More on Luis Posada Carriles

This past Thursday, the National Security Archive posted new information connected to Luis Posada Carriles and his alleged involvement in the Cubana airline bombing of 1976. The newly released documents reveal information gathered by Venezuelan authorities. One document, describing other possible targets for terrorism, was allegedly found in Posada Carriles' Venezuelan office where he employed Hernán Ricardo Lozano.

Another document released by the National Security Archive is an official police report recording the confession of Hernán Ricardo Lozano of the 1976 bombing while working for Luis Posada Carriles' investigation office, Investigaciones Comerciales y Industriales (ICA).

Hernán Ricardo Lozano is reported in the official statement as being "violently against the Castro government" and also mentions Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch, both of whom were primary suspects at the time by US intelligence services.

Searching for Evidence

The same day that the Miami Herald published their report on cooperation by the FBI and the Cuban government on the case of Luis Posada Carriles, our three favorite US Representatives, Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, "condemned" the actions of the US Department of Justice.

Today the Herald publishes the statements of the three US Representatives saying:

"By asking a state sponsor of terrorism for 'evidence' regarding terrorism, the Bush administration Justice Department demonstrates a shockingly profound ignorance of the nature of terrorism, of its origins and its state sponsors... The only 'evidence' that the terrorist regime in Havana could provide the United States with regard to the twice-acquitted-in-Venezuela-Mr. Posada or anyone else would be fabricated evidence."

Ironically, the statements above are fabricated as well.

Luis Posada Carriles has NOT been acquitted twice. The Miami Herald points out that Posada Carriles was once acquitted by a military tribunal in Venezuela, but this was for charges of treason and not an investigation on the 1976 bombing. Nevertheless, that military acquittal was annulled when a "higher military court found that the lower one lacked jurisdiction."

The myth of the "twice-acquitted-in-Venezuela-Mr. Posada" has been repeated by many news outlets, even the BBC, but its all false. One need only read the reports.

As for the description of Cuba as a "state sponsor of terrorism," according to the Center for International Policy, the US State Department "actually offers no evidence that Cuba is involved in terrorist activities." Also, the US list of state-sponsors of terrorism "has no set of criteria for inclusion or removal from the list," thus its purely political and arbitrary.

It seems that Lincoln, Mario and Ileana are also guilty of "fabricated evidence."

FBI, Cuba, and Posada Carriles

Alfonso Chardy, Jay Weaver and Oscar Corral of the Miami Herald today share new facts on the developing case of Luis Posada Carriles.

Basically adding little and new information from a November 2006 article (by Chardy and Weaver), the Herald reporters write that an "extraordinary effort at cooperation" has taken place between the Cuban government and the FBI. They continue:

"Three federal law enforcement officers familiar with the case described the trip [to Cuba] as 'pretty amazing' and 'unheard of' because Cuba had for years blocked FBI access to witnesses, crime scenes, forensic evidence and more information in the bombing."

There's a good reason that Cuba blocked the FBI in the past. In 1998, the Cuban government invited the FBI to share gathered evidence on terrorism against Cuba originating from Miami. They presented "331 pages, record sheets of 64 known terrorists, 4 hours and 38 minutes of secret filming and 21 telephone interceptions." About 3 months later, the FBI detained the "Cuban Five" (WASP Network) who gathered some of the evidence. By the time the trial against the Five began in 2000, Cuba blocked the FBI from any more investigation.

Chardy, Weaver and Corral write that this time the FBI "agents were able to interview witnesses, review Cuba's forensic evidence -- including bombing materials -- and visit crime scenes."

Most of today's article is based on the Nov. 2006 article that highlights the 10-page affidavit by the Justice Department of June 2005. An FBI special agent, Thomas Rice, is quoted in the affidavit as saying that "the FBI is unable to rule out the possibility that Posada Carriles poses a threat to the national security of the United States." Rice is also reported as describing Posada Carriles "as a dangerous man bent on killing Castro and spreading terror on the communist-run island to destroy its tourism economy." If it is found that Posada Carriles is in fact a "threat to national security," then he runs the risk of being indefinitely detained under the Patriot Act.

The evidence against Posada Carriles that is found in the June 2005 affidavit can be best read in the November 2006 article. In addition, todays online Miami Herald article has links to several PDF's that are worth reading related to the Posada Carriles case.

In the meantime, the federal grand jury in New Jersey continues to gather evidence on the crimes of Luis Posada Carriles, as the latter waits his immigration trial on May 11, in El Paso.

In Other News...

Yesterday saw the debut of another local Spanish TV show that will discuss Cuban issues. Here in South Florida there are three local Spanish stations that are not network affiliated: MegaTV, AmericaTeVe, and GenTV. At 8pm, both MegaTV and AmericaTeve compete with local political talk shows, mainly discussing Cuba. Both shows regularly feature supporters of US policy towards Cuba, thus any opposition hardly gets noticed.

We can now add GenTV at 7pm with more support for US policy towards Cuba, and best of all the show is co-hosted by one of the fiercest supporters of the US embargo: Ninoska Perez-Castellon. The show is called Ultima Palabra (Last Word) and follows the blueprint and footsteps of the 8pm shows.

