U.S. judge to rule soon on Cuban exile extradition (Venezuela related)

[Say_What]

The Bushies own terrorist, Luis Posada-Carriles.

<clips>

EL PASO, Texas, Sept 26 (Reuters) - A judge will rule within two weeks on whether anti-Castro Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles should be sent to Venezuela for trial in a 1976 Cuban airline bombing after U.S. lawyers on Monday put up little fight in favor of extradition.

Posada, a former CIA operative accused of masterminding the bombing which killed 73 people, has said he would be tortured in Venezuela and therefore, under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, could not be returned.

Venezuela has requested his extradition, but in a hearing on Monday Immigration Judge William Abbott repeated earlier statements that he was "inclined" to accept Posada's claims and would decide in the next 14 days.

U.S. government lawyers put on no witnesses and made only brief arguments to Abbott in which they said they had no evidence Posada, 77, would be tortured.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N26439093.htm

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<clips>

Three separate international treaties oblige USA to extradite Luis Posada Carriles

In a Venezuelan Embassy press advisory from Washington D.C. it is noted that Luis Posada Carriles' immigration case is to be heard today at 8:30 a.m. in El Paso (Texas) before Immigration Judge William Abbott.

Posada Carriles is a fugitive from justice in Venezuela, where he is wanted on 73 counts of first degree murder involving the downing of a passenger plane on October 6, 1976.

* Venezuela formally asked the US Department of State for his extradition on June 15, 2005.

Rather than proceeding with the extradition of this self-confessed terrorist to stand trial for murder in Caracas, the US government has instead turned the case into a minor immigration matter in El Paso.

The Posada case reveals the Bush administration’s double standard in its so-called war on terrorism. Immigration Judges are employees of the Department of Justice who are not authorized to determine whether to extradite or to determine the guilt or innocence of international criminals. Only federal judges may do that.

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=46138

[Judi Lynn]

1. Isn't this a hoot, having Luis Posada Carriles claim he might be TORTURED?

People have given statements that he had THEM tortured when he was acting as the head of Venezuelan security during the 1970's. This is simply too odd.

If the judge waits too long, he will be passing down his judgement on the 29th anniversary of Luis Posada Carriles' crowning achievement in life, the mass murder of 73 people on board the airborn Cubana airliner on October 9, 1976.

Maybe he's going to suddenly turn up very sick, fading fast, just like Jack Ruby. He may have outlived his usefulness to _Bush, and _{Bush's dad,} who pardoned Posada's bomber partner, Orlando Bosch.



The explosive Luis Posada Carriles

[Judi Lynn]

2. Bush Family's Terrorism Test

Bush Family's Terrorism Test
By Robert Parry
August 31, 2005


A week after a Cuban civilian airliner was blown out of the sky in 1976, George H.W. Bush’s CIA was hearing from informants that two right-wing Cuban extremists were implicated in that terrorist attack – as well as in an earlier assassination in Washington – but the Bush Family has continued to protect these operatives for the three decades since.

That long record of loyalty is now being tested by Venezuela’s demand that one of the Cuban exiles – former CIA operative Luis Posada Carriles – be extradited from the United States to stand trial as an international terrorist for the airplane bombing that killed 73 people. The request is before a federal immigration judge in El Paso, Texas.
(snip)

When Posada illegally sneaked into the United States earlier this year and hid out in Miami for several weeks, neither President Bush nor Florida Gov. Jeb Bush took any known action to catch the fugitive terrorist. Only after Posada called a news conference was the U.S. government shamed into arresting him.

Since then, the Bush administration has voiced an unwillingness to turn Posada over to Venezuela, which is governed by President Hugo Chavez, an ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro. If Posada gets U.S. protection again, it will represent a continuation of a Bush Family policy dating back 29 years.
(snip/...)

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2005/083105.html

[Say_What]

4. Excellent article that puts all the pieces of the Bush-Posada puzzle

together. Whenever there's violence one can almost always bet that there'll be Cuban exile terrorists involved (see below).


Bush and Felix Rodriguez chillin' in the WH



Bush and pal Rodriguez


Letelier and Moffit assasin, Michael Townley DINA agent who Bush covered up for

[Judi Lynn]

7. Thanks for posting these great photos.

Have never seen Michael Townley's image, nor such a great close-up of a very decent man who was maliciously murdered in broad daylight in Washington D.C., in his car, with his murdered assistant, Ronnie Moffit, (her husband also injured in the bombing) because of his liberal politics by right-wing Cuban "exiles" working for Pinochet and others.

Also, thanks for the DINA info. in a later post.

Wanted to mention how blatant it actually was for pResident _{George H. W. Bush} to bring that low-life Cuban "exile" terrorist, Felix Rodriguez, A.K.A. Max Gomez into his personal living quarters on American taxpayers' dime. It's a vile disgrace. Presumably he was sporting the watch he swiped from the murdered body of Che Guevara at the time. I've heard he loves showing it around to people.

I'd love to see the country get beyond associating with these thugs, and turn a new leaf FOR ONCE. That won't happen until the criminals are out of government.

[Say_What]

8. Townely involved in the Prats assassination too...

Townley attached the bomb under the Letelier car and also General Prats car in Buenos Aires. I'm currently reading Assassination on Embassy Row and this is a false name for his wife. His wife, Inez Callejas de Townley, was also a DINA agent. Townley was able to demand immunity from prosecution for him and his wife. He served less than four years as part of his plea bargin. There's an article recently published on NACLA that mentions Townley along with Posada and Contreras--three terrorists the US knows and loves!!

