A made in USA terrorist: Luis Posada Carriles

May 19, 2005 - For over a century, our government has made sure that we are never to be told the truth about anything that we have done to other people in Third World countries, especially in Latin America.

With the creation of the School of the Americas, a breeding ground for assassins, and the death squads, we became the greatest human rights violators in the world.

We have become the most hated country in the world, not because we practice democracy or value our freedom. We are hated because our government denies these basic principles to these people. The hate has come back to haunt us in the form of terrorism, and, as they say, "the chickens have come home to roost with our own American-made terrorist, Luis Posada Carriles.

When I was posted in Central America, as a DEA agent, I saw Luis Posada and Felix Rodriguez, another American-made terrorist, at Illopango airport base in El Salvador. Joining them was a CIA asset, Venezuelan advisor Victor Rivera. They had become part of what was known as a CIA apparatus that did not have to answer to anyone. They were involved in drug trafficking, kidnapping, and the training of the death squads.

It was also at the height of the Iran-Contra investigation when I had documented these atrocities to my government. I could not understand how our government had assisted in having Posada escape from a Venezuelan prison, and then placing him at Illopango airport as a CIA asset, under the new name of Ramon Medina. He was now working hand in hand with then U. S. Lt. Col. Oliver North.

When I questioned Posada’s presence at Illopango, I was told that it was a covert operation being run by the White House. I started to learn real fast that just about every time I questioned illegal events, I was told that it was "a covert operation being run by the White House." And as we found out later, my allegations became facts, especially with President Bush Sr. in 1990 pardoning another American-made terrorist and partner in crime with Posada, Orlando Bosch.

Now you have a clear observation of why we had 9/11 and possibly more to come. We have exported death and violence to the four corners of the Earth with individuals like Posada and Bosch.

Posada admitted to a New York Times reporter, that he organized a wave of bombings in Cuba in 1997 that killed an Italian tourist and injured others. However, he is best know as the prime suspect in the bombing of a Cuban Airlines flight in Barbados in October 1976. All 73 crewmembers and passengers, including teenaged members of Cuba’s national fencing team, were killed.

In 2002, he was convicted of conspiracy to assassinate Fidel Castro in Panama. Once again, an ally of the United States, outgoing Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso pardoned him.

Our credibility has been eroded these past few weeks since Posada’s arrival on U. S. soil, with a bogus American passport. According to Posada’s attorney, he filed for an asylum. This should be a free pass for any other immigrant that is applying for asylum. If an American-made terrorist can get asylum, then it should be easy for an immigrant who is honest and hard working individual to get asylum.

The FBI and the CIA recently released their top secret memos, of course they are now declassified, on Posada’s involvement with terrorist acts.

Other American-made terrorists are Mario Alarcon-Sandoval godfather of the death squads in Central America, Felix Rodriguez, and a Cuban exile who murdered Che Guevara, Major Roberto D’Aubuisson who led the death squads in El Salvador. They all had America’s blessing to carry out assassinations. This will affirm that the U. S. government considers itself to be the vehicle of higher morality and truth and, yet, continues to operate in violation of law.

Even though I’m known as a tranquil individual at this stage of my life, I have nothing but contempt and anger for a country that has a double standard on terrorism. Where is the Border Patrol, Immigration, or Homeland Security when you need them?

Posada entered this country illegally, and most devastatingly, has admitted to bombings that killed civilians. The FBI claimed they didn’t have an arrest warrant for him, which is why they were not looking for him.

Wait. Just off the wire . . . Homeland Security has picked up Posada. Will he be extradited to Venezuela? I don’t think so. He will probably be given a couple of million dollars, and will live on a secluded island for the remainder of his golden years. What a reward for being an assassin for the United States government.

This world has become a very dangerous place, not just because of the evil people that control it, but also because of the individuals who do absolutely nothing to make it a better place.

For years, I have said that this country has become the worst human rights violator, and Posada and his Cuban criminals are proof that we are who we are. Let’s not forget our human rights violations in Iraq, and just recently in Colombia, the assassination of San Jose de Apartado peace community leader Luis Eduardo Guerra.

I’ve witnessed, time and time again, as an American diplomat in Latin America, the atrocities that our government has committed. My biggest enemy was not the drug cartels but the CIA and the criminals they hired.

Celerino "Cele" Castillo III is a former DEA agent and the author of Powderburns.

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/051905Castillo/051905castillo.html