Perez-Castellon, who also has her own show on Radio Mambi, belongs to the Cuban Liberty Council (CLC), a group that opposes "any attempt by any group or political force, inside or outside Cuba, to impose an accord or form of government on the Cuban people that would represent the continuance of the totalitarian regime." This means no negotiation, compromise, or mediation concerning the conflict between Cuba and the US. According to a (December) 2004 interview with Perez-Castellon, the CLC recommended some of the restrictions that followed the (May) 2004 report by the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba. One of those restrictions was towards Cuban family travel, which has been denounced by many human rights organizations.

Yesterday on her talk radio show (Ninoska en Mambi - 3pm), Perez-Castellon received a call from a person who was arguing against the Cuban family travel restrictions. He argued that while he was a strong nationalist against Fidel Castro, his first priorities were to his family. Perez-Castellon countered with expressions of the suffering families of political prisoners. "What about them?," she asked.

Despite the strong opposition (64%) to the 2004 Cuban family travel restrictions, Perez-Castellon couldn't care less. As a result, Cuban families that are negatively affected by the restrictions are being held hostage to policy supporters like Perez-Castellon. She has ignored the condemnation of human rights organizations, and wants to force unwillingly Cubans to join her movement. Unfortunately, Ninoska Perez-Castellon has not realized that a forced policy on a population for a "free Cuba" has not been effective for decades, and very likely will never be.

Posada Carriles News

Earlier this week, Radio Mambi reported that Luis Posada Carriles' lawyer, Arturo Hernandez, believes that his client's history with the CIA is relevant to his upcoming case on immigration fraud and will seek to present that evidence at trial. It seems that it will be argued that the false passport that was found with an alias for Posada Carriles originated from his CIA days. As for the other charges, it is not clear how the CIA is relevant.

As Posada Carriles' May 11th trial approaches, the US government has taken the steps to insure that any information related to the CIA be barred from the immigration trial. According to the AFP, the US federal prosecutors filed a 9-page motion stating that "Posada Carriles's relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency ended more than 30 years ago and that as testimony or questioning about those ties were not relevant to his trial on immigration charges."

It seems that Arturo Hernandez will attempt to ignore that motion.

News from Mexico and Geneva...

Gonna be out most of this week, but I do plan to post any updates on the Luis Posada Carriles case. For example, late last week the Mexican Senate agreed UNANIMOUSLY to urge the Foreign Affairs Ministry "to send a diplomatic note to Washington" for Posada Carriles' extradition to Venezuela. This news has been reported so far by Cuban sources and Iranian sources. I haven't seen it in American papers yet.

I found the Senate resolution from their website, you can read it (in Spanish) here. It describes the Cubana airline bombing of 1976 as "perpetrado por" (perpetrated by) Luis Posada Carriles. It also states that according to the US government's own Patriot Act (section 412), Posada Carriles' "liberación amenaza la seguridad nacional de los Estados Unidos" (liberation threatens US national security). I also mentions the incarceration of the Cuban Five, and follows that the temporary release of Posada Carriles is "un insulto para el pueblo cubano y también para el propio pueblo de los Estados Unidos" (an insult to the Cuban people and also to the people of the US). They make proposed three points of agreement:

- Opposition to the temporary release of Luis Posada Carriles.
- To send a diplomatic note to the US urging them to abide by the UN resolutions against terrorism.
- To urge the US Congress to solicit the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela.

In Geneva, one month ago, the UN Human Rights Council convened their 4th Session and reported their findings on human rights in Cuba. You can find all their resolutions here, where they have the Cuban resolution (A/HRC/4/12) in PDF format.

The author of the resolution, Christine Chanet, finds that:

"The restrictions imposed by the embargo help to deprive Cuba of vital access to medicines, new scientific and medical technology, food, chemical water treatment and electricity. The disastrous effects of the embargo in terms of the economic, social and cultural rights of the Cuban people have been denounced by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Health Organization"

And she also makes ten recommendations for the Cuban government, the first three being:

"(a) Halt the prosecution of citizens who are exercising the rights guaranteed under articles 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

(b) Release detained persons who have not committed acts of violence against individuals and property;

(c) Review laws which lead to criminal prosecutions of persons exercising their freedom of expression, demonstration, assembly and association, and in particular Act No. 88 and article 91 of the Criminal Code, in order to bring these provisions of the law into line with the above-mentioned provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;"

There's plenty to go over: the effects of the US Embargo towards Cuba, the repressive mechanisms of the Cuban government, and also includes a list of the still-imprisoned political prisoners from 2003.

Read at your leisure.

The Bigger Picture

I also wanted to comment on two recent published articles. Yesterday, the International Herald Tribune printed the opinion of Anatol Lieven, a distinguished journalist and author, on US policy towards Cuba. His piece titled "It's Time to Trade with Cuba" makes an argument for a new US policy because he feel that the current restrictions "have damaged Washington's interests" in the Latin region. It's an excellent piece, and basically the most popular argument in favor for new engagement with Cuba within the OAS members.

Lieven also mentions Cuba's "great success in education." Today, another article printed by the San Jose Mercury News, supports this comment. Martin Carnoy from UNESCO describes research he did in 2004 comparing primary education in the Latin region. He confirms Cuba's success in education (compared with Brazil or Chile) and states that the island's system has "all features of high-quality education that could be adopted by any country in Latin America."

These two articles are very important. They support a broader effort for regional integration in the Americas, support for the larger goals of the UN Millennium Development strategy for universal primary education by 2015, and confront today's challenge where one out of three children in the world never see the inside of a classroom.