Luis Posada Carriles a Known Terrorist to be set free

By Mary MacElveen

September 12, 2006

As with any piece that angers me, I have to walk away for a bit, process it, and then write of it. In this case, I cannot especially the day after the fifth anniversary of terrorist attacks that befell this nation. Bush is seen as our defender against said terrorists. I would like to ask him then why is a US judge releasing a terrorist from jail?

For close to a year now, I have been the voice of 73 innocent victims of terrorism as they lost their lives on October 6, 1976 and have been awaiting justice for close to thirty years now. They were blown out of the sky by Luis Posada Carriles as he took down Cubana Flight 455. In a May Day call by the pilot of Cubana Flight 455, here is what he said, “We have an explosion aboard, we are descending immediately! ... We have fire on board! We are requesting immediate landing! We have a total emergency!"... just before all on board perished.” Imagine my outrage as I read today US Judge: Cuban jetliner bombing suspect should be freed.

This is what is being reported of why Judge Norbert Garney stated of why he should be released, “Posada Carriles should be released because no country can be found to accept him, other than Cuba and Venezuela, both of which want to try him for a series of bombings.” That is the lamest argument of why any terrorist should go free. If Bush is serious about fighting this alleged war on ‘terra’ then it is up to him to step up to the plate and be big enough to send this monster back to Venezuela to face justice. He (Carriles) escaped a Venezuelan prison before he was sentenced for taking down Cubana Flight 455. Under Venezuelan law and as I have written in many columns for VHeadline.com, one cannot be sentenced in absentia.

The reason why our justice system will not send him back to Venezuela is that we fear he may be tortured. I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around that one especially given our past acts of torture at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

In my opinion since I have written of this terrorist on so many occasions is that we are protecting our own. You see, Posada Carriles has known ties to our C.I.A.

This is what I have written is several past pieces for VHeadline.com, “"When Posada Carriles escaped from Venezuela in 1985, he fled to El Salvador and worked under the alias Ramon Medina on the illegal contra resupply program run by Lt. Col. Oliver North in the Reagan National Security Council.

So, even back during the Reagan administration we had a terrorist working for us.

In that same article I also reported that "Washington D.C. May 10, 2005 — Declassified CIA and FBI records posted today on the Web by the National Security Archive at George Washington University identify Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles, who is apparently in Florida seeking asylum, as a former CIA agent."

Peter Kornbluh, at the Archive’s Cuba Documentation Project, said there is "no doubt that Posada has been one of the world’s most unremitting purveyors of terrorist violence" For a judge within the United States to release Carriles goes way beyond comprehension. In fact, I believe it to be criminal and Judge Norbert Garney is the true appeaser of terrorism.

Even in the original article that sparked my outrage, this is what they reported, “Recently declassified US documents show that Posada Carriles had worked for the CIA at least from 1965 until June 1976, and he reportedly helped the US government ferry supplies to so-called Contra rebels, who waged a bloody campaign to topple the socialist Sandinistas in Nicaragua.”

Do you see now how we are protecting one of our own yet? We the United States helped train yet again one of the world’s deadliest terrorists and yet he goes unpunished? Oh and no, this did not happen under the Clinton administration. This is another fact that Disney and ABC are refusing to enlighten us all on.

As the names of those lost on September 11th, 2001 were read yesterday, I will leave you all with the names of those that died on Cubana Flight 455 on October 6, 1976. Don’t they deserve justice as well?

The passenger list of Cubana Flight 455 The list of the 73 victims of the terrorist attack:

