Venezuela Foreign Minister Reiterates Extradition Request in Posada Carriles Case
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- 06 / 05 / 2008
Venezuela again asked the US Government on Tuesday to extradite international and self-confessed terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, who is wanted by Caracas for the 1976 mid-air bombing of a Cubana airliner that killed all 73 people on board.
According to Granma news daily, the petition was made by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro during a plenary session of the general assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) that is underway in Medellin, Colombia.
Maