Oil Wars

An update on the ongoing saga of the U.S. sheltered terrorist Luis Posada Carriles. According to a note published in Panorama no formal request for extradition has been made by the United States. Morover the U.S. claims it doesn’t know where he is:

"Estados Unidos insistió ayer en que desconoce el paradero del cubano anticastrista Luis Posada Carriles, acusado de cometer varios atentados terroristas, y aseguró que ningún gobierno le ha pedido su extradición.

“No sabemos dónde está”, dijo el portavoz del Departamento de Estado Tom Casey a la prensa, consultado sobre el asunto.

“Ciertamente Estados Unidos no tiene interés en permitir que nadie con pasado criminal entre a Estados Unidos", afirmó.

"Hasta la fecha, no hemos recibido ningún pedido de extradición de Luis Posada Carriles de Venezuela o de ningún otro gobierno", añadió.

La Cancillería venezolana afirmó el viernes pasado que pediría a Estados Unidos "en las próximas horas" la extradición de Posada Carriles."

Translation:

"The United States insisted yesterday that it doesn’t know the whereabouts of the anti-Castro Cuban Luis Posada Carriles, accused of commiting various terrorist acts, and said that no government has requested his extradition.

“We don’t know where he is”, said State Deparment Spokesman Tom Casey when asked about the case.

“Certainly the United States isn’t interested in permiting people with criminal backgrounds enter the United States”, he affirmed.

Up to now, we haven’t received a request for extradition for Luis Posada Carriles from Venezuela or any other government.

The Venezuelan Chancelor said last Friday that they would ask for Posada Carriles extradition in “the next few hours”."

Well it turns out at least part of what the US spokesperson said was true – Venezuela handn’t yet made a formal request for Posada’s extradition. Not that the U.S. should need one to move against a known terrorist. Here is what Panorama said in a later article:

“El Gobierno venezolano informó hoy que en las "próximas horas" pedirá a EEUU la extradición del anticastrista Luis Posada Carriles, acusado de participar en la voladura de un avión civil cubano en 1976 en la que murieron 73 personas.

"Sólo faltan algunos detalles de traducción y otros formalismos para oficializar el pedido de extradición de Posada", dijo el embajador de Venezuela en Washington, Bernardo Alvarez, en una entrevista con el canal estatal "Venezolana de Televisión".

El Tribunal Supremo de Justicia venezolano entregó la semana pasada la solicitud de extradición al Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Venezuela para que la tramitase ante el Gobierno estadounidense.

“El titular de ese despacho, Alí Rodríguez, explicó el viernes pasado que ya se emitió la orden internacional de captura de Posada Carriles, un requisito previo a la oficialización del pedido de extradición.

El embajador Alvarez expresó hoy su preocupación por el "silencio" de las autoridades estadounidenses sobre la presencia de Posada Carriles en ese país y aseguró que esa preocupación la comparten amplios sectores de la sociedad de EEUU.

Ayer, lunes, el vicepresidente de Venezuela, José Vicente Rangel, se quejó de la ambigüedad del Gobierno de EEUU a la hora de enfrentar el terrorismo.

"Así no podemos. O se lucha contra el terrorismo o se cae en la ambigüedad en que ha caído Estados Unidos con Posada y la agresión a países del mundo", expresó.”

Translation:

The Venezuelan government said today that in the next few hours it will ask the U.S. for the extradition of the Luis Posada Carriles who is accused of participating in the downing of a civilian Cuban airliner in 1976 in which 73 people died.

“There only remain some translations and other details to finalize the request for extradition of Posada” said the Venezuelan Ambassador to Washington, Benardo Alvarez, in an interview with Venezuelan state TV.

The Venezuelan Supreme Court last week gave a request for extradition to the Foreign Relations Ministry to forward it to the U.S. government.

The Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Ali Rodriguez, explained last Friday that they had released a international warrant for capture of Posada Carriles, a pre-requisite to making a formal request for extradition.

Ambassador Alvarez expressed today his concern over the silence of U.S. authorities regarding the presence of Posada Carriles in their country and said that concern was shared by many Americans as well.

Yesterday Venezuelan Vice-President, Jose Vicente Rangel complained about the mixed signals from the U.S. government when the time comes to confront terrorism.

“We cannot accept things like this. Either we fight against terrorism or we fall into the ambiguity that the U.S. has fallen into with Posada and with its agression against other countries.””

So again, Venezueal is making a very straight foward and simply request that a known terrorist be extradited. The U.S. is in no moral position do deny this request and to not make every effort to see this terrorist brought to justice. But I have to say I share the Venezuelan Ambassador's concern regarding the silence of the U.S. government on this matter. Further, it is very interesting to see how quiet are right wing bloggers are on this matter.
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