After a two-year battle with immigration authorities, Cuban exile militant Luis Posada Carriles arrived in Miami shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday after being released on $350,000 bond by a federal court in El Paso, Texas.Posada’s release is sure to unleash a firestorm in Venezuela and Cuba, where leaders accuse Posada of masterminding the bombing of a civilian jetliner that killed 73 people in 1976, among other alleged terrorist acts.
Gloria La Riva, coordinator of the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, said, “The release of Luis Posada Carriles is an absolute outrage, and George W. Bush is directly responsible. He is fully aware that Posada has murdered dozens of people, from the 1976 mid-air plane bombing which killed 73 people, to the torture and murder of Venezuelan citizens, to the bombing of Havana hotels in the late 90s which took the life of Fabio di Celmo. Bush has never uttered a word to denounce Posada’s presence in the United States.” La Riva added, “Posada Carriles’ associate Orlando Bosch was being monitored by the Cuban Five to prevent further acts of terrorism. It is Posada and Bosch who should be in prison, not the Cuban Five.”
“On May 11, when his trial on the ridiculously minimal charge of immigration fraud takes place, many organizations and churches will hold a national demonstration in front of the courtroom in El Paso. We call on people in cities across the country and around the world to protest on that day, and demand that justice be done.”
Brian Becker, national director of the ANSWER Coalition, said, “The people of the United States are being subjected to an Alice in Wonderland world; everything is turned upside-down. Bush refuses to characterize Posada as a terrorist and he walks the streets free, while the Cuban Five who fought terrorism, languish in U.S. prisons. We are demanding that Luis Posada Carriles be extradited to Venezuela to stand trial for his monstrous crimes.”
On May 11 there will be protests worldwide when Posada faces trial.