ENCACA

We mentioned ENCASA’s latest efforts to kowtow to the Cuban governments wishes on last nights radio show. There is an unyielding and prolific propaganda campaign in Cuba right now calling for the extradition of Posada-Carriles and ENCASA – apparently having no concern for the multitudes of lives taken by fidel castro and his regime – are echoing the Cuban government’s machinations.

Below the fold you’ll find proof that ENCASA is nothing more and nothing less than a mouthpiece for the Cuban government in exile, in their own words.

April 24, 2007

Background: Fact sheet on the Posada Carriles case

Dear ENCASA members:

The Steering Committee proposes to make a statement for ENCASA on the urgent issue of Posada Carriles. A draft of the statement is attached. It calls for Posada to be extradited to Venezuela or to be tried here in the US for the serious crimes of which he is accused, in particular the 1976 explosion in mid-air of a civilian airliner resulting in the death of 73 people.

The basis for taking that position is that, under international treaties applicable to the US as a signer, the US must respond to an extradition petition by extraditing the accused, or, if it determines not to do so, try him here when the crimes charged in the other country are also crimes under US law. That is clearly the case in this instance. Further, the accusations are supported by abundant evidence, some of it from declassified documents of the CIA and FBI.

Here are some facts:

— Posada has been connected to the explosion of the plane by CIA cables and the confessions of his two accomplices. He faces an outstanding arrest warrant for 73 counts of murder in Venezuela.

— The FBI linked him with a plot to overthrow the government of Guatemala. The CIA connected him with an attempt to attack a Soviet freighter in Mexico. He has been connected with a variety of terrorist actions over the years involving mainly his specialty, explosives.

— He has bragged of having sponsored the bombings in Cuban tourist locales, as a result of which an Italian man was killed and others wounded. He contracted Salvadoran hitmen to carry the explosives into Cuba for him, and they have testified to that effect.

— He was personally involved in the attempted assassination of Fidel Castro in Panama when the latter was scheduled to speak at the National University. Posada planned to blow up an auditorium full of people. Panamanian police were tipped off, and he eventually ended up in prison on reduced charges of carrying explosives. He was pardoned by ex-president Mireya Moscoso at the very end of her term, after which she retired to live the good life in Miami. She had been approached publicly by Miami Congresspeople to pardon the gang. Shortly before, Colin Powell, then Sec. of State, had flown to Panama to meet with her. All of the Cubans in Posada’s group were pardoned; one Panamanian was not and was left in prison.

— The Cubans except Posada went from Panama directly to Miami, where they were welcomed as heroes. Posada at first disappeared from view, hiding in Honduras, but eventually showed up in Miami. After weeks during which his presence there was an open secret, while the US government, with it many sources in Miami, denied any knowledge of it, he pressed the issue by holding a press conference. He was then detained and charged with illegal entry.

— Posada had traveled to the tip of Yucatan and, at Isla Mujeres, met associates from Miami who were sailing under the guise of a marine educational foundation. As was documented by the Mexican newspaper ¡Por Esto!, they then sailed directly to Miami. At an immigration interview, Posada declared that he had sailed west across the Gulf to the north of Mexico, and had entered the US through Texas and taken a bus to Miami. The US defended that explanation until much later when it became impossible to do so.

— Posada asked for citizenship, but his record did not support the petition. At a deportation hearing, an immigration judge decided that Posada could not be deported to Venezuela because he could be tortured there. That conclusion was based solely on assurances given the judge by an “expert witness,” who turned out to be Posada’s former supervisor at Venezuelan intelligence, his business partner, and his associate in undercover operations. The government attorney made no challenge to the “expert” designation and rolled over. A few other countries consulted declined to take him. Thus, while deportable, Posada had no place to which the US could deport him. Under the law, as was established with the cases of the Cuban balseros, he would eventually have to be freed.

— As his case gained notoriety, the US was forced to do something to justify its not even responding to the Venezuelan request for extradition. The US charged Posada with lying to immigration officials. That case is still to be heard. In the meantime, the judge said, because he could not be deported, he would be set free unless the government classified him as a terrorist or other dangerous category such that he had to remain in jail. The US did not do that. Instead, at the end of a time period set by the judge, it transferred Posada from immigration jail to the Justice Department and federal prison, thus avoiding setting him free, but also not extraditing him, not trying him for the crimes of which he is accused, and not calling him a terrorist.

— On April 19, 2007, Posada was released on bond prior to trial.

If he goes to trial, now set for May 11, it is highly possible that he will be given a minor sentence for the immigration violations, and subsequently set free.

While the Posada case has become an internationally-reported matter, the State Department has been in negotiations with other countries about him, and close associates of his have met with US officials–including the President–about his case, the Administration continues to act as if all actions in his case were taking place through standard proceedings without political intervention, in spite of an obvious steering of the case from the highest levels.

Editorials at leading newspapers have called for the extradition of Posada, as has the chief of the OAS and other international authorities. At present, a petition led by world-renowned writers and personalities in all fields, which as of this writing had accumulated almost 1900 signatures, calls on the US to try Posada for his crimes.

We believe that ENCASA must take a public stand in support of extradition or trial, for the reasons in the draft statement. Please let us know whether you have any doubts or concerns as to the statement. We also will be glad to know that you support it.