Luis Posada Carriles: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Cuban terrorist and CIA agent}} |
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{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2018}} |
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{{family name hatnote|Posada|Carriles|lang=Spanish}} |
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{{Infobox person |
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| name = Luis Posada Carriles |
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| image = Image:Luis Posada Carriles - 1963.jpg |
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| alt = |
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| caption = Luis Posada at [[Fort Benning]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], US, 1962 |
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| birth_name = |
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|02|15}} |
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| birth_place = [[Cienfuegos]], Cuba |
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| death_date = {{Death date and age|2018|05|23|1928|02|15}} |
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| death_place = [[Miami, Florida]], US |
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| occupation = |
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}} |
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'''Luis Clemente Posada Carriles''' (February 15, 1928 – May 23, 2018) was a Cuban exile militant and [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) agent. He was considered a [[Terrorism|terrorist]] by the United States' [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) and the [[Cuba|Government of Cuba]], among others.<ref name=Ruiz>{{cite web|first=Albor|last=Ruiz|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-01-13/local/29442135_1_venezuelan-jail-immigration-fraud-string-of-hotel-bombings|title=Ruiz: Terrorist's day in court may be here|work=NY Daily News|access-date=December 6, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126091939/http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-01-13/local/29442135_1_venezuelan-jail-immigration-fraud-string-of-hotel-bombings|archive-date=November 26, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Gamez Torres|first1=Nora|title=Drugs, spying and terrorism: CIA files offer insight on life of Luis Posada Carriles|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article184844308.html|access-date=May 30, 2018|work=Miami Herald|date=November 15, 2017|archive-date=May 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528214154/http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article184844308.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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'''Luis Posada Carriles''' (born [[February 15]], [[1928]]) is an anti-Castro and anti-Communist émigré who is alleged by his communist enemies to have been involved in numerous violent [[terrorism|terrorist]] plots, including hotel bombings and the 1976 bombing of a [[Cubana Flight 455]] in which seventy-three people were killed. he denies the allegations. He has also been accused of being involved in [[Operation Condor]], namely in [[Orlando Letelier]]'s murder in Washington, D.C., a few weeks before [[Cubana de Aviación]]'s explosion by his political enemies. Posada has lived in [[Venezuela]], where he became a naturalized citizen and served in its political police; and the [[United States]], where he served in the [[U.S. Army]] and developed a relationship with the [[CIA]]. |
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Born in [[Cienfuegos]], Cuba, Posada fled to the United States after a spell of anti-[[Fidel Castro|Castro]] activism. He helped organize the [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]], and after it failed, became an agent for the CIA.<ref name=CNN/><ref name="Bomber's Tale"/> He [[United States and state-sponsored terrorism#Luis Posada Carriles|received training]] at [[Fort Benning]], and from 1964 to 1967 was involved with a series of bombings and other covert activities against the Cuban government, before joining the Venezuelan intelligence service.<ref name="Bomber's Tale"/><ref name="Lettieri 2007"/> Along with [[Orlando Bosch]], he was involved in founding the [[Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations]],<ref name="Lettieri 2007">{{cite journal|last1=Lettieri|first1=Mike|title=Posada Carriles, Bush's Child of Scorn|journal=Washington Report on the Hemisphere|date=June 1, 2007|volume=27|issue=7/8}}</ref><ref name=Kornbluh/><ref name="Bardach 2006">{{cite journal|last1=Bardach|first1=Ann Louise|title=Twilight of the Assassins|journal=The Atlantic|date=November 2006}}</ref> described by the FBI as "an anti-Castro terrorist umbrella organization".<ref name=Kornbluh>{{cite web|last=Kornbluh|first=Peter|date=June 9, 2005|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB157/index.htm|title=The Posada File: Part II|publisher=National Security Archive|access-date=May 23, 2018|archive-date=June 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140617042403/http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB157/index.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Posada and CORU are widely considered responsible for the [[Cubana de Aviación Flight 455|1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner]] that killed 73 people.<ref name="Bomber's Tale"/><ref name="Lettieri 2007"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Link found to bombing|first=Andrew O.|last=Selsky|agency=Associated Press|date=May 4, 2007}}</ref><ref name="LeoGrande 2014"/> Posada later admitted involvement in a string of bombings in [[1997 Cuba hotel bombings|1997 targeting fashionable Cuban hotels and nightspots.]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.local10.com/news/4402775/detail.html|title=Organizations Demand Cuban Militant's Arrest|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927045151/http://www.local10.com/news/4402775/detail.html|work=Local10|date=April 21, 2005|archive-date=September 27, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0520/p02s02-usfp.html|title=US tiptoes between terror, Castro's policies|work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]|date=May 20, 2005|access-date=May 1, 2007|archive-date=July 28, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120728/http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0520/p02s02-usfp.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="LA Times">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-apr-20-fg-posada20-story.html|title=U.S. criticized as Cuban exile is freed|last=Williams|first=Carol J.|date=April 20, 2007|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=June 13, 2018|archive-date=April 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180427072342/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/apr/20/world/fg-posada20|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, he was jailed under accusations related to an assassination attempt on [[Fidel Castro]] in [[Panama]] in 2000, although he was later pardoned by Panamanian President [[Mireya Moscoso]] in the final days of her term.<ref name="Wash">{{cite news|first=Glenn|last=Kessler|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36924-2004Aug26.html|title=U.S. Denies Role in Cuban Exiles' Pardon: Panama Frees 4 Convicted in Plot To Kill Castro|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=August 27, 2004|access-date=June 13, 2018|archive-date=September 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120907133748/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36924-2004Aug26.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He denied involvement in the airline bombing and the alleged plot against Castro in Panama, but admitted to fighting to overthrow the Castro regime in Cuba.<ref name=BB09042011>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13026870|title=Cuba anger at US Posada Carriles verdict|work=[[BBC]]|date=April 9, 2011|access-date=June 13, 2018|archive-date=November 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181102165327/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13026870|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In April 2005, Posada sought political asylum in the United States. Venezuela, an ally of Castro's Cuba, has formally requested Posada's extradition,{{ref|CNN}} as has [[Cuba]] {{ref|BBC}}. A [[Department of Homeland Security]] judge ruled that he cannot be deported because of threat of torture in Venezuela [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4289136.stm]. According to Cuba's official Communist State run newspaper and propaganda arm on [[March 22]], [[2006]], the [[U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement|US Immigration and Custorms Enforcement (ICE)]] informed Posada that he would continue to be detained on the grounds that he continues "to present a danger to the community and a flight risk" and claimed that he has "a history of engaging in criminal activity, associating with individuals involved in criminal activity, and participating in violent acts that indicate a disregard for the safety of the general public".[https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20060327/034783.html] With [[Guillermo Novo Sampoll]], [[Orlando Bosch]] and [[Gaspar Jiménez Escobedo]], he founded the [[Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations]] (CORU)[http://www.granma.cu/ingles/mar03/mier26/12posada.html]. |
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In 2005, Posada was held by [[Federal government of the United States|US authorities]] in [[Texas]] on the charge of being in the country illegally: the charges were later dismissed. A judge ruled he could not be deported because he faced the threat of torture in Venezuela.<ref name="No deportation for Cuban militant">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4289136.stm No deportation for Cuban militant] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120711/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4289136.stm |date=July 11, 2012 }}, ''[[BBC]]'', September 28, 2005.</ref> The US government refused to repatriate Posada to Cuba, citing the same reason.<ref name=BB09042011/> His release on bail in 2007 elicited angry reactions from the Cuban and Venezuelan governments. The [[United States Department of Justice|US Justice Department]] had urged the court to keep him in jail because he was "an admitted mastermind of terrorist plots and attacks", a [[fugitive|flight]] risk and a danger to the community.<ref name="LA Times"/> The decision was also criticized within the US; an editorial in the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' stated that by releasing Carriles while detaining a number of suspected terrorists in [[Guantánamo Bay]], the US government was guilty of hypocrisy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-apr-20-ed-posada20-story.html|title=A terrorist walks|work=Los Angeles Times|date=April 20, 2007 |access-date=December 6, 2014|archive-date=June 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610220325/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/apr/20/opinion/ed-posada20|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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[[Image:Luis Posada Carriles.jpg]] |
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== Terrorist career == |
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Posada was born in [[Cienfuegos]], in southern [[Cuba]], in 1928. According to declassified [[FBI]] memos {{ref|FBI}} regarding Posada and other Cuban militants, Posada worked as a supervisor for the [[Firestone]] Rubber Company in Cuba. He immigrated to the [[United States]] in 1961, served one year in the US Army, then continued separate military training with anti-Castro exiles in Florida. He was also on the [[CIA]] payroll from the 1960s until 1974. {{ref|NSA}} During that time, Posada was involved in numerous covert international [[anti-communist]] operations, many of them in his role as an explosives expert. For example, Posada was involved in a heavily-armed conspiracy to overthrow the government of [[Guatemala]], {{ref|NSA-guatemala}}, and a plan to blow up Soviet or Cuban ships in [[Mexico]]. {{ref|NSA-mexico}} |
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Posada died in May 2018 in Florida, where hardline elements of the anti-Castro exile community in [[Miami]] still regarded him as "a heroic figure".<ref name="Nation2011"/> Reporter [[Ann Louise Bardach]] called him "Fidel Castro's most persistent would-be assassin,"{{sfn|Bardach|2002|p=136}} while [[Peter Kornbluh]] of the [[National Security Archive]] referred to him as "one of the most dangerous terrorists in recent history" and the "godfather of Cuban exile violence."<ref name="Nation2011">[[Peter Kornbluh]], [http://www.thenation.com/print/article/157510/former-cia-asset-luis-posada-goes-trial "Former CIA Asset Luis Posada Goes to Trial"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826114351/http://www.thenation.com/print/article/157510/former-cia-asset-luis-posada-goes-trial |date=August 26, 2014 }}, ''[[The Nation]]'', January 5, 2011.</ref> |
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Posada immigrated to Venezuela, becoming a naturalized Venezuelan citizen and joined [[Dirección de los Servicios de Inteligencia y Prevención|DISIP]], the Venezuelan secret police which has had links with [[Operation Condor]], where he was an explosives expert and eventually a senior official. |
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==Early years (1928–1968)== |
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On [[September 21]], [[1976]], former Chilean minister [[Orlando Letelier]] was killed by a booby-trapped car in [[Washington, D.C.]]. [[Michael Townley]], a former [[CIA]] agent who worked for [[Pinochet]]'s [[DINA]], confessed that his superiors had ordered him to kill [[Orlando Letelier|Letelier]], and that he had recruited five anti-Castro Cuban exiles to help him in the case [http://www.counterpunch.org/landau08202005.html]. The ''[[Miami Herald]]'' has reported that a United States Federal Prosecutor who prosecuted the assassination of [[Orlando Letelier]] placed Posada at a planning meeting where both the ''[[Cubana Flight 455|Cubana]]'' bombing and the Letelier assassination were decided upon. According to the Herald, Posada denies attending the meeting, while [[Orlando Bosch]] states that Posada was there, but neither the bombing nor the assassination were discussed. {{ref|herald}} According to [http://www.granma.cu/ingles/mar03/mier26/12posada.html Jean-Guy Allard], [[Michael Townley]] decided with the [[CORU]] leadership, including Luis Posada [[Orlando Bosch]] that those elected to carry out the murder were Cuban-Americans José Dionisio "Bloodbath" Suárez, [[Virgilio Paz Romero]], Alvin Ross Díaz and brothers Guillermo and Ignacio [[Novo Sampoll]]. |
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Posada was born in [[Cienfuegos]], Cuba, on February 15, 1928. His family was relatively affluent. He had four siblings. The family moved to [[Havana]] when Posada was 17 years old, where he studied medicine and chemistry at the [[University of Havana]]. In 1956, he and Antonio Garcia established a pest control enterprise in Cienfuegos called Servicios Exterminadores Fumigadores de Insectos. The station wagon used for their business was destroyed by a bomb while parked on the street on the night of January 3, 1957.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/1957/DLM-1-4-1957-18.pdf |title= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902084136/http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/1957/DLM-1-4-1957-18.pdf |archive-date=September 2, 2018}}</ref> Posada worked in 1958 as a supervisor for the [[Firestone Tire and Rubber Company]].<ref name="Bomber's Tale">{{cite news|first1=Ann Louis|last1=Bardach|first2=Larry|last2=Rohter|title=A Bomber's Tale: Decades of Intrigue|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/13/world/bomber-s-tale-decades-intrigue-life-shadows-trying-bring-down-castro.html|date=July 13, 1998|access-date=January 20, 2007|archive-date=March 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190303234345/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/13/world/bomber-s-tale-decades-intrigue-life-shadows-trying-bring-down-castro.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He worked initially in Havana, and was transferred to [[Akron, Ohio]], after the [[Cuban Revolution]] of 1959.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|p=179}} |