Cuban citizens
• Ernesto Machín Guzmán, 40, flight engineer
• Ignacio Martínez Gandía, 25, sabre trainer for the national fencing team
• Miriam Remedios de la Peña, 24, stewardess, international flights
• Enrique Figueredo del Valle, 19, national fencing team competitor
• José Pestana González, 41, Cubana de Aviación department head
• Tomás Joaquín González Quintana, 41, supervisor with the Cubana de Aviación network’s General Control division
• Guillermo Valencia Guinot, 53, international flight attendant
• José A. Fernández Garzón, 19, junior fencing team competitor
• Valentín Ladrón de Guevara, 39, member of Cubana de Aviación’s technical staff
• Ramón Infante García, 27, national fencing team competitor
• Julia Rosa Torres Álvarez, 46, wife of the manager of Cubana de Aviación’s Barbados office
• Carlos M. Leyva González, 19, junior fencing team competitor
• María Elena Rodríguez del Rey Bocalandro, 28, stewardess, international fights
• Lázaro Serrano Mérida, 32, international flight attendant
• Luis A. Morales Viego, 45, fencing Technical Committee member
• Ramón J. Fernandiz Lefebre, 39, senior flight attendant with Cubana de Aviación
• Martí Suárez Sánchez, 30, international air-traffic supervisor
• Demetrio Alfonso González, 44, National Commissioner for Shooting
• Cándido Muñoz Hernández, 20, national fencing team competitor
• Julio Herrera Aldama, 25, national fencing team competitor
• José A. Arencibia Arredondo, 23, national fencing team competitor
• Orlando López Fuentes, 34, national épée team trainer
• Jesús Méndez Silva, 30, national foil team competitor
• Domingo Chacón Coello, 21, field agent with the Home Affairs Ministry
• Jesús Rojo Quintana, 33, Cubana de Aviación official
• Santiago E. Hayes Pérez, 30, national foil team trainer
• Ermilio Castillo Castillo, 33, Cubana de Aviación route inspector
• Inés Luaces Sánchez, 21, national foil team competitor
• Lázaro Otero Madruga, 34, Cubana de Aviación route inspector
• Jesús Gil Pérez, national fencing team armourer
• Nelson Fernández Machado, 22, national fencing team competitor
• Juan Duany González, 18, national sabre team competitor
• Wilfredo Pérez Pérez, 36, pilot. National Worker-Hero.
• Angel Tomás Rodríguez, 36, Technical Training Manager, Cubana de Aviación.
• Miguel Espinosa Cabrera, 47, DC-8 co-pilot.
• Magaly Grave de Peralta Ferrer, 33, stewardess, international flights.
• Moraima González Prieto, 21, stewardess, international flights.
• Marlene González Arias, 23, stewardess, international flights.
• Carlos Cremata Trujillo, 41, Cubana de Aviación flight dispatcher.
• Armando Ramos Pagán, 38, Cubana de Aviación pilot.
• Argelio Reyes Aguilar, Manager of the Caribbean shrimping fleet.
• Leonardo Mackenzie Grant, 22, national foil team competitor.
• Carlos T. Coquero Perdomo, 43, air-safety inspector.
• Roberto G. Palacios Torres, 27, Cubana de Aviación navigator.
• Armando E. Armengol Alonso, 58, Cubana de Aviación pilot.
• Virgen M. Felizola García, 17, national foil team competitor.
• Manuel Permuy Hernández, 40, Party Leader, INDER.
• Ricardo Cabrera Fuentes, 23, national sabre team competitor.
• Sonia Coto Rodríguez, 33, Caribbean shrimping fleet worker.
• Alberto Mario Abréu Gil, 38, Supply Manager of the Caribbean shrimping fleet.
• Alberto Drake Crespo, 18, national sabre team competitor.
• Silvia Marta Pereira Jorge, 28, stewardess, international flights.
• Nancy Uranga Romagosa, 22, national fencing team competitor.
• Jorge de la Nuez Suárez, Party Secretary, Caribbean shrimping fleet
• Eusebio Sánchez Domínguez, 25, international flight attendant.
• Manuel A. Rodríguez Font, Cubana de Aviación official in Barbados.
• Milagros Peláez González, 21, national fencing team competitor.

Korean citizens murdered
• Kim To Yun, 42, Director of the Foreign Cultural Relations Committee.
• Juang Ne Ik, 50, Vice Chairman of the Foreign Cultural Relations Committee.
• Pak Je Chin, 40, Specialist on the Foreign Cultural Relations Committee.
• Ki Bong, 30, Official of the Foreign Cultural Relations Committee.
• Jan Sang Kyu, 41, cameraman.

Guyanese citizens murdered
• Eric Norton, 18, student.
• Ann Nelson, 18, student.
• Seshnarine Kumar, 18, student.
• Jacqueline Willians, 19, student.
• Rawle Thomas, 18, student.
• Raymond Persaud, 19, student.
• Margaret Bradshaw, 22, wife of Guyanese diplomat in Havana.
• Gordon Sobha.
• Harry Paul
• Violet Thomas
• Rita Thomas
(The girl Harry Paul, Mrs. Violet Thomas and Mrs. Rita Thomas were members of the same family)

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