VERY interesting article. The judge is a total Bushwhack--appointed judge by Junior as gov of Tx, voted out by the voters, re-appointed by Jr, voted out again, then finally made a Fed judge by Jr.--lifetime appointment. WHAT has she done (or been tasked to do) to deserve all THAT?
http://www.counterpunch.org/pertierra02182011.htmlWhew. Very dirty judge. I'd forgotten this, but her initial DISMISSAL of the case against Posada was TOSSED out by the Fed appeals court and sent back to her for trial.
Judges (whoever they are) don't like to be overturned. And she'd better have a damn good reason if she does it again.
Here's another excellent article about this trial. Both are by Jose Pertierra, who is attending the trial in person. His account from a few weeks ago gives you the flavor of these proceedings, as well as background on the grandstanding motions recently filed by the defense attorney (for Posada Carilles).
http://www.counterpunch.org/pertierra02162011.html This puts a new coloration on the whole thing. But it could just be this: Bushwhacks think fascist murderers shouldn't even be on trial--should be able to whack whomever they wish with total impunity. So Judge Cardone was told to dismiss the case against Posada. (It wouldn't surprise me if the Bush Cartel brought him on the yacht to the U.S., to reward their old killer with a cushy retirement in Miami.) The Obama team, on the other hand, is playing a different game in Latin America--for instance, with the democracy cosmetics they've slapped on Honduras, and have tried to slap like a Marx Bros movie on Haiti, and have encouraged in Colombia (where lesser players, who have not been extradited to U.S. federal prison obscurity, or given asylum in Panama, can get prosecuted--but not Uribe--but where Uribe's insane Bushwhacky behavior toward Venezuela was nipped in the bud I think by Panetta himself). I think the Obama team is under some kind of compulsion to cover up Bush Junta war & corruption (cocaine) crimes in Colombia (Panetta cleaning up Jr's trail?).
But they do seem to have a new strategy in Latin America, which is to bombard the region with zillions of USAID (and Pentagon psyops) dollars to bolster up rightwing forces so they can look more 'democratic' and not like such heinous, coup-plotting horrors (and they seem to have had some success with this in Venezuela, in the by-elections). So they are on another tack, which is, basically: PURCHASE the region. And they seem to have a pathological desire to make this look "peaceful" and "democratic," no matter how hideous it is. And this is probably because the region's leaders, for the most part, are pretty damn good. They have been VERY SMART about resisting "divide and conquer" tactics, for instance, and thus have been able to make considerable progress on social justice goals and regional independence. They all hated the Bushwhacks and it was easy to pull together against them. It might not be so easy, with a more presentable imperial crowd presiding in Washington (and traveling south in March).
Posada Carilles may be Hillary's "Exhibit A" for a new, fake, cosmetic U.S. charade of respect for human rights. ('Look, we aired some of that dirty laundry in public! Aren't we great?') Thus all relevant parties--FBI, DoJ and probably even the the appeals court--under this new regime, were given a green light to prosecute and get some sort of sentence before the old killer dies of old age.
Sorry, I really can't help the sarcasm when it comes to U.S. (corporate/war profiteer) policy in Latin America. Its intentions are evil, whether it is blowing people out of the sky, or training rightwing groups in how to formulate "talking points." Its purposes are as anti-democratic, and as oblivious to the lives of the poor, as they are here. I have no tolerance for disguised versions of these very bad intentions. I think we are looking at a U.S. corporate/war profiteer "good cop/bad cop" effort to reconquer the parts of Latin America that have gotten away, to hang on by tooth and claw to the parts that are still subjugated and if democracy cosmetics don't work, the killers will be back, maybe for a full scale oil war (which the Miami mafia in the Scumbag Congress are already salivating to do).
Posada Carilles is just a old rusty cog in this war machine, past usefulness--except as 'cause celebre' in Miami for rallying our own bloody fascists. I was going to say that I almost feel sorry for him but I will save my sorrow for the youngsters he blew out of the sky and for all of the thousands and thousands of victims of U.S. policy in Latin America. As Lula da Silva recently said, in his final speech as president of Brazil, "The U.S. had not changed."