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As a student, he had come in contact with [[Fidel Castro]], who had become a figure of some significance in the student politics of the time. Posada later said that Castro was three years ahead of him at the university.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|p=179}} Misgivings about the Cuban revolution led Posada to become an activist in open opposition to the new government. After a spell in a military prison, Posada sought political asylum in [[Mexico]]. By 1961, Posada had relocated to the United States where he helped to organize the failed [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]] of Cuba.<ref name="Bomber's Tale"/><ref name=CNN>{{cite news|last=Candiotti|first=Susan|title=Alleged anti-Castro terrorist Posada arrested|publisher=CNN|date=May 18, 2005|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/05/17/posada.arrest|access-date=May 22, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602084518/http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/05/17/posada.arrest|archive-date=June 2, 2008}}</ref> The rest of Posada's family remained in Cuba, and continued to support the Cuban revolution; Posada's sister eventually rose to the rank of Colonel in the Cuban army.<ref name="Bomber's Tale"/> When asked in a 1998 interview why he had opposed the Revolution, he stated "All communists are the same. All are bad, a form of evil."{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=180–183}} Posada was stationed in [[Guatemala]], where he was supposed to participate in a second wave of landings in Cuba. The initial attack on Cuban soil failed, and the operation was called off before Posada's force was to take part.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=180–183}} |
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On [[October 6]], [[1976]], two weeks after [[Orlando Letelier]]'s assassination, a [[Cubana Flight 455|Cubana Airlines]] plane travelling from [[Barbados]] to Cuba was [[Cubana Flight 455|blown up]], killing all 73 passengers aboard. Two employees of Posada's private security firm in Venezuela were found guilty of having planted the bombs and served 20 years in a Venezuelan jail. Posada himself, along with [[Orlando Bosch]], were indicted and acquitted of treason. The prosecution's appeal was upheld by a higher military court, which determined that the men should have been tried in a civilian court, rather than the military tribunal, thereby nullifying the acquittal. An [[October 14]], [[1976]] CIA Information Report describes a fundraiser that occurred in Venezuela just before the plane was blown up: "A few days following the fund-raising dinner, [Luis] Posada was overheard to say that, 'We are going to hit a Cuban airplane,' and that 'Orlando has the details.'" According to the report, the source for the information was "a former Venezuelan government official...[who]...is usually a reliable reporter." {{ref|NSA-Posada-II}} |
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After the failure at the Bay of Pigs, Posada attended officer candidate school at the [[United States Army]]'s facility in [[Fort Benning]].{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=180–182}} There, he was trained by the CIA in sabotage and explosives between March 1963 and March 1964.<ref name="Lettieri 2007" /><ref name=CNN/><ref name="CIA file">[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB202/HSCA00000346.pdf CIA declassified report on Luis Posada (PDF)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061215194802/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB202/HSCA00000346.pdf |date=December 15, 2006 }}; retrieved April 25, 2011.</ref><ref name="Bomber's Tale"/> While at Fort Benning, he served in the same platoon as [[Jorge Mas Canosa]], later the founder of the [[Cuban American National Foundation]]: the two men became fast friends.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=180–183}} He graduated from the training program with the rank of [[second lieutenant]], but he and Mas Canosa left the army when they recognized that the US was unlikely to invade Cuba again.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=180–183}}<ref name="Lettieri 2007" /> In a 1998 interview, he stated that "the CIA taught us everything ... explosives, how to kill, bomb, trained us in acts of sabotage."<ref name="Ruiz"/> Posada received further training in [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla tactics]] in [[Polk City, Florida]].<ref name="Lettieri 2007" /> He worked closely with the CIA in [[Miami]] and was active in the CIA's [[Operation 40]]. He later described his role as that of the agency's "principal agent", informing the organisation about political movements within the exile community and operating anti-Castro activities.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=180–185}} |
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In 1985, Posada escaped from a Venezuelan jail where he was being held pending a new trial in the ''Cubana'' bombing, becoming an international fugitive. He found work supplying arms to the CIA-backed Nicaraguan [[Contras]]. |
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In Florida, Posada trained members of the JURE, ''[[Junta Revolucionaria Cubana]]'', an anti-Castro militant organization.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=180–183}}<ref name="CIA file"/> He was also associated with other militant groups, including RECE (Cuban Representation in Exile).{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=180–183}} CIA files indicate that Posada was involved in a 1965 attempt to overthrow the Guatemalan government. The same year, the CIA reported that Posada was involved in various bombing plans in association with Mas Canosa.<ref name="Lettieri 2007" /><ref name="CIA file"/> Posada also supplied information about the Cuban exile community to the CIA, and unsuccessfully attempted to recruit his brother to spy for them.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|p=182}} In 1968, relations frayed with the CIA when Posada was questioned about his "unreported association with gangster elements". Posada's other associates at the time included [[Frank Rosenthal]], described as a "well-known gangster". Posada relocated to [[Venezuela]], taking with him various CIA-supplied weapons including grenades and fuses.<ref name="Lettieri 2007" /><ref name="CIA file"/>{{sfn|Bardach|2002|p=181}} |
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In 1990, Posada survived an assassination attempt while in Guatemala, the [[New York Times]] has reported, leaving him with a shattered jaw. He recuperated in [[El Salvador]], he told the Times, on the budget of the [[Cuban-American National Foundation]] (CANF). The CANF denies any connection to Posada. |
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==Venezuela (1968–1985)== |
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Posada organized a string of bombings at luxury hotels in Cuba in 1997 in order to discourage the growth of the tourism industry there. One Italian tourist died in the bombings. Dissatisfied with world press coverage regarding the incidents, Posada gave a long and candid interview to the [[New York Times]] in 1998, discussing his methods and associations at length. {{ref|nytimes}} |
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In Venezuela, Posada quickly rose through the ranks of Venezuelan intelligence. He became head of the service, known as [[Dirección General de Policía|DIGEPOL]] and later as [[National Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services|DISIP]], in 1969.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|p=184}} The role involved countering various guerrilla movements supported by Cuba, and Posada threw himself into his work with enthusiasm. He invited [[Orlando Bosch]], another Cuban exile who was then on [[parole]] from US federal prison, to join his operations in Venezuela: Bosch accepted his offer in 1974, thereby violating the terms of his parole.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=184–186}} Posada was dismissed from the service in 1974 due to ideological differences with the government of [[Carlos Andrés Pérez]], who had assumed office in that year.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=184–186}} Posada went on to found a private detective agency in [[Caracas]].<ref name="NYTimes"/><ref name="Lettieri 2007" /> |
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At approximately the same time, Posada's relations with the CIA also deteriorated. The agency began to suspect that he was involved in [[cocaine]] trafficking and dealing in counterfeit money.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=184–186}} Posada was not confronted with these allegations to avoid compromising existing operations, but internal CIA communications referred to him as a serious liability.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=184–186}} The [[Church Committee]] hearings of 1975, which had been triggered by fears that the CIA were running too many rogue operations, had a significant impact on the agency, and Posada's association was seen to be "not in good odor".{{sfn|Bardach|2002|p=185}} In February 1976, the CIA officially broke off relations with Posada. Subsequently, Posada made several efforts to get back into the agency's good graces, including informing on an alleged plot by Bosch to kill [[Henry Kissinger]], then [[United States Secretary of State|US Secretary of State]].{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=184–186}} |
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In 2000, he was convicted with [[Gaspar Jiménez]], [[Pedro Remón]] and [[Guillermo Novo Sampol]] of conspiring to assassinate Fidel Castro during a regional summit in [[Panama]]. The four were subsequently pardoned by Panamanian President [[Mireya Moscoso]] in the final days of her administration in 2004. Jiménez, Remón, and Novo were admitted into the United States. |
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===Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations=== |
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== Seeking asylum in U.S. == |
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{{Further|Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations|Cubana de Aviación Flight 455}} |
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The New York Times reported[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/27/us/27brfs.html] on [[April 27]], [[2006]] that Posada has applied to become a United States citizen. |
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Along with Orlando Bosch and [[Gaspar Jiménez]], Posada founded the [[Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations]] (CORU).<ref name="Lettieri 2007" /><ref name="ScottMarshall1998">{{cite book|author1=Peter Dale Scott|author2=Jonathan Marshall|title=Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America, Updated Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pa8wDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA204|date=10 April 1998|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-21449-1|page=204|access-date=July 1, 2020|archive-date=August 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819172129/https://books.google.com/books?id=pa8wDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA204|url-status=live}}</ref> The group first met in the Dominican Republic in June 1976, and laid plans for more than 50 bombings over the next year.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=188–191}} The US [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) described CORU as "an anti-Castro terrorist umbrella organization."<ref name=Kornbluh/> CORU was responsible for a number of attacks in 1976. These included a machine gun attack on the Cuban embassy in [[Bogotá]], the assassination of a Cuban official in [[Mérida, Yucatán]], the kidnapping of two Cuban embassy employees in [[Buenos Aires]], the bombing of a [[Cubana de Aviación|Cubana]] airlines office in [[Panama City]], the bombing of the Guyanese embassy in [[Port of Spain]], and the [[Assassination of Orlando Letelier|assassination]] of former Chilean ambassador [[Orlando Letelier]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name="LeoGrande 2014" /> |
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On [[April 13]], [[2005]], Posada requested political asylum in the United States through his attorney. He had entered the country illegally across the [[U.S.-Mexico border|Mexican border]]. On [[May 3]], the Venezuelan Supreme Court approved an extradition request for him. Speaking the same day in [[Washington, D.C.]], State Department Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs [[Roger Noriega]] stated that Posada might not have been in the United States. Noriega added that charges against him "may be a completely manufactured issue." However declassified FBI and CIA reports show that the agencies suspected his involvement in the airline bombing within days of its occurrence. |
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[[File:Cubana flight 455 document2.JPG|thumb|right|Declassified FBI report that reads: "Our confidential source ascertained ... that the bombing of the Cubana Airlines DC-8 was planned, in part, in Caracas, Venezuela, at two meetings attended by [[Ricardo Morales (FBI informant)|Morales Navarrete]], Luis Posada Carriles and Frank Castro"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB202/19761105.pdf|title=Declassified FBI report on bombing of Cubana Flight 455|date=November 5, 1976|access-date=April 25, 2011|website=National Security Archive|archive-date=October 19, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019062449/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB202/19761105.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>]] |
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On [[May 17]], [[2005]] ''the Miami Herald'' conducted an interview with Posada in South [[Florida]]; later that day, the Herald and the [[Associated Press]] reported that he had been detained by the [[Department of Homeland Security]]. He had withdrawn his asylum appeal and was moving to sneak out of the country when arrested. His arrest presents diplomatic problems as his extradition is sought by both Cuba and Venezuela, neither of which are close U.S. allies. His arrest coincided with large anti-Carriles protests in Havana - organizers estimated that hundreds of thousands of Cubans participated in the rally. At this time, Carriles is being held by U.S. immigration authorities in [[El Paso]], [[Texas]], on charges of entering the country illegally — Posada's immigration case had a hearing before a Homeland Security judge in Texas on [[August 29]], [[2005]], had another on [[September 26]] [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/cuba/12685500.htm] . |
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On September 28th a US judge ruled that Posada cannot be deported because he 'faced the threat of torture in Venezuela'. The Venezuelan government reacted angrily to the ruling, accusing the US of having a "double standard in its so-called war on terrorism". [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4289136.stm] |
