The Osama Bin Laden of Latin America Luis Posada and US Hypocrisy in War on T

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" The Osama Bin Laden of Latin America " Luis Posada and US

Hypocrisy in War on Terror

 

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http://www.counterpunch.org/wilpert09302005.html

 

 

September 30, 2005

" The Osama Bin Laden of Latin America "

Luis Posada and US Hypocrisy in War on Terror

 

By GREGORY WILPERT

 

Caracas, Venezuela.

 

Venezuela's Ambassador to the U.S., Bernardo Alvarez, called Luis

Posada Carriles, the anti-Castro militant who is wanted for 73 counts

of murder in Venezuela, " the Osama Bin Laden of Latin America. " He

also said that the Bush administration is exercising " a cynical

double-standard " and is " fighting an 'a la carte' war on terror, "

because of its refusal to act on the Venezuelan request for the

extradition of Luis Posada Carriles.

 

Alvarez made the comments during a press conference today, in which he

laid out in detail why Venezuela believes that the Bush administration

is being hypocritical in its war on terror. " Rather than to respect

the extradition treaties [the U.S.] has signed over the years, the

United States chose to treat Posada Carriles' case as a mere

immigration matter and charged him only with illegal entry into the

country, " said Alvarez.

 

On Monday, a Texas judge ruled that Luis Posada Carriles, a Venezuelan

citizen, could not be deported to Venezuela, despite having violated

U.S. immigration law when he entered the U.S. this past March. The

U.S. Department of Homeland Security decided to try Posada on the

charge of illegal entry into the U.S. rather than to process a

Venezuelan request for his extradition.

 

Luis Posada Carriles is wanted in Venezuela for the 1976 bombing of a

Cuban airliner and murder of all 73 passengers en route from Venezuela

to Cuba. Venezuelan authorities filed a preliminary detention and

extradition request with the U.S. government in May of this year.

Alvarez explained that Posada is one of Latin America's most ruthless

criminals, who has been involved in the assassination of the Chilean

foreign minister Orlando Letelier, with terrorist activity in

Nicaragua, El Salvador, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela.

 

Alvarez said the U.S. Department of Justice tabled Venezuela's

extradition request and has yet to act on it. " The United States

presents itself as a leader against terrorism, invades countries,

restricts the civil rights of Americans in order to fight terrorism,

but when it is about its own terrorists, it denies that they be

tried, " said Alvarez.

 

Venezuela's attorney on the case, José Pertierra, added that the U.S.

is obliged to extradite Posada not only as a consequence of its

extradition treaty with the U.S., but also under the Convention on

Safety in Civil Aviation, because Posada is accused of bombing an

airliner. " It would be very dangerous if the United States does not

comply with the Convention on Safety in Civil Aviation. This treaty

should be sacrosanct, especially after September 11th, 2001, " said

Pertierra.

 

The Judge who decided that Posada could not be deported to the U.S.

based his decision on the possibility that Posada might be tortured in

Venezuela and, according to the Convention Against Torture, the U.S.

may not extradite prisoners to such countries.

 

In response to this, Alvarez said, " There isn't a shred of evidence

that Posada would be tortured in Venezuela. " He added that Venezuela's

foreign minister had said that Venezuela would provide Posada with a

" gold cage and feed him caviar every day, " if this would assure his

extradition to Venezuela.

 

Alvarez explained that the evidence that Posada might face torture in

Venezuela was based solely on testimony from an old friend of

Posada's, who is no expert and did not have to face any

cross-examination in court. Rather, " if we examine our respective

records on torture, a prisoner is more likely to be tortured in the

custody of the U.S. government than in the custody of Venezuelan

officials, " concluded Alvarez, mentioning reports of torture at the

U.S. prison facility in Guantanamo Bay.

 

Venezuela's Vice-President, José Vicente Rangel, also weighed-in on

the matter, saying, " I believe that when they refer to the existence

of torture in Cuba they must be referring to their base in Guantanamo

and the torture that North American troops apply in Iraq's prison.

Here in Venezuela there is no torture. "

 

For more information, please visit us at http://www.handsoffvenezuela.org.

 

Gregory Wilpert writes for Venezuela Analysis.