their theories.
Yes, Posada, Bosch, Lugo and Ricardo were in jail for a very long time. There are various reasons for that, but mainly due to the fact that some top Venezuelan officials had some prior knowledge that Bosch and Posada were planning an act against a target.
There is much evidence that points to Posada's involvement in the 1976 bombing, mostly coming from his direct connections to Lugo and Ricardo (both who were found guilty), to name a few. The National Security Archive website also has several documents about the case for the public to see. There are also several confessions that point to Posada.
I agree that the appeal by the US is likely to fail. Posada is a free man, who at most is likely to incur a very light immigration penalty.
Concerning extradition to Venezuela. I have written that the OAS, along with most of the Latin American nations, supports the extradition of Posada to Venezuela from the US, and that the UN most likely will support this position.
The US and Venezuela DO have an extradition treaty, in effect since 1923, but the US has denied Posada's extradition based on allegations of possible torture. A charge denied by the Venezuelan government.
Furthermore, the US is also bound to extradition requests through UN and OAS treaties and agreements. I have written about this in the past. Please refer to:
http://mambiwatch.blogspot.com/
2007/04/this-isnt-another-elian.html
In which case, I agree with you: the rule of law prevails. But, only if you respect it, and follow it. If that had happened, the US would have extradited Posada long ago.
Post a Comment