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The information Posada provided the CIA while attempting to reestablish good relations with it included a tip that Cuban exiles were planning to blow up a Cuban airliner.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=188–191}} [[Cubana de Aviación Flight 455|Cubana Flight 455]] was a [[Cubana de Aviación]] flight departing from [[Barbados]], via [[Trinidad]], to Cuba. On October 6, 1976, two time bombs variously described as [[dynamite]] or [[C-4 (explosive)|C-4]] planted on the [[Douglas DC-8]] aircraft exploded, killing all 73 people on board, including all 25 members of the 1975 Cuban national fencing team.<ref name=Ruiz/><ref name="Lettieri 2007" /><ref name="LeoGrande 2014">{{cite book|last1=LeoGrande|first1=William M.|author-link1=William M. LeoGrande|last2=Kornbluh|first2=Peter|title=Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations Between Washington and Havana|year=2014|publisher=UNC Press Books|isbn=9781469617633|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ilg7BAAAQBAJ|access-date=May 23, 2018|pages=153–54|archive-date=May 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510203356/https://books.google.com/books?id=ilg7BAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Phillips">{{cite journal|last=Phillips|first=Dion E.|year=1991|title=Terrorism and security in the Caribbean: The 1976 Cubana disaster off Barbados|journal=Studies in Conflict & Terrorism|volume=14|issue=4}}</ref>{{sfn|Bardach|2002|p=187}} Investigators from Cuba, Venezuela and the United States traced the planting of the bombs to two Venezuelan passengers, Freddy Lugo and Hernán Ricardo Lozano.<ref name="Lettieri 2007" /><ref name="Aim" /> Both men were employed by Posada at his private detective agency based in Venezuela.<ref name="Lettieri 2007" /> A week later, Posada and Bosch were arrested on charges of masterminding the attack, and were jailed in Venezuela.<ref name="Aim"/> |
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The Venezuelan Government wants to retry Carriles for his role in the 1976 airline bombing. The Cuban government wants to try him for the hotel bombings, but has agreed that extraditing him to Cuba's ally Venezuela would be acceptable, not least because Venezuela has had an extradition treaty with the US since 1922, but Cuba does not. The United States denied Venezuela's extradition request, citing a lack of evidence. Some have questioned this decision since then as clear evidence of a double standard policy by the United States. Moreover, Cuba has suspicions that Posada's terrorist actions were backed and organized by the CIA [http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1505793,00.html]. |
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Declassified FBI and CIA reports also show that the agencies suspected his involvement in the airline bombing within days of its occurrence.<ref name=Kornbluh/><ref name=NSARCHIVE>{{cite web|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB153/|title=Luis Posada Carriles The Declassified Record|work=National Security Archive|access-date=May 23, 2018|archive-date=March 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150303120457/http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB153/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Miami Herald 2015">{{cite news|last1=Torres|first1=Nora Gamez|last2=Chardy|first2=Alphonso|title=Declassified document says Posada Carriles likely planned 1976 bombing of Cuban plane|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article23119197.html|access-date=May 23, 2018|work=Miami Herald|date=June 4, 2015|archive-date=May 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524003823/http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article23119197.html|url-status=live}}</ref> According to a declassified CIA document dated October 13, 1976, with information from what the CIA deemed a usually reliable source, Posada – in Caracas at the time – was overheard to say a few days before Cubana flight 455 exploded: "We are going to hit a Cuban airliner ... Orlando has the details".<ref name="LeoGrande 2014"/> The details were contained in a memorandum sent to Kissinger. The memorandum suggested that Posada was likely to have planned the bombing.<ref name="Miami Herald 2015"/> Another CIA document, based on a Miami-based informant, also implicated Posada in the conspiracy.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=189}} |
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At the XIVth [[Ibero-American Summit]] in [[Salamanca]], in [[October 2005]], the final declaration includes a demand to "extradite or judge the responsible of the terrorist blowing-up of a plane of the Cubana-aviation in [[October 1976]], which caused the death of 73 innocents civilians" [http://www.cumbresiberoamericanas.com/principal.php?pi=250&p=261]. |
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Posada, who denied involvement in the Cubana-455 bombing, insisted his "only objective was to fight for Cuba's freedom".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4558777.stm|title=Profile: Cuban 'plane bomber|work=BBC|date=May 9, 2007|access-date=June 25, 2018|archive-date=December 12, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061212223358/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4558777.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> In prison, Posada and Bosch learned to paint, and sold their artwork in the US via intermediaries.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|p=190}} Posada was found not guilty by a military court; however, this ruling was overturned and he was held for trial in a civilian court. Posada escaped from prison with Freddie Lugo in 1977, and the pair turned themselves in to the Chilean authorities, expecting to be welcomed for their role in the killing of Letelier, who was a target of the government of [[Augusto Pinochet]]: however, they were immediately handed back to Venezuela.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|p=190-192}} Posada was held awaiting trial in Venezuela for eight years before escaping in 1985 while awaiting a prosecutor's appeal of his second acquittal in the bombing. His escape is said to have involved a hefty bribe and his dressing as a priest.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=191–195}}<ref name="sfgate"/><ref name=guardian10042011>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/10/luis-posada-cuba-denounces-us-acquittal-cia-agent|title=Cuba denounces acquittal of former CIA agent Luis Posada as a farce|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=April 10, 2011|access-date=December 12, 2016|archive-date=April 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170401233322/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/10/luis-posada-cuba-denounces-us-acquittal-cia-agent|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Posada, the escape was planned and financed by [[Jorge Mas Canosa]], who by then had become head of the [[Cuban American National Foundation]].<ref name="Aim">{{cite news|last=Bardach|first=Ann Louise|work=The New York Times|date=July 12, 1998|url=http://www.bardachreports.com/articles/nyt_19980712main.htm|title=A Bomber's Tale: Taking Aim At Castro|access-date=May 23, 2018|archive-date=March 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313160420/http://www.bardachreports.com/articles/nyt_19980712main.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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== Personal life == |
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According to declassified FBI documents, Posada has been married at least twice and has a son, Jorge. |
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==Contras and Central America (1985–2005)== |
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When Posada appeared in court in July, [[2005]], he had bandages from an operation for facial skin cancer. Now 77, he is reported (September, [[2005]]) to be ailing. |
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Posada was met in [[El Salvador]] by CIA operative [[Félix Rodríguez (soldier)|Félix Rodríguez]], who told Posada that he was supporting him "at the request of a wealthy Miami benefactor".{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=191–195}} Rodríguez had overseen the capture of [[Che Guevara|Ernesto "Che" Guevara]] in 1967. He offered Posada a job as his deputy, ferrying supplies to the [[Contras|Contra rebels]] in Nicaragua, in an operation directed by [[Oliver North]]: the pair were to coordinate drops of military supplies to the rebels, who opposed the [[Sandinista National Liberation Front|Sandinista government]].{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=191–195}} Posada's fortunes rose after the [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Reagan administration]] took a more confrontational approach to Cuba and expanded covert operations in Latin America. Posada was given a house and a car, and paid $3,000 per month, $750 for each flight he made, and sundry expenses, primarily by US Major General [[Richard Secord]], who was directing operations for North.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=193–196}} Posada was responsible for managing supply flights from the Salvadoran base of [[Ilopango]] to the Contra rebels at the border. He was also responsible for coordinating between the Contras, their advisers in the US, and their allies in the military forces of El Salvador. Operating with the Salvadoran alias "Ramón Medina", Posada built relationships inside the government of El Salvador, its military, and its infamous death squads.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=193–198}} |
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The supply flights to the Contra rebels ceased in 1986, after the Nicaraguan government shot down one of the planes. Two of the crew were killed, including a close friend of Posada's. American pilot [[Eugene Hasenfus]] survived, thanks to his oft-mocked habit of wearing a parachute, and was captured by the Nicaraguan government. He confessed to the role of the US government in supporting the Contras, and his story made headlines around the world.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=193–197}} Posada was supposed to have been on the flight himself, but missed the flight narrowly.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=195–197}} After Hasenfus's capture became known, Posada gathered a group of soldiers and flew to [[San Salvador]], where he emptied the [[safe house]]s used by the operation. By getting rid of this evidence, he would later claim, he saved [[George H. W. Bush]] and [[Ronald Reagan]] from impeachment.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=197–201}} |
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== References == |
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#{{note|BBC}} http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4571957.stm |
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#{{note|CNN}} http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/americas/11/21/cuba.publicenemy.ap/ |
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#{{note|FBI}} The [[National Security Archive]], a non-governmental organization, has a [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB153/index.htm large collection] of declassified United States government documents regarding Posada's relationship with the United States. [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB153/19650713.pdf This 1965 FBI memo] gives an overview of Posada and his early life. |
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#{{note|NSA}} [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB153/19660718.pdf This 1966 FBI document] is one among many in the collection to describe Posada's relationship with the United States, stating that Posada at that time received $300/month from the CIA, and was being considered to head a military alliance against Fidel Castro and the Cuban government. |
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#{{note|NSA-guatemala}} The list of ammunitions surrendered to U.S. customs in the [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB153/19650517.pdf FBI document], also released by the National Security Archive, extends across a four-page document. |
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#{{note|NSA-mexico}} From http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB153/19650707.pdf |
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#{{note|NSA-Posada-II}} From http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB157/19761014.pdf |
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#{{note|herald}} ''Allegations against Posada grow'', [[Miami Herald]], May 22, 2005. Accessed from http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11707572.htm on June 6, 2005. |
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#{{note|nytimes}} The [[New York Times]] ran a long series of articles on Posada, described below. Facts here were drawn from ''A Mastermind Reveals Some Key Secrets''. |
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Posada was forced to remain in hiding in El Salvador during the [[Iran–Contra affair|Iran-Contra hearings]] before signing up as a security advisor to the Guatemalan government. He also remained in contact with Cuban exile groups during this period.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=197–201}}<ref name="Lettieri 2007" />{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=197–201}} In February 1990, Posada was shot while sitting in his car in [[Guatemala City]] by unknown assailants that Posada believed were Cuban assassins. In his memoir, Posada said that his recovery and medical bills were paid by the Cuban American National Foundation, with additional payments from Secord.<ref name="Aim"/> Posada recuperated in [[Honduras]], where the FBI believed him to have had a role in 41 bombings in the country. Posada himself admitted to planning numerous attacks against Cuba. His ploys included attempting to use information obtained from a Honduran captain about the movement of Cuban ships to place a [[Naval mine|mine]] on a freighter, and using a base in Honduras to launch an attack on Cuba with a force of Cuban exiles. Despite paying large bribes to the Honduran military for their support with the latter scheme, Posada eventually abandoned this plan, believing he could not trust the Honduran military.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=202–206}} |
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== External links == |
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* [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB153/index.htm Luis Posada Carriles: The Declassified Record. CIA and FBI Documents Detail Career in International Terrorism; Connection to U.S.] National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 153. [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/index.html National Security Archive] at [[George Washington University]]. Retrieved May 11, 2005. |
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* Posada Carriles, Luis. [http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/caminos-guerrero.htm ''Los Caminos del Guerrero'']. Spanish-language autobiography. August 1994. Retrieved May 12, 2005 |
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* [http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/posada.htm Luis Posada Carriles photo and article archive] held by [http://www.latinamericanstudies.org Latino Studies Resources] at [[Indiana University, Bloomington]]. Retrieved May 20, 2005. |
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=== |
===Terrorist bombings of 1997=== |