From La Nation a translation run through Babelfish. Link in Spanish follows:

<clips>

Jorge Escalante
The Nation

The trip of judge Alexander Soli's to Washington, that started off last night from Santiago, has like objective that the ex- agent DYNE Michael Townley, resident in the United States under the statute of protection of witnesses, responds to him between days 3 and 4 of February around 50 questions about which she knows of the double homicide of general Carlos Prats and his wife, Sofía Cuthbert, assignment the 30 of September of 1974 in Buenos Aires.


http://www.lanacion.cl/prontus_noticias/site/artic/20050131/pags/20050131213540.html


Townley and wife Inez Callejas de Townley aka Mariana Callejas.

[Say_What]

5. Two more BUSH pals-- Pinochet and Contreras, head of DINA

parented by the CIA.



<clips>

MANUEL CONTRERAS AND THE BIRTH OF THE DINA

...Colonel Manuel Contreras, the secret director of the SENDET "department" now began to build an organisation with the dual purpose of instilling terror and gathering political intelligence. He got help. CIA station chief Ray Warren had worked with Contreras before the coup. When he heard that Pinochet had given the task of centralising Chile's intelligence agencies to a man of Contreras' proven ability, Warren promised CIA help in supervising the planning and organisation of the new intelligence structure and in training its principal officers. Swiftly, Contreras build DINA into a state within a state. "At the beginning of 1974 had a full set of plans, and six months later he had built an empire," a former DINA agent said. "I thought he was some kind of genius to have built up such a large, complicated apparatus in such a short time - then I found out how much help he got from the CIA in organising it."<7>

[hiley]

3. Luis Posada-Carriles=cia terrorist

double-standard indeed.

[Say_What]

6. U.S. Government Charade Will Result in Denial of Posada Extradition

Luis Posada-Carriles, self-admitted terrorist and BUSH pal soon to be walking the streets of Miami with another Bush pal and terrorist Orlando Bosch-Avila. A pair that'll beat a full house any day. :sarcasm:

<clips>

U.S. Government Charade Will Result in Denial of Posada Extradition

...The next step, under the Convention Against Torture, is to determine if a person’s extradition must be deferred because the country seeking extradition is likely to torture the returned subject. Since Posada put on at least some evidence that he may be subjected to torture if extradited to Venezuela, and the United States put on no evidence whatsoever to the contrary, there is virtually no doubt that Posada will win on this point. Extradition of Posada will be indefinitely deferred and the acquiescence on this point by the U.S. Government made the entire hearing a sham. Bush saved Posada from extradition, his brother Jeb from the wrath of Cuban exiles, the U.S. Government from major potential embarrassment, and took advantage of an opportunity to malign Hugo Chávez at the same time. But what of the "war on terror"? On this day, in this part of West Texas, for this terrorist, the war was suspended.

It is at this point that Garrett-Jackson read a curious statement on behalf of the United States. In that statement Garrett-Jackson said the "United States continues to have concerns about Venezuela and human rights abuses," and that while the U.S. Government had "no specific information that Posada himself would be tortured," it believed that he would indeed be tortured if returned to Venezuela. Garrett-Jackson then noted that while the Venezuelan constitution prohibits the extradition of citizens, it is probable that Posada would be subjected to torture by Cubans invited in by the Chávez government. She claimed that under the Venezuela-Cuba Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, Chávez could invite Cubans to Venezuela to interrogate, and torture, Mr. Posada.

Just who wrote the statement is a mystery, though it surely was vetted, if not drafted, by people high up in the Bush Administration. The United States was clearly eager to use the forum to make disparaging remarks about Venezuela and President Hugo Chávez and the relationship between the Chávez government and Cuba. I asked Archambeault if he knew who had authored the statement, and he said that throughout the entire affair he never knew who U.S. Government counsel answered to. He said that Garrett-Jackson and her team would simply say that they had to talk with people "upstairs" whenever an impasse arose between the two sides. He joked at one point that it seemed as if even government counsel did not know who they were taking orders from. And this may be the case, since it seems perfectly plausible that the White House directed the courses of action in this case through intermediaries in the Department of State and the Department of Justice.

Archambeault and Posada were "quite pleased" with the events of the day, and Archambeault said that he will move for Posada’s release after Judge Abbott’s final decision is entered. Since the U.S. put on no evidence rebutting Chaffardet, there would seem to be little grounds for an appeal. The United States, of course, has no desire to appeal the decision in the case, and Judge Abbott will find that Posada’s extradition must be deferred indefinitely.

The real struggle in the case seems to be over Posada’s potential release from prison. Garrett-Jackson wanted as much evidence as possible of Posada’s past deeds in the record in order to apparently establish him as a threat to the national security of the United States and as a terrorist. But since Archambeault waived the issue with respect to withholding, the judge may require that the U.S. Government’s evidence be ignored. In that case, the way may be clear for Posada’s release. Without a finding that Posada is a terrorist or a threat to national security, it will make it much easier for him to win his freedom.

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/9/26/20267/4335


Bosch-Avila terrorist who Poppy Bush pardoned after 30 countries had refused him because of his terrorist record.

[struggle4progress]

9. Judge: Cuban exile cannot be sent to Venezuela, Cuba

Sep 27, 2005 — EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - A U.S. judge has ruled that anti-Castro Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles may not be deported to Cuba or Venezuela, which has requested his extradition for trial in a 1976 Cuban airliner bombing, a government spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Immigration Judge William Abbott found in a written decision on Monday that Posada, a former CIA operative accused of masterminding the bombing in Venezuela which killed 73 people, faced the threat of torture in those countries and therefore could not be returned under the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

"The judge's decision did not rule out the removal of Mr. Posada to another country," U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa said. <snip>

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1164515