What the USA should do about Posada Carriles
By Aleksander Boyd
London 12.05.05 | "Fidel Castro asserted terrorist should be judged in Venezuela" goes one headline from one of those impartial and objective Cuban propaganda sources; another one reads "New York Times Urges US Government to Deny Asylum to Terrorist Posada Carriles"... The majority of the 186 Posada Carriles-related articles, indexed by Google News, originate from Cuban or Venezuelan funded sources. Fidel Castro's and his toyboy's 'assertions and demands' aside -as if words uttered by them had any relevance or weight- the US administration is faced with a dilemma; that of returning a long time collaborator to Venezuela in the know that revolutionary justice awaits him or withstand forever accusations of double standards in treating terrorists. Bush should be best advised and act decisively in order to come out unscathed from this issue for the point is not much the aggravation of 'accusations' coming from terrorist supporters but rather the affirmation of his own image with respect to his stance on terrorism.
The pretense that Posada Carriles' case will be handled in strict observance of the law in Venezuela is simply ludicrous, for as readers know, Cuba and Venezuela signed a seudo legal agreement which permits agents of the Cuban dictator to effectively arrest, incarcerate and issue legal proceedings in Venezuela against Cuban and Venezuelan citizens. Posada Carriles, who has been dubbed as an enemy of Cuba -read "an enemy of Fidel Castro"- stands no chance of a fair trial whatsoever in Venezuela, much less in Cuba.
From my perspective the solution is quite simple: arrest Posada Carriles, take him to face justice for the alleged commited crimes and, if found guilty, throw him in jail. This has to be done in US soil under US' legislation. Should Venezuela's extradition requests to the US be granted Posada Carriles will most probably join Silvino Bustillos, in that one-man party where he was last seen, according to information provided once upon a time by Andres Izarra, Venezuela's Information Minister.
Such action will prove unequivocally the commitment that Bush has to fight terrorism -in both national and international fronts- however it needs to be done legally, so that supporters of terrorism, such as Castro's and Chavez's sycophants realize that no leniency is to be expected by running to the USA to claim asylum when things go south. The killing of 73 people can not and should not go unpunished.
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