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In 1997, Posada was implicated in a [[1997 Cuba hotel bombings|series of terrorist bombings in Cuba]] intended to deter the growing [[Tourism in Cuba|tourism trade]] on the island. An Italian-born Canadian national, [[Fabio di Celmo]], was killed and 11 others were wounded as a result. In reaction to di Celmo's death, Posada told reporter [[Ann Louise Bardach]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' in a 1998 taped interview that "the Italian was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I sleep like a baby."<ref name="Nation2011"/><ref name=Ruiz/> In a taped interview, Posada said: "It is sad that someone is dead, but we can't stop."<ref name="sfgate">{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/05/18/MNGIHCQRSP1.DTL|title=Arrest of Cuban ex-CIA figure puts Bush in tough political spot|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|date=May 18, 2005|access-date=May 10, 2022|archive-date=September 20, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120920200525/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/05/18/MNGIHCQRSP1.DTL|url-status=live}}</ref> He added that Raúl Ernesto Cruz León, the man arrested and charged with the bombings, was a mercenary in his employ.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=208–211}} Cruz León was sentenced to death by the Cuban authorities after admitting to the attacks; the sentence was later commuted to 30 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-terrorism-idUSTRE6B26IS20101203|title=Cuba commutes bomber's death sentence to 30 years|first=Reuters|last=Editorial|website=[[Reuters]]|date=December 3, 2010 |access-date=May 23, 2018|archive-date=May 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524083052/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-terrorism-idUSTRE6B26IS20101203|url-status=live}}</ref> Posada repudiated his statements after being arrested in Panama in 2000.<ref name="Extradition"/> Posada was reportedly disappointed with the reluctance of news organisations in the US to report the bombing attacks, saying "If there is no publicity, the job is useless".{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=208–210}} |
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*{{cite news | title=Key Cuba Foe Claims Exiles' Backing | publisher=The New York Times | date=July 12, 1998 | url=http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/americas/071298cuba-plot.html}} |
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* [http://www.narconews.com/Issue38/article1354.html How authentic journalists caught an international terrorist in Mexico], from the original version in [http://www.narconews.com/Issue38/articulo1354.html Spanish], published in [http://www.narconews.com/ NarcoNews] and also in the very same [http://www.poresto.net/ ¡Por Esto!] ([http://www.narconews.com/ here]). Published June 21, 2005. |
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* [http://news.google.com/news?as_q=&svnum=10&as_scoring=r&hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&btnG=Google%20Search&as_epq=Luis%20Posada%20Carriles&as_oq=Herald&as_eq=&as_nsrc=miami%20herald&as_nloc=&as_occt=any&as_drrb=q&as_qdr=&as_mind=14&as_minm=3&as_maxd=13&as_maxm=4 Miami Herald articles on Luis Posada Carriles]. Accessed April 13, 2005. |
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* [http://ciponline.org/cuba/cubaandterrorism/keepingthingsinperspective.htm Keeping things in perspective: Cuba and the question of international terrorism] By Anya K. Landau and Wayne S. Smith. November 6, 2001. [http://ciponline.org/ Center for International Policy]. Accessed April 13, 2005. |
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* [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/09/148243 ''Terrorist Cuban Exile Luis Posada Carriles Seeking Political Asylum in U.S.'']. Print friendly [http://www.democracynow.org/print.pl?sid=05/05/09/148243 Transcript] Segment available in [http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/demnow/demand/2005/may/audio/dn20050509.ra&proto=rtsp&start=07:13 Streaming Real Audio] and [http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/demnow/demand/2005/may/video/dnB20050509a.rm&proto=rtsp&start=07:13 128k Real Video]. Guest: Ann Louise Bardach. Interviewer: Amy Goodman. [[Democracy Now!]]. Monday, May 9th, 2005. Retrieved May 12, 2005. |
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* [http://www.antiterroristas.cu/index.php?tpl=noticia/anew¬iciaid=2097¬iciafecha=2005-05-31 ''Hypocrisy on Terrorism: The Case of Luis Posada''] By Jeff Cohen, published in [[Los Angeles Times]] in September 1989, reproduced in the Spanish-English language website [http://www.antiterroristas.cu/ Antiterroristas], also reproduced [http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2514 here] (with added links) by [http://www.fair.org/ Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting]. |
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* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKposada.htm Biography of Luis Posada Carriles]. Accessed November 14, 2005. |
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* [http://freepeoplesmovement.org/fp15c.html "U.S. will harbor 'Osama Bin Laden of Latin America'"], The Free Press, October, 2005 |
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In 1998, ''The New York Times'' indicated that, even after the US government no longer sponsored Posada's violent activities, Posada may have benefited from a tolerant attitude on the part of US law enforcement. As bombs were being placed in tourist hotels and restaurants in Havana, ''The New York Times'' reported, a Cuban-American business-partner of Posada's tried to inform first Guatemalan, then US, law enforcement of Posada's involvement and possible links to Cuban exiles in [[Union City, New Jersey]].<ref>{{cite web|work=[[Human Rights Watch]]|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/cuba/Cuba996-12.htm|title=The U.S. and Cuban Exile Violence|year=1999|access-date=June 27, 2018|archive-date=May 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501013039/http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/cuba/Cuba996-12.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Posada himself suggested his friendship with an FBI agent made it unlikely he would be officially implicated; the FBI denied claims of any friendship.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=206=210}} |
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=== Spanish language websites === |
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* [http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=16036 ''El C-4, la Operación Cóndor, los Bush y Posada Carriles'']. Rebelión.org. 03 de junio de 2005. Retrieved June 22, 2005. |
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* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_1282000/1282714.stm ''Posada Carriles se queda en Panamá'']. BBC Mundo. Martes, 17 de abril de 2001 - 23:25 GMT. Retrieved April 14, 2005. |
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* [http://www.radioreloj.cu/mesa/mesa3-9-03.htm ''Terroristas En El Banquillo De Los Acusados'']. Radio Reloj, Cuba. September 2003. Retrieved April 14, 2005. |
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* [http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?chid=3&schid=181&secid=0&cid=450129 ''Anticastrista desaparecido en Honduras'']. EFE . [[Univision]]. 31 de Agosto de 2004. Retrieved April 14, 2005. |
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* http://www.emigrarausa.com/posada.htm "Nota de prensa 13 de abril del 2005 Law Office of Eduardo Soto PA" |
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According to Posada, much of his funding in this period came through Mas Canosa and the Cuban American National Foundation, and that Mas Canosa was aware of his role in the bombings.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=208–211}} The Cuban Ministry of the Interior claimed that on the September 4, 1997, three bomb attacks against hotels in Havana, in which one person was killed, were planned and controlled by CANF.<ref name="CNN3">{{cite news|title=Explosions hit 3 hotels in Havana, killing 1|publisher=CNN|date=September 4, 1997|author=CNN & Reuters}}</ref><ref name="Prensa1">{{cite news|title=Official statement about terrorist arrest|publisher=Prensa Latina|date=September 11, 1997|author=Cuba Interior Minister}}</ref> CANF denied the allegations.<ref name="Reuters3">{{cite news|title=Accused bomber makes calm TV confession in Cuba|author=Pascal Fletcher|publisher=Reuters|date=September 16, 1997}}</ref> Jose Antonio Llama, a former board member of CANF, stated in an interview published in 2006 that several of its leaders planned attacks in Cuba during the 1990s.<ref name="Nuevo1">{{cite news|title=Former CANF Board member admits to planning terrorist attack against Cuba|publisher=El Nuevo Herald|date=June 25, 2006|author=Wilfredo Cancio Isla|url=http://havanajournal.com/cuban_americans/entry/former-canf-board-member-admits-to-planning-terrorist-attack-against-cuba/|access-date=May 24, 2018|archive-date=May 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526052721/http://havanajournal.com/cuban_americans/entry/former-canf-board-member-admits-to-planning-terrorist-attack-against-cuba/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1997, CANF published a statement refusing to condemn terrorist attacks against Cuba; the CANF chairman at the time stated that "''We do not think of these as terrorist actions''".<ref name="Herald4">{{cite news|publisher=El Nuevo Herald|date=August 13, 1997|author=CANF President Francisco Hernandez|title=CANF Statement}}</ref>{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=208–211}} The CANF repeatedly denied links with Posada and his activities after the publication of the 1998 interview, and threatened ''The New York Times'' with legal action. Multiple members of the foundation, however, confirmed links with Posada.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=210–223}} |
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== Further reading == |
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=== Articles === |
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* Bardach, Ann Louise and Larry Rohter. ''A Bomber's Tale: Decades Of Intrigue; Life In The Shadows, Trying To Bring Down Castro''. '''New York Times'''. Monday, July 13, 1998. Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 3. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30813FC38550C708DDDAE0894D0494D81&incamp=archive:search Abstract available online]. Retrieved May 17, 2005. |
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* Bardach, Ann Louise and Larry Rohter. ''A Bombers Tale: Taking Aim At Castro; Key Cuba Foe Claims Exiles' Backing''. '''New York Times'''. Sunday, July 12, 1998. Late Edition - Final, Section 1 , Page 1 , Column 1. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00B16F73E550C718DDDAE0894D0494D81&incamp=archive:search Abstract available online]. Retrieved May 17, 2005. |
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* Bardach, Ann Louise and Larry Rohter. ''A Bomber's Tale; A Cuban Exile Details The "Horrendous Matter" Of A Bombing Campaign''. '''New York Times'''. Sunday, July 12, 1998. Late Edition - Final, Section 1 , Page 10 , Column 1. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30F13F63E550C718DDDAE0894D0494D81&incamp=archive:search Abstract available online]. Retrieved May 17, 2005. |
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*''A Mastermind Reveals Some Key Secrets''. '''New York Times'''. Sunday, Jul 12, 1998. p. 10 Retrieved June 6, 2005. |
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===Arrest, conviction and release in Panama=== |
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=== Books === |
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[[Image:Fidel Castro8.jpeg|thumb|upright|Fidel Castro, the target of an alleged failed assassination attempt in 2000]] |
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* Bardach, Ann Louise. '''Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana'''. 464 pages. Vintage, October 14, 2003. ISBN 0385720521. ''[Chapter 7 contains Posada interview]'' |
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In October 1997 Posada was implicated in an assassination attempt on Fidel Castro, after four men were arrested by the US Coast Guard in a boat off the coast of [[Puerto Rico]]. He denied any involvement, and called the plot amateurish, but was believed to have been involved by the FBI.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=208–211}} On November 17, 2000, Posada was discovered with 200 pounds of explosives in [[Panama City]] and arrested for plotting the assassination of Castro, who was visiting the country for the first time since 1959. Three other Cuban exiles were also arrested: [[Gaspar Jiménez]] who worked at the Cuban American National Foundation in Miami, Pedro Remón Rodríguez and [[Guillermo Novo]].{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=210–223}}<ref name="guardian10042011"/> While in prison, Posada released a statement renouncing terrorism, and stating that he had been framed for the assassination attempt in Panama by the Cuban intelligence services.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=220–223}} By mid-2001, $200,000 had been raised via efforts on Miami radio for a defense fund for Posada and his colleagues.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=220–223}} |
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* Bardach, Ann Louise. '''Cuba Confidencial'''. Spanish Edition. 544 pages. Plaza y Janes, September 28, 2004. ISBN 0307242897. |
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Castro announced the alleged discovery of the plot on international television, describing Posada as "a cowardly man totally without scruples". He also blamed CANF for allegedly orchestrating the plot. Shortly after, Justino di Celmo, the father of Fabio di Celmo, the victim of one of the Havana bombings, appeared on Cuban television to urge the Panamanian authorities to extradite Posada to Cuba. Posada was subsequently convicted and jailed in Panama for the assassination attempt.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|pp=210–223}} Bardach described him as "Fidel Castro's most persistent would-be assassin.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|p=136}} Posada was convicted of plotting to assassinate Castro; the plot allegedly involved using dynamite to blow up an auditorium full of college students.<ref name=Ruiz/> |
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[[Category:1928 births|Posada Carriles, Luis]] |
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[[Category:Living people|Posada Carriles, Luis]] |
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[[Category:Anti-communism|Posada Carriles, Luis]] |
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[[Category:Cold War|Posada Carriles, Luis]] |
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[[Category:Cuban terrorists|Posada Carriles, Luis]] |
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[[Category:Cuban-American relations|Posada Carriles]] |
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[[Category:Central Intelligence Agency|Posada Carriles]] |
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[[Category:Operation Condor|Posada Carriles]] |
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[[Category:History of South America|Posada Carriles, Luis]] |
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{{quote box |
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[[de:Luis Posada Carriles]] |
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| quote = No foreign government has pressured me to take the decision, I knew that if these men stayed here, they would be extradited to Cuba and Venezuela, and there they were surely going to kill them there. |
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[[es:Luis Posada Carriles]] |
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| source = — Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso<ref name="Wash"/> |
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[[eo:Luis POSADA CARRILES]] |
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[[fr:Luis Posada Carriles]] |
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[[nl:Luis Posada]] |
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In August 2004, Posada and the three other convicted plotters were pardoned by outgoing Panamanian president [[Mireya Moscoso]]. Moscoso, who had been close to the Bush administration in the US, denied that she had been pressured by US officials to engineer a release of the men, and US officials said they were not involved. "This was a decision made by the government of Panama", said State Department spokesman [[J. Adam Ereli]]. "We never lobbied the Panamanian government to pardon anyone involved in this case, and I'd leave it to the government of Panama to discuss the action." President Mireya Moscoso also commented, saying that "No foreign government has pressured me to take the decision", she told reporters. "I knew that if these men stayed here, they would be extradited to Cuba and Venezuela, and there they were surely going to kill them there."<ref name="Wash"/> |
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[[fi:Luis Posada]] |
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Moscoso's decision was condemned by incoming Panamanian president [[Martín Torrijos]],<ref name="pardon">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3607146.stm Venezuela envoy to leave Panama] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120920/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3607146.stm |date=September 20, 2012 }}, BBC News, August 28, 2004.</ref> and speculation was rife that the pardon was politically motivated.<ref name="Wash"/> Cuba expert [[Julia E. Sweig]] said the decision "reeks of political and diplomatic cronyism". Immediately after news of the pardon broke, Venezuela and Cuba withdrew diplomatic ties with Panama.<ref name="pardon"/> |
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==United States (2005–2018)== |
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[[Image:Roger Noriega.jpg|left|frame|[[Roger Noriega]], then US [[Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs]]. At the time of Posada's arrest in the US, Noriega stated that the charges against Posada "may be a completely manufactured issue".<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,,1486297,00.html Mojitos in Miami] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510203314/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/may/18/cuba.usa |date=May 10, 2022 }}, ''[[The Guardian]]'', May 18, 2005.</ref>]] |
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In 2005, Posada requested political asylum in the United States through his attorney. On May 3, 2005, the [[Supreme Tribunal of Justice (Venezuela)|Supreme Tribunal of Venezuela]] approved an extradition request for him.<ref name=Extradition>{{cite news|last1=Williams|first1=Carol J.|last2=Dahlburg|first2=John-Thor|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-may-06-fg-posada6-story.html|title=Venezuela Seeks Exile's Extradition|date=May 6, 2005|access-date=May 24, 2018|work=Los Angeles Times|archive-date=December 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208122855/http://articles.latimes.com/2005/may/06/world/fg-posada6|url-status=live}}</ref> Although he was arrested following international pressure on the administration of [[George W. Bush]] to treat him on par with other suspects in the [[War on Terror]], the US refused to extradite him to either Venezuela or Cuba.<ref name="WaPo2018"/> On September 28, 2005, a US immigration judge ruled that Posada could not be deported because he faced the threat of torture in Venezuela. The Venezuelan government reacted angrily to the ruling, accusing the US of having a "double standard in its so-called war on terrorism".<ref name="No deportation for Cuban militant"/> The United States government sought to deport Posada elsewhere, but at least seven friendly nations refused to accept him.<ref name=LAT150808/> |
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Posada was referenced in Venezuelan President [[Hugo Chávez]]'s address to the [[United Nations General Assembly]] on September 20, 2006. Railing against the US for "imperialism" and "hypocrisy", Chávez called Posada "the biggest terrorist of this continent", and said: "Thanks to the CIA and government officials, he was allowed to escape, and he lives here in this country, protected by the government."<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092000893.html President Hugo Chavez Delivers Remarks at the U.N. General Assembly] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827025717/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092000893.html |date=August 27, 2017 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'', September 20, 2006.</ref> |
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During a [[United Nations Security Council]] meeting to review the work of its three subsidiary counter-terrorism committees, the US was invited by the representatives of Venezuela and Cuba to comment on the evidence (above) in the Posada case. The US representative, Willson, stated that "an individual cannot be brought for trial or [[Extradition|extradited]] unless sufficient evidence has been established that he has committed the offence charged."<ref name=Verbatim>{{UN document|docid=S-PV-6015|body=Security Council|type=Verbatim Report|meeting=6015|page=30|anchor=pg030-bk02-pa01|date=November 12, 2008|speakername=Ms. Willson|speakernation=United States|access-date=January 4, 2009}}</ref> Willson said removal to Venezuela or Cuba could not be carried out because, she claimed, "it was more likely than not that he would be tortured if he were so transferred."<ref name=Verbatim/> The Venezuelan representative denied the allegation, and pointed to the United States' own record in [[Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse|Abu Ghraib]] and in [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp|Guantánamo]] as examples of what Venezuela would not do.<ref>"Through diplomatic notes and official conversations between and among Venezuelan diplomats, representatives of the Venezuelan embassy in the United States, and representatives of the State Department, Venezuela has given full assurances that if the United States complied with the extradition process, Posada Carriles will be subject to the rule of law, with full respect for due process, for his [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights|human rights]]. ... If any terrorist practices or tortures have been proven, it is those that have been committed by the United States of America, for example in [[Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse|Abu Ghraib]] and in [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp|Guantánamo]], where the Government of the United States has refused access, on many occasions, to the [[Inter-American Commission on Human Rights]] and both the American and the global press ... Carilles ... was on the [[CIA]] payroll. That is possibly one additional reason that has led the United States Government to protect Posada Carilles: the possible confessions that that criminal could make about his [[CIA]] past ..." {{UN document|docid=S-PV-6015|body=Security Council|type=Verbatim Report|meeting=6015|page=33|anchor=pg033-bk02-pa03|date=November 12, 2008|speakername=Mr Valero Briceňo|speakernation=Venezuela|access-date=January 4, 2009}}</ref> |
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{{quote box |quote = He is not being charged as a terrorist but rather as a liar. My family and I are outraged and disappointed that a known terrorist, Luis Posada, is going to trial for perjury and immigration fraud, not for the horrific crime of masterminding the bombing of a civilian airliner.|source = — Livio di Celmo, whose brother [[Fabio di Celmo]] was killed in the 1997 bombings in Havana<ref name="Nation2011"/>| width = 30%| align = right}} |
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On May 8, 2007, US district judge Kathleen Cardone dismissed seven counts of immigration fraud and ordered the removal of Posada's electronic bracelet. In a 38-page ruling, Cardone criticized the US government's "fraud, deceit and trickery" during the interview with immigration authorities that was the basis of the charges against Posada.<ref name="cnndrop">[http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/05/08/posada.charges/index.html "Judge throws out charges against anti-Castro militant"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070509162924/http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/05/08/posada.charges/index.html |date=May 9, 2007 }}, ''[[CNN]]'', May 8, 2007.</ref> Cardone's ruling was overturned in mid-2008 by the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]], which ruled that Posada should be tried for the alleged immigration violation.<ref name=LAT150808>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-aug-15-na-posada15-story.html Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles to stand trial in U.S.], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', August 15, 2008.</ref> |
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In 2009, a federal [[grand jury]] issued a superseding indictment, which marked the first time Posada was officially linked by the US government to the 1997 bombings in Cuba. On April 9, 2009, the ''[[Miami Herald]]'' reported: |
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{{blockquote|The superseding indictment from the grand jury in El Paso does not charge Posada, 81, with planting the bombs or plotting the bombings but with lying in an immigration court about his role in the attacks at hotels, bars and restaurants in the Havana area. The perjury counts were added to the previous indictment that accused Posada of lying in his citizenship application about how he got into the United States. Another new charge is obstruction of a US investigation into "international terrorism."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chardy|first=Alfonso|title=U.S. indicts Cuban exile Luis Posada, links him to bombings|newspaper=[[Miami Herald]]|date=April 9, 2009|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/991499.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417071729/http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/991499.html|archive-date=April 17, 2009}}</ref>}} |
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===2010 Texas trial=== |
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{{quote box |quote = The bottom line is that the Justice Department is trying to hold him accountable for horrible acts of terrorism ... This trial can confirm what everybody already knows, (that) Luis Posada is a leading purveyor of terrorism.|source = — [[Peter Kornbluh]], [[National Security Archive]], February 25, 2010<ref name="MNT2010">Chuck Strouse, [http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2010-02-25/news/cuban-killer-luis-posada-carriles-goes-on-trial/full Cuban killer Luis Posada Carriles goes on Trial] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101009202236/http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2010-02-25/news/cuban-killer-luis-posada-carriles-goes-on-trial/full/ |date=October 9, 2010 }}, ''[[Miami New Times]]'', February 25, 2010.</ref>| width = 30% |
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| align = right}} |
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Posada was accused of lying to US authorities about his entry into the country and about his alleged involvement in bomb attacks in Havana in 1997, and went on trial in Texas.<ref name=BB09042011/><ref name="MNT2010"/> Many of his backers in the [[Cuban exile]] community gathered thousands of dollars for his defense during what they termed a "radio marathon" on [[WAQI|Radio Mambí]].<ref name="MNT2010"/> His charges did not relate to his alleged involvement in the bombing of the Cubana airliner, or in the bombings in Havana. Instead, they revolved around lying to immigration agents about his trip to the US and illegally entering the United States.<ref name="MNT2010"/> The fact that he was not tried for murder or terrorism was strongly criticized by Cuba and Venezuela, while the [[Center for Democracy in the Americas]] described it as "charging [[Al Capone]] with tax evasion".<ref name=Ruiz/> |
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Prosecutors alleged that Posada deceived them about his passport and arrived on a boat named the Santrina, not on a bus as he had told the government during interviews.<ref name="MNT2010"/> Posada was acquitted on all charges against him in 2011. A spokesman of the US Justice Department expressed disappointment in the outcome, while the Cuban and Venezuelan governments denounced the trial: Venezuela stated that the US was protecting a known terrorist.<ref name=BB09042011/><ref name=guardian10042011/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/10/luis-posada-cuba-denounces-us-acquittal-cia-agent|title=Cuba denounces acquittal of former CIA agent Luis Posada as a farce|author=Rory Carroll|work=the Guardian|date=April 10, 2011 |access-date=December 6, 2014|archive-date=December 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210181942/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/10/luis-posada-cuba-denounces-us-acquittal-cia-agent|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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==Personal life== |
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Posada married in 1955.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|p=180}} He separated from his first wife a few years after first moving to the US.<ref name="WaPo2018">{{cite news|last1=Saloman|first1=Gisela|title=Militant Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles has died|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/militant-cuban-exile-luis-posada-carriles-has-died/2018/05/23/dd4657d8-5e86-11e8-b656-236c6214ef01_story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180523171152/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/militant-cuban-exile-luis-posada-carriles-has-died/2018/05/23/dd4657d8-5e86-11e8-b656-236c6214ef01_story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 23, 2018|access-date=May 23, 2018|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=May 23, 2018}}</ref> He married his second wife, Elina Nieves, in 1963 while at Fort Benning. Nieves and he had a son while still in the US: a daughter was born after the family had moved to Venezuela in 1968.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|p=183}} Posada and Nieves lived apart for most of their marriage.<ref name="WaPo2018"/> He had a lengthy relationship with Titi Bosch, who died of cancer in 2001.{{sfn|Bardach|2002|p=221}} Towards the end of his life, Posada lived in Miami, where he often attended fund raisers among the right-wing exile groups, and participated in protests against the government of Fidel Castro.<ref name="Nation2011"/> Among Cuban exiles, he was nicknamed "Bambi".<ref name="NYTimes">{{cite news|title=Anti-Castro Extremists Tolerated, if Not Encouraged, by Some Latin American Nations|url=http://www.tni.org/letelier-docs/151176.htm|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 15, 1976|access-date=February 17, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091258/http://www.tni.org/letelier-docs/151176.htm|archive-date=September 29, 2007}}</ref> |
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A November 2016, ''[[El Nuevo Herald]]'' newspaper article described Posada in a Miami restaurant celebrating Castro's death. The article reported that the then-88-year-old Posada was a [[cancer]] survivor and had suffered a [[stroke]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Penton|first=Mario J|date=November 26, 2016|url=http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/sur-de-la-florida/article117286068.html|title=Posada Carriles lamenta que la muerte de Fidel llegara tan tarde.|work=El Nuevo Herald|access-date=April 24, 2017|language=es|archive-date=April 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425031831/http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/sur-de-la-florida/article117286068.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He died on May 23, 2018, in Miami, aged 90: an obituary in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' stated that he had been diagnosed with [[throat cancer]] five years previously.<ref name=WaPo2018/><ref>{{cite news|title=Anti-Castro militant Posada Carriles is dead at 90|last=Gamez Torres|first=Nora|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article211726514.html|date=May 23, 2018|access-date=May 23, 2018|archive-date=May 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524025926/http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article211726514.html|url-status=live}}</ref> His lawyer stated that Posada Carriles died at "a government home for veterans".<ref>{{cite news|title=Luis Posada Carriles: Cuba anti-communist activist dies|date=May 23, 2018|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-44226647|work=BBC|access-date=June 24, 2018|archive-date=June 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624232155/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-44226647|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
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*[[Criticism of the War on Terrorism]] |
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*[[Cuban Five]] |
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==References== |
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===Notes=== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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===Sources=== |
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*{{cite book|first=Ann Louise |
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|last=Bardach|title=Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780375504891|url-access=registration |
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|year=2002|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0-375-50489-1}} |
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==Further reading== |
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*''Dateline Havana: The Real Story of US Policy and the Future of Cuba'' by Reese Erlich, 2008, Polipoint Press, {{ISBN|0-9815769-7-4}} |
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==External links== |
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{{commons category}} |
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* [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB153/index.htm Luis Posada Carriles: The Declassified Record]. Declassified CIA and FBI Documents on [[National Security Archive|The National Security Archive]] |
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110703115034/http://161.253.149.72/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB218/index.htm Documents linked to Cuban exile Luis Posada highlighted targets for terrorism]. Declassified CIA and FBI Documents on [[National Security Archive|The National Security Archive]] |
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* [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB202/index.htm Bombing of Cuban Jetliner 30 Years Later]. Declassified CIA and FBI Documents on [[National Security Archive|The National Security Archive]] |
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*[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4634522 Cuba Seeks U.S. Arrest of Castro Foe] by Michele Kelemen, ''NPR'', May 7, 2005 |
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070108095609/http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/view/3204/1/161 Who is Luis Posada Carriles?] by Jose Pertierra, ''Political Affairs'', April 15, 2006 |
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* [http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/posada.htm Luis Posada Carriles photo and article archive] by the Latin American Studies Organization |
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*[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58297-2005Apr16.html Our Man's in Miami: Patriot or Terrorist?] by Ann Louise Bardach, ''The Washington Post'', April 17, 2005 |
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* [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/09/national/09exile.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all Cuban Exile Could Test U.S. Definition of Terrorist] by Tim Weiner, ''The New York Times'', May 9, 2005 |
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*[http://www.coha.org/2005/08/unfinished-business-why-luis-posada-carriles-an-admitted-cuban-exile-terrorist-should-face-justice-in-venezuela/ Why Luis Posada Carriles, an Admitted Cuban Exile Terrorist, Should Face Justice in Venezuela] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417113700/http://www.coha.org/2005/08/unfinished-business-why-luis-posada-carriles-an-admitted-cuban-exile-terrorist-should-face-justice-in-venezuela/ |date=April 17, 2020 }} by the ''Council on Hemispheric Affairs'' |
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* [http://www.democracynow.org/2006/10/10/twilight_of_the_assassins_why_the Why the U.S. Refuses to Prosecute Luis Posada Carriles for Cubana Airlines Flight 455] – video report by ''Democracy Now!'' |
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{{Cuba-United States relations}} |
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{{War on Terror}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Posada Carriles, Luis}} |
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[[Category:1928 births]] |
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[[Category:2018 deaths]] |
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[[Category:Anti-communist terrorism]] |
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[[Category:Counterterrorism in the United States]] |
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[[Category:Cuban anti-communists]] |
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[[Category:Cuba–United States relations]] |
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[[Category:Escapees from Venezuelan detention]] |
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[[Category:Exiles of the Cuban Revolution in the United States]] |
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[[Category:Exiles of the Cuban Revolution in Mexico]] |
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[[Category:George W. Bush administration controversies]] |
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[[Category:CIA agents convicted of crimes]] |
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[[Category:History of South America]] |
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[[Category:Far-right politics in the United States]] |
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[[Category:Fugitives wanted on terrorism charges]] |
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[[Category:Individuals designated as terrorists by the United States government]] |
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[[Category:Opposition to Fidel Castro]] |
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[[Category:People from Cienfuegos]] |
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[[Category:People extradited to Venezuela]] |
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[[Category:People extradited from Chile]] |
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[[Category:People convicted on terrorism charges]] |
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[[Category:Terrorism in Cuba]] |
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[[Category:Trials in Texas]] |
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[[Category:Trials in Panama]] |
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[[Category:Venezuelan escapees]] |
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[[Category:20th-century criminals]] |
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[[Category:21st-century criminals]] |
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[[Category:American anti-communists]] |
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[[Category:Activists from Florida]] |
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[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government]] |
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[[Category:21st-century American trials]] |
Latest revision as of 17:43, 17 December 2024
Luis Posada Carriles | |
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Born | Cienfuegos, Cuba | February 15, 1928
Died | May 23, 2018 Miami, Florida, US | (aged 90)
Luis Clemente Posada Carriles (February 15, 1928 – May 23, 2018) was a Cuban exile militant and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent. He was considered a terrorist by the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Government of Cuba, among others.[1][2]
Born in Cienfuegos, Cuba, Posada fled to the United States after a spell of anti-Castro activism. He helped organize the Bay of Pigs Invasion, and after it failed, became an agent for the CIA.[3][4] He received training at Fort Benning, and from 1964 to 1967 was involved with a series of bombings and other covert activities against the Cuban government, before joining the Venezuelan intelligence service.[4][5] Along with Orlando Bosch, he was involved in founding the Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations,[5][6][7] described by the FBI as "an anti-Castro terrorist umbrella organization".[6] Posada and CORU are widely considered responsible for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people.[4][5][8][9] Posada later admitted involvement in a string of bombings in 1997 targeting fashionable Cuban hotels and nightspots.[10][11][12] In addition, he was jailed under accusations related to an assassination attempt on Fidel Castro in Panama in 2000, although he was later pardoned by Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso in the final days of her term.[13] He denied involvement in the airline bombing and the alleged plot against Castro in Panama, but admitted to fighting to overthrow the Castro regime in Cuba.[14]
In 2005, Posada was held by US authorities in Texas on the charge of being in the country illegally: the charges were later dismissed. A judge ruled he could not be deported because he faced the threat of torture in Venezuela.[15] The US government refused to repatriate Posada to Cuba, citing the same reason.[14] His release on bail in 2007 elicited angry reactions from the Cuban and Venezuelan governments. The US Justice Department had urged the court to keep him in jail because he was "an admitted mastermind of terrorist plots and attacks", a flight risk and a danger to the community.[12] The decision was also criticized within the US; an editorial in the Los Angeles Times stated that by releasing Carriles while detaining a number of suspected terrorists in Guantánamo Bay, the US government was guilty of hypocrisy.[16]
Posada died in May 2018 in Florida, where hardline elements of the anti-Castro exile community in Miami still regarded him as "a heroic figure".[17] Reporter Ann Louise Bardach called him "Fidel Castro's most persistent would-be assassin,"[18] while Peter Kornbluh of the National Security Archive referred to him as "one of the most dangerous terrorists in recent history" and the "godfather of Cuban exile violence."[17]
Early years (1928–1968)
[edit]Posada was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba, on February 15, 1928. His family was relatively affluent. He had four siblings. The family moved to Havana when Posada was 17 years old, where he studied medicine and chemistry at the University of Havana. In 1956, he and Antonio Garcia established a pest control enterprise in Cienfuegos called Servicios Exterminadores Fumigadores de Insectos. The station wagon used for their business was destroyed by a bomb while parked on the street on the night of January 3, 1957.[19] Posada worked in 1958 as a supervisor for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.[4] He worked initially in Havana, and was transferred to Akron, Ohio, after the Cuban Revolution of 1959.[20]
As a student, he had come in contact with Fidel Castro, who had become a figure of some significance in the student politics of the time. Posada later said that Castro was three years ahead of him at the university.[20] Misgivings about the Cuban revolution led Posada to become an activist in open opposition to the new government. After a spell in a military prison, Posada sought political asylum in Mexico. By 1961, Posada had relocated to the United States where he helped to organize the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba.[4][3] The rest of Posada's family remained in Cuba, and continued to support the Cuban revolution; Posada's sister eventually rose to the rank of Colonel in the Cuban army.[4] When asked in a 1998 interview why he had opposed the Revolution, he stated "All communists are the same. All are bad, a form of evil."[21] Posada was stationed in Guatemala, where he was supposed to participate in a second wave of landings in Cuba. The initial attack on Cuban soil failed, and the operation was called off before Posada's force was to take part.[21]
After the failure at the Bay of Pigs, Posada attended officer candidate school at the United States Army's facility in Fort Benning.[22] There, he was trained by the CIA in sabotage and explosives between March 1963 and March 1964.[5][3][23][4] While at Fort Benning, he served in the same platoon as Jorge Mas Canosa, later the founder of the Cuban American National Foundation: the two men became fast friends.[21] He graduated from the training program with the rank of second lieutenant, but he and Mas Canosa left the army when they recognized that the US was unlikely to invade Cuba again.[21][5] In a 1998 interview, he stated that "the CIA taught us everything ... explosives, how to kill, bomb, trained us in acts of sabotage."[1] Posada received further training in guerrilla tactics in Polk City, Florida.[5] He worked closely with the CIA in Miami and was active in the CIA's Operation 40. He later described his role as that of the agency's "principal agent", informing the organisation about political movements within the exile community and operating anti-Castro activities.[24]
In Florida, Posada trained members of the JURE, Junta Revolucionaria Cubana, an anti-Castro militant organization.[21][23] He was also associated with other militant groups, including RECE (Cuban Representation in Exile).[21] CIA files indicate that Posada was involved in a 1965 attempt to overthrow the Guatemalan government. The same year, the CIA reported that Posada was involved in various bombing plans in association with Mas Canosa.[5][23] Posada also supplied information about the Cuban exile community to the CIA, and unsuccessfully attempted to recruit his brother to spy for them.[25] In 1968, relations frayed with the CIA when Posada was questioned about his "unreported association with gangster elements". Posada's other associates at the time included Frank Rosenthal, described as a "well-known gangster". Posada relocated to Venezuela, taking with him various CIA-supplied weapons including grenades and fuses.[5][23][26]
Venezuela (1968–1985)
[edit]In Venezuela, Posada quickly rose through the ranks of Venezuelan intelligence. He became head of the service, known as DIGEPOL and later as DISIP, in 1969.[27] The role involved countering various guerrilla movements supported by Cuba, and Posada threw himself into his work with enthusiasm. He invited Orlando Bosch, another Cuban exile who was then on parole from US federal prison, to join his operations in Venezuela: Bosch accepted his offer in 1974, thereby violating the terms of his parole.[28] Posada was dismissed from the service in 1974 due to ideological differences with the government of Carlos Andrés Pérez, who had assumed office in that year.[28] Posada went on to found a private detective agency in Caracas.[29][5]
At approximately the same time, Posada's relations with the CIA also deteriorated. The agency began to suspect that he was involved in cocaine trafficking and dealing in counterfeit money.[28] Posada was not confronted with these allegations to avoid compromising existing operations, but internal CIA communications referred to him as a serious liability.[28] The Church Committee hearings of 1975, which had been triggered by fears that the CIA were running too many rogue operations, had a significant impact on the agency, and Posada's association was seen to be "not in good odor".[30] In February 1976, the CIA officially broke off relations with Posada. Subsequently, Posada made several efforts to get back into the agency's good graces, including informing on an alleged plot by Bosch to kill Henry Kissinger, then US Secretary of State.[28]
Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations
[edit]Along with Orlando Bosch and Gaspar Jiménez, Posada founded the Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations (CORU).[5][31] The group first met in the Dominican Republic in June 1976, and laid plans for more than 50 bombings over the next year.[32] The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) described CORU as "an anti-Castro terrorist umbrella organization."[6] CORU was responsible for a number of attacks in 1976. These included a machine gun attack on the Cuban embassy in Bogotá, the assassination of a Cuban official in Mérida, Yucatán, the kidnapping of two Cuban embassy employees in Buenos Aires, the bombing of a Cubana airlines office in Panama City, the bombing of the Guyanese embassy in Port of Spain, and the assassination of former Chilean ambassador Orlando Letelier in Washington, D.C.[9]
The information Posada provided the CIA while attempting to reestablish good relations with it included a tip that Cuban exiles were planning to blow up a Cuban airliner.[32] Cubana Flight 455 was a Cubana de Aviación flight departing from Barbados, via Trinidad, to Cuba. On October 6, 1976, two time bombs variously described as dynamite or C-4 planted on the Douglas DC-8 aircraft exploded, killing all 73 people on board, including all 25 members of the 1975 Cuban national fencing team.[1][5][9][34][35] Investigators from Cuba, Venezuela and the United States traced the planting of the bombs to two Venezuelan passengers, Freddy Lugo and Hernán Ricardo Lozano.[5][36] Both men were employed by Posada at his private detective agency based in Venezuela.[5] A week later, Posada and Bosch were arrested on charges of masterminding the attack, and were jailed in Venezuela.[36]
Declassified FBI and CIA reports also show that the agencies suspected his involvement in the airline bombing within days of its occurrence.[6][37][38] According to a declassified CIA document dated October 13, 1976, with information from what the CIA deemed a usually reliable source, Posada – in Caracas at the time – was overheard to say a few days before Cubana flight 455 exploded: "We are going to hit a Cuban airliner ... Orlando has the details".[9] The details were contained in a memorandum sent to Kissinger. The memorandum suggested that Posada was likely to have planned the bombing.[38] Another CIA document, based on a Miami-based informant, also implicated Posada in the conspiracy.[39]
Posada, who denied involvement in the Cubana-455 bombing, insisted his "only objective was to fight for Cuba's freedom".[40] In prison, Posada and Bosch learned to paint, and sold their artwork in the US via intermediaries.[41] Posada was found not guilty by a military court; however, this ruling was overturned and he was held for trial in a civilian court. Posada escaped from prison with Freddie Lugo in 1977, and the pair turned themselves in to the Chilean authorities, expecting to be welcomed for their role in the killing of Letelier, who was a target of the government of Augusto Pinochet: however, they were immediately handed back to Venezuela.[42] Posada was held awaiting trial in Venezuela for eight years before escaping in 1985 while awaiting a prosecutor's appeal of his second acquittal in the bombing. His escape is said to have involved a hefty bribe and his dressing as a priest.[43][44][45] According to Posada, the escape was planned and financed by Jorge Mas Canosa, who by then had become head of the Cuban American National Foundation.[36]
Contras and Central America (1985–2005)
[edit]Posada was met in El Salvador by CIA operative Félix Rodríguez, who told Posada that he was supporting him "at the request of a wealthy Miami benefactor".[43] Rodríguez had overseen the capture of Ernesto "Che" Guevara in 1967. He offered Posada a job as his deputy, ferrying supplies to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua, in an operation directed by Oliver North: the pair were to coordinate drops of military supplies to the rebels, who opposed the Sandinista government.[43] Posada's fortunes rose after the Reagan administration took a more confrontational approach to Cuba and expanded covert operations in Latin America. Posada was given a house and a car, and paid $3,000 per month, $750 for each flight he made, and sundry expenses, primarily by US Major General Richard Secord, who was directing operations for North.[46] Posada was responsible for managing supply flights from the Salvadoran base of Ilopango to the Contra rebels at the border. He was also responsible for coordinating between the Contras, their advisers in the US, and their allies in the military forces of El Salvador. Operating with the Salvadoran alias "Ramón Medina", Posada built relationships inside the government of El Salvador, its military, and its infamous death squads.[47]
The supply flights to the Contra rebels ceased in 1986, after the Nicaraguan government shot down one of the planes. Two of the crew were killed, including a close friend of Posada's. American pilot Eugene Hasenfus survived, thanks to his oft-mocked habit of wearing a parachute, and was captured by the Nicaraguan government. He confessed to the role of the US government in supporting the Contras, and his story made headlines around the world.[48] Posada was supposed to have been on the flight himself, but missed the flight narrowly.[49] After Hasenfus's capture became known, Posada gathered a group of soldiers and flew to San Salvador, where he emptied the safe houses used by the operation. By getting rid of this evidence, he would later claim, he saved George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan from impeachment.[50]
Posada was forced to remain in hiding in El Salvador during the Iran-Contra hearings before signing up as a security advisor to the Guatemalan government. He also remained in contact with Cuban exile groups during this period.[50][5][50] In February 1990, Posada was shot while sitting in his car in Guatemala City by unknown assailants that Posada believed were Cuban assassins. In his memoir, Posada said that his recovery and medical bills were paid by the Cuban American National Foundation, with additional payments from Secord.[36] Posada recuperated in Honduras, where the FBI believed him to have had a role in 41 bombings in the country. Posada himself admitted to planning numerous attacks against Cuba. His ploys included attempting to use information obtained from a Honduran captain about the movement of Cuban ships to place a mine on a freighter, and using a base in Honduras to launch an attack on Cuba with a force of Cuban exiles. Despite paying large bribes to the Honduran military for their support with the latter scheme, Posada eventually abandoned this plan, believing he could not trust the Honduran military.[51]
Terrorist bombings of 1997
[edit]In 1997, Posada was implicated in a series of terrorist bombings in Cuba intended to deter the growing tourism trade on the island. An Italian-born Canadian national, Fabio di Celmo, was killed and 11 others were wounded as a result. In reaction to di Celmo's death, Posada told reporter Ann Louise Bardach of The New York Times in a 1998 taped interview that "the Italian was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I sleep like a baby."[17][1] In a taped interview, Posada said: "It is sad that someone is dead, but we can't stop."[44] He added that Raúl Ernesto Cruz León, the man arrested and charged with the bombings, was a mercenary in his employ.[52] Cruz León was sentenced to death by the Cuban authorities after admitting to the attacks; the sentence was later commuted to 30 years imprisonment.[53] Posada repudiated his statements after being arrested in Panama in 2000.[54] Posada was reportedly disappointed with the reluctance of news organisations in the US to report the bombing attacks, saying "If there is no publicity, the job is useless".[55]
In 1998, The New York Times indicated that, even after the US government no longer sponsored Posada's violent activities, Posada may have benefited from a tolerant attitude on the part of US law enforcement. As bombs were being placed in tourist hotels and restaurants in Havana, The New York Times reported, a Cuban-American business-partner of Posada's tried to inform first Guatemalan, then US, law enforcement of Posada's involvement and possible links to Cuban exiles in Union City, New Jersey.[56] Posada himself suggested his friendship with an FBI agent made it unlikely he would be officially implicated; the FBI denied claims of any friendship.[57]
According to Posada, much of his funding in this period came through Mas Canosa and the Cuban American National Foundation, and that Mas Canosa was aware of his role in the bombings.[52] The Cuban Ministry of the Interior claimed that on the September 4, 1997, three bomb attacks against hotels in Havana, in which one person was killed, were planned and controlled by CANF.[58][59] CANF denied the allegations.[60] Jose Antonio Llama, a former board member of CANF, stated in an interview published in 2006 that several of its leaders planned attacks in Cuba during the 1990s.[61] In 1997, CANF published a statement refusing to condemn terrorist attacks against Cuba; the CANF chairman at the time stated that "We do not think of these as terrorist actions".[62][52] The CANF repeatedly denied links with Posada and his activities after the publication of the 1998 interview, and threatened The New York Times with legal action. Multiple members of the foundation, however, confirmed links with Posada.[63]
Arrest, conviction and release in Panama
[edit]In October 1997 Posada was implicated in an assassination attempt on Fidel Castro, after four men were arrested by the US Coast Guard in a boat off the coast of Puerto Rico. He denied any involvement, and called the plot amateurish, but was believed to have been involved by the FBI.[52] On November 17, 2000, Posada was discovered with 200 pounds of explosives in Panama City and arrested for plotting the assassination of Castro, who was visiting the country for the first time since 1959. Three other Cuban exiles were also arrested: Gaspar Jiménez who worked at the Cuban American National Foundation in Miami, Pedro Remón Rodríguez and Guillermo Novo.[63][45] While in prison, Posada released a statement renouncing terrorism, and stating that he had been framed for the assassination attempt in Panama by the Cuban intelligence services.[64] By mid-2001, $200,000 had been raised via efforts on Miami radio for a defense fund for Posada and his colleagues.[64]
Castro announced the alleged discovery of the plot on international television, describing Posada as "a cowardly man totally without scruples". He also blamed CANF for allegedly orchestrating the plot. Shortly after, Justino di Celmo, the father of Fabio di Celmo, the victim of one of the Havana bombings, appeared on Cuban television to urge the Panamanian authorities to extradite Posada to Cuba. Posada was subsequently convicted and jailed in Panama for the assassination attempt.[63] Bardach described him as "Fidel Castro's most persistent would-be assassin.[18] Posada was convicted of plotting to assassinate Castro; the plot allegedly involved using dynamite to blow up an auditorium full of college students.[1]
No foreign government has pressured me to take the decision, I knew that if these men stayed here, they would be extradited to Cuba and Venezuela, and there they were surely going to kill them there.
In August 2004, Posada and the three other convicted plotters were pardoned by outgoing Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso. Moscoso, who had been close to the Bush administration in the US, denied that she had been pressured by US officials to engineer a release of the men, and US officials said they were not involved. "This was a decision made by the government of Panama", said State Department spokesman J. Adam Ereli. "We never lobbied the Panamanian government to pardon anyone involved in this case, and I'd leave it to the government of Panama to discuss the action." President Mireya Moscoso also commented, saying that "No foreign government has pressured me to take the decision", she told reporters. "I knew that if these men stayed here, they would be extradited to Cuba and Venezuela, and there they were surely going to kill them there."[13]
Moscoso's decision was condemned by incoming Panamanian president Martín Torrijos,[65] and speculation was rife that the pardon was politically motivated.[13] Cuba expert Julia E. Sweig said the decision "reeks of political and diplomatic cronyism". Immediately after news of the pardon broke, Venezuela and Cuba withdrew diplomatic ties with Panama.[65]
United States (2005–2018)
[edit]In 2005, Posada requested political asylum in the United States through his attorney. On May 3, 2005, the Supreme Tribunal of Venezuela approved an extradition request for him.[54] Although he was arrested following international pressure on the administration of George W. Bush to treat him on par with other suspects in the War on Terror, the US refused to extradite him to either Venezuela or Cuba.[67] On September 28, 2005, a US immigration judge ruled that Posada could not be deported because he faced the threat of torture in Venezuela. The Venezuelan government reacted angrily to the ruling, accusing the US of having a "double standard in its so-called war on terrorism".[15] The United States government sought to deport Posada elsewhere, but at least seven friendly nations refused to accept him.[68]
Posada was referenced in Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 20, 2006. Railing against the US for "imperialism" and "hypocrisy", Chávez called Posada "the biggest terrorist of this continent", and said: "Thanks to the CIA and government officials, he was allowed to escape, and he lives here in this country, protected by the government."[69]
During a United Nations Security Council meeting to review the work of its three subsidiary counter-terrorism committees, the US was invited by the representatives of Venezuela and Cuba to comment on the evidence (above) in the Posada case. The US representative, Willson, stated that "an individual cannot be brought for trial or extradited unless sufficient evidence has been established that he has committed the offence charged."[70] Willson said removal to Venezuela or Cuba could not be carried out because, she claimed, "it was more likely than not that he would be tortured if he were so transferred."[70] The Venezuelan representative denied the allegation, and pointed to the United States' own record in Abu Ghraib and in Guantánamo as examples of what Venezuela would not do.[71]
He is not being charged as a terrorist but rather as a liar. My family and I are outraged and disappointed that a known terrorist, Luis Posada, is going to trial for perjury and immigration fraud, not for the horrific crime of masterminding the bombing of a civilian airliner.
On May 8, 2007, US district judge Kathleen Cardone dismissed seven counts of immigration fraud and ordered the removal of Posada's electronic bracelet. In a 38-page ruling, Cardone criticized the US government's "fraud, deceit and trickery" during the interview with immigration authorities that was the basis of the charges against Posada.[72] Cardone's ruling was overturned in mid-2008 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which ruled that Posada should be tried for the alleged immigration violation.[68]
In 2009, a federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment, which marked the first time Posada was officially linked by the US government to the 1997 bombings in Cuba. On April 9, 2009, the Miami Herald reported:
The superseding indictment from the grand jury in El Paso does not charge Posada, 81, with planting the bombs or plotting the bombings but with lying in an immigration court about his role in the attacks at hotels, bars and restaurants in the Havana area. The perjury counts were added to the previous indictment that accused Posada of lying in his citizenship application about how he got into the United States. Another new charge is obstruction of a US investigation into "international terrorism."[73]
2010 Texas trial
[edit]The bottom line is that the Justice Department is trying to hold him accountable for horrible acts of terrorism ... This trial can confirm what everybody already knows, (that) Luis Posada is a leading purveyor of terrorism.
Posada was accused of lying to US authorities about his entry into the country and about his alleged involvement in bomb attacks in Havana in 1997, and went on trial in Texas.[14][74] Many of his backers in the Cuban exile community gathered thousands of dollars for his defense during what they termed a "radio marathon" on Radio Mambí.[74] His charges did not relate to his alleged involvement in the bombing of the Cubana airliner, or in the bombings in Havana. Instead, they revolved around lying to immigration agents about his trip to the US and illegally entering the United States.[74] The fact that he was not tried for murder or terrorism was strongly criticized by Cuba and Venezuela, while the Center for Democracy in the Americas described it as "charging Al Capone with tax evasion".[1]
Prosecutors alleged that Posada deceived them about his passport and arrived on a boat named the Santrina, not on a bus as he had told the government during interviews.[74] Posada was acquitted on all charges against him in 2011. A spokesman of the US Justice Department expressed disappointment in the outcome, while the Cuban and Venezuelan governments denounced the trial: Venezuela stated that the US was protecting a known terrorist.[14][45][75]
Personal life
[edit]Posada married in 1955.[76] He separated from his first wife a few years after first moving to the US.[67] He married his second wife, Elina Nieves, in 1963 while at Fort Benning. Nieves and he had a son while still in the US: a daughter was born after the family had moved to Venezuela in 1968.[77] Posada and Nieves lived apart for most of their marriage.[67] He had a lengthy relationship with Titi Bosch, who died of cancer in 2001.[78] Towards the end of his life, Posada lived in Miami, where he often attended fund raisers among the right-wing exile groups, and participated in protests against the government of Fidel Castro.[17] Among Cuban exiles, he was nicknamed "Bambi".[29]
A November 2016, El Nuevo Herald newspaper article described Posada in a Miami restaurant celebrating Castro's death. The article reported that the then-88-year-old Posada was a cancer survivor and had suffered a stroke.[79] He died on May 23, 2018, in Miami, aged 90: an obituary in The Washington Post stated that he had been diagnosed with throat cancer five years previously.[67][80] His lawyer stated that Posada Carriles died at "a government home for veterans".[81]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Ruiz, Albor. "Ruiz: Terrorist's day in court may be here". NY Daily News. Archived from the original on November 26, 2011. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
- ^ Gamez Torres, Nora (November 15, 2017). "Drugs, spying and terrorism: CIA files offer insight on life of Luis Posada Carriles". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on May 28, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
- ^ a b c Candiotti, Susan (May 18, 2005). "Alleged anti-Castro terrorist Posada arrested". CNN. Archived from the original on June 2, 2008. Retrieved May 22, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g Bardach, Ann Louis; Rohter, Larry (July 13, 1998). "A Bomber's Tale: Decades of Intrigue". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 3, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Lettieri, Mike (June 1, 2007). "Posada Carriles, Bush's Child of Scorn". Washington Report on the Hemisphere. 27 (7/8).
- ^ a b c d Kornbluh, Peter (June 9, 2005). "The Posada File: Part II". National Security Archive. Archived from the original on June 17, 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
- ^ Bardach, Ann Louise (November 2006). "Twilight of the Assassins". The Atlantic.
- ^ Selsky, Andrew O. (May 4, 2007). "Link found to bombing". Associated Press.
- ^ a b c d LeoGrande, William M.; Kornbluh, Peter (2014). Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations Between Washington and Havana. UNC Press Books. pp. 153–54. ISBN 9781469617633. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
- ^ "Organizations Demand Cuban Militant's Arrest". Local10. April 21, 2005. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
- ^ "US tiptoes between terror, Castro's policies". The Christian Science Monitor. May 20, 2005. Archived from the original on July 28, 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2007.
- ^ a b Williams, Carol J. (April 20, 2007). "U.S. criticized as Cuban exile is freed". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 27, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
- ^ a b c d Kessler, Glenn (August 27, 2004). "U.S. Denies Role in Cuban Exiles' Pardon: Panama Frees 4 Convicted in Plot To Kill Castro". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Cuba anger at US Posada Carriles verdict". BBC. April 9, 2011. Archived from the original on November 2, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
- ^ a b No deportation for Cuban militant Archived July 11, 2012(Timestamp length), at archive.today, BBC, September 28, 2005.
- ^ "A terrorist walks". Los Angeles Times. April 20, 2007. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Peter Kornbluh, "Former CIA Asset Luis Posada Goes to Trial" Archived August 26, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, The Nation, January 5, 2011.
- ^ a b Bardach 2002, p. 136.
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20180902084136/http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/1957/DLM-1-4-1957-18.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 2, 2018.
{{cite web}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ a b Bardach 2002, p. 179.
- ^ a b c d e f Bardach 2002, pp. 180–183.
- ^ Bardach 2002, pp. 180–182.
- ^ a b c d CIA declassified report on Luis Posada (PDF) Archived December 15, 2006, at the Wayback Machine; retrieved April 25, 2011.
- ^ Bardach 2002, pp. 180–185.
- ^ Bardach 2002, p. 182.
- ^ Bardach 2002, p. 181.
- ^ Bardach 2002, p. 184.
- ^ a b c d e Bardach 2002, pp. 184–186.
- ^ a b "Anti-Castro Extremists Tolerated, if Not Encouraged, by Some Latin American Nations". The New York Times. November 15, 1976. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
- ^ Bardach 2002, p. 185.
- ^ Peter Dale Scott; Jonathan Marshall (April 10, 1998). Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America, Updated Edition. University of California Press. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-520-21449-1. Archived from the original on August 19, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
- ^ a b Bardach 2002, pp. 188–191.
- ^ "Declassified FBI report on bombing of Cubana Flight 455" (PDF). National Security Archive. November 5, 1976. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
- ^ Phillips, Dion E. (1991). "Terrorism and security in the Caribbean: The 1976 Cubana disaster off Barbados". Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. 14 (4).
- ^ Bardach 2002, p. 187.
- ^ a b c d Bardach, Ann Louise (July 12, 1998). "A Bomber's Tale: Taking Aim At Castro". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 13, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
- ^ "Luis Posada Carriles The Declassified Record". National Security Archive. Archived from the original on March 3, 2015. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
- ^ a b Torres, Nora Gamez; Chardy, Alphonso (June 4, 2015). "Declassified document says Posada Carriles likely planned 1976 bombing of Cuban plane". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on May 24, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
- ^ Bardach 2002, pp. 189.
- ^ "Profile: Cuban 'plane bomber". BBC. May 9, 2007. Archived from the original on December 12, 2006. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
- ^ Bardach 2002, p. 190.
- ^ Bardach 2002, p. 190-192.
- ^ a b c Bardach 2002, pp. 191–195.
- ^ a b "Arrest of Cuban ex-CIA figure puts Bush in tough political spot". San Francisco Chronicle. May 18, 2005. Archived from the original on September 20, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Cuba denounces acquittal of former CIA agent Luis Posada as a farce". The Guardian. April 10, 2011. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
- ^ Bardach 2002, pp. 193–196.
- ^ Bardach 2002, pp. 193–198.
- ^ Bardach 2002, pp. 193–197.
- ^ Bardach 2002, pp. 195–197.
- ^ a b c Bardach 2002, pp. 197–201.
- ^ Bardach 2002, pp. 202–206.
- ^ a b c d Bardach 2002, pp. 208–211.
- ^ Editorial, Reuters (December 3, 2010). "Cuba commutes bomber's death sentence to 30 years". Reuters. Archived from the original on May 24, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
{{cite news}}
:|first=
has generic name (help) - ^ a b Williams, Carol J.; Dahlburg, John-Thor (May 6, 2005). "Venezuela Seeks Exile's Extradition". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
- ^ Bardach 2002, pp. 208–210.
- ^ "The U.S. and Cuban Exile Violence". Human Rights Watch. 1999. Archived from the original on May 1, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
- ^ Bardach 2002, pp. 206=210.
- ^ CNN & Reuters (September 4, 1997). "Explosions hit 3 hotels in Havana, killing 1". CNN.
{{cite news}}
:|author=
has generic name (help) - ^ Cuba Interior Minister (September 11, 1997). "Official statement about terrorist arrest". Prensa Latina.
- ^ Pascal Fletcher (September 16, 1997). "Accused bomber makes calm TV confession in Cuba". Reuters.
- ^ Wilfredo Cancio Isla (June 25, 2006). "Former CANF Board member admits to planning terrorist attack against Cuba". El Nuevo Herald. Archived from the original on May 26, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
- ^ CANF President Francisco Hernandez (August 13, 1997). "CANF Statement". El Nuevo Herald.
- ^ a b c Bardach 2002, pp. 210–223.
- ^ a b Bardach 2002, pp. 220–223.
- ^ a b Venezuela envoy to leave Panama Archived September 20, 2012(Timestamp length), at archive.today, BBC News, August 28, 2004.
- ^ Mojitos in Miami Archived May 10, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, May 18, 2005.
- ^ a b c d Saloman, Gisela (May 23, 2018). "Militant Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles has died". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 23, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
- ^ a b Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles to stand trial in U.S., Los Angeles Times, August 15, 2008.
- ^ President Hugo Chavez Delivers Remarks at the U.N. General Assembly Archived August 27, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, The Washington Post, September 20, 2006.
- ^ a b United Nations Security Council Verbatim Report 6015. S/PV/6015 page 30. Ms. Willson United States November 12, 2008.
- ^ "Through diplomatic notes and official conversations between and among Venezuelan diplomats, representatives of the Venezuelan embassy in the United States, and representatives of the State Department, Venezuela has given full assurances that if the United States complied with the extradition process, Posada Carriles will be subject to the rule of law, with full respect for due process, for his human rights. ... If any terrorist practices or tortures have been proven, it is those that have been committed by the United States of America, for example in Abu Ghraib and in Guantánamo, where the Government of the United States has refused access, on many occasions, to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and both the American and the global press ... Carilles ... was on the CIA payroll. That is possibly one additional reason that has led the United States Government to protect Posada Carilles: the possible confessions that that criminal could make about his CIA past ..." United Nations Security Council Verbatim Report 6015. S/PV/6015 page 33. Mr Valero Briceňo Venezuela November 12, 2008.
- ^ "Judge throws out charges against anti-Castro militant" Archived May 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, CNN, May 8, 2007.
- ^ Chardy, Alfonso (April 9, 2009). "U.S. indicts Cuban exile Luis Posada, links him to bombings". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on April 17, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e Chuck Strouse, Cuban killer Luis Posada Carriles goes on Trial Archived October 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Miami New Times, February 25, 2010.
- ^ Rory Carroll (April 10, 2011). "Cuba denounces acquittal of former CIA agent Luis Posada as a farce". the Guardian. Archived from the original on December 10, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
- ^ Bardach 2002, p. 180.
- ^ Bardach 2002, p. 183.
- ^ Bardach 2002, p. 221.
- ^ Penton, Mario J (November 26, 2016). "Posada Carriles lamenta que la muerte de Fidel llegara tan tarde". El Nuevo Herald (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 25, 2017. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
- ^ Gamez Torres, Nora (May 23, 2018). "Anti-Castro militant Posada Carriles is dead at 90". Archived from the original on May 24, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
- ^ "Luis Posada Carriles: Cuba anti-communist activist dies". BBC. May 23, 2018. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
Sources
[edit]- Bardach, Ann Louise (2002). Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana. Random House. ISBN 978-0-375-50489-1.
Further reading
[edit]- Dateline Havana: The Real Story of US Policy and the Future of Cuba by Reese Erlich, 2008, Polipoint Press, ISBN 0-9815769-7-4
External links
[edit]- Luis Posada Carriles: The Declassified Record. Declassified CIA and FBI Documents on The National Security Archive
- Documents linked to Cuban exile Luis Posada highlighted targets for terrorism. Declassified CIA and FBI Documents on The National Security Archive
- Bombing of Cuban Jetliner 30 Years Later. Declassified CIA and FBI Documents on The National Security Archive
- Cuba Seeks U.S. Arrest of Castro Foe by Michele Kelemen, NPR, May 7, 2005
- Who is Luis Posada Carriles? by Jose Pertierra, Political Affairs, April 15, 2006
- Luis Posada Carriles photo and article archive by the Latin American Studies Organization
- Our Man's in Miami: Patriot or Terrorist? by Ann Louise Bardach, The Washington Post, April 17, 2005
- Cuban Exile Could Test U.S. Definition of Terrorist by Tim Weiner, The New York Times, May 9, 2005
- Why Luis Posada Carriles, an Admitted Cuban Exile Terrorist, Should Face Justice in Venezuela Archived April 17, 2020, at the Wayback Machine by the Council on Hemispheric Affairs
- Why the U.S. Refuses to Prosecute Luis Posada Carriles for Cubana Airlines Flight 455 – video report by Democracy Now!
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