http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2005/06/10/venezuela_hands_evidence_against_cuban_exile_to_us/
Venezuela hands evidence against Cuban exile to US
June 10, 2005
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela on Friday supplied the United States with extradition evidence it says implicates a Cuban exile sought by Caracas in the blowing up a Cuban airliner nearly three decades ago.
In a case that has strained already tense ties, President Hugo Chavez's government is demanding the United States extradite Luis Posada Carriles, a naturalized Venezuelan and ex-CIA collaborator who escaped from a Venezuelan prison in 1985.
The Venezuelan Embassy in Washington said it delivered documents to the State Department that demonstrate "probable cause" to accuse Posada of masterminding the 1976 bombing of the Cuban airliner that killed 73 people.
It said the documents include testimony by an ex-employee of Posada, photographer Hernan Ricardo, in which he admits putting a bomb in a toilet of the Cuban plane after boarding in Caracas and disembarking in Barbados.
The airliner crashed off Barbados following an explosion.
Other testimony says that Ricardo, who served a prison term for the bombing with another former employee of Posada, phoned Posada in Caracas to report he had "carried out the operation with success," the embassy said.
The documents delivered relate "facts and circumstances that show the active participation of the fugitive Venezuelan citizen, Luis Clemente Posada Carriles, in the crime of qualified homicide for the terrorist attack against the Cubana plane," the embassy said in a statement.
Two weeks ago, Washington rejected Venezuela's request that Posada be arrested with a view to extradition, citing a lack of supporting evidence.
Posada, 77, was detained by U.S. immigration authorities in Miami last month and has denied any involvement in the bombing.
The Cuban-born anti-communist militant, who has dedicated his life to opposing Cuban President Fidel Castro, will go before a U.S. judge in El Paso, Texas, on Monday to face charges he entered the United States illegally.
Left-winger Chavez and his ally Castro accuse the U.S. government of protecting Posada because of his CIA background.
They say if he is not handed to Venezuela to face trial, this will reveal double standards in President Bush's war against terrorism.
Chavez has also warned that if Posada is not extradited, he will revise relations with the United States, oil-exporter Venezuela's biggest energy client.
Posada's lawyers have said he was acquitted by Venezuela's courts and that, by the local statute of limitations, the charge against him has expired.
The Venezuelan Embassy said that under the penal code, Posada's escape from jail while awaiting a prosecutor's appeal against the acquittal meant his case was still open.
June 10, 2005
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela on Friday supplied the United States with extradition evidence it says implicates a Cuban exile sought by Caracas in the blowing up a Cuban airliner nearly three decades ago.
In a case that has strained already tense ties, President Hugo Chavez's government is demanding the United States extradite Luis Posada Carriles, a naturalized Venezuelan and ex-CIA collaborator who escaped from a Venezuelan prison in 1985.
The Venezuelan Embassy in Washington said it delivered documents to the State Department that demonstrate "probable cause" to accuse Posada of masterminding the 1976 bombing of the Cuban airliner that killed 73 people.
It said the documents include testimony by an ex-employee of Posada, photographer Hernan Ricardo, in which he admits putting a bomb in a toilet of the Cuban plane after boarding in Caracas and disembarking in Barbados.
The airliner crashed off Barbados following an explosion.
Other testimony says that Ricardo, who served a prison term for the bombing with another former employee of Posada, phoned Posada in Caracas to report he had "carried out the operation with success," the embassy said.
The documents delivered relate "facts and circumstances that show the active participation of the fugitive Venezuelan citizen, Luis Clemente Posada Carriles, in the crime of qualified homicide for the terrorist attack against the Cubana plane," the embassy said in a statement.
Two weeks ago, Washington rejected Venezuela's request that Posada be arrested with a view to extradition, citing a lack of supporting evidence.
Posada, 77, was detained by U.S. immigration authorities in Miami last month and has denied any involvement in the bombing.
The Cuban-born anti-communist militant, who has dedicated his life to opposing Cuban President Fidel Castro, will go before a U.S. judge in El Paso, Texas, on Monday to face charges he entered the United States illegally.
Left-winger Chavez and his ally Castro accuse the U.S. government of protecting Posada because of his CIA background.
They say if he is not handed to Venezuela to face trial, this will reveal double standards in President Bush's war against terrorism.
Chavez has also warned that if Posada is not extradited, he will revise relations with the United States, oil-exporter Venezuela's biggest energy client.
Posada's lawyers have said he was acquitted by Venezuela's courts and that, by the local statute of limitations, the charge against him has expired.
The Venezuelan Embassy said that under the penal code, Posada's escape from jail while awaiting a prosecutor's appeal against the acquittal meant his case was still open.
posted by Steve Fake at 8:04 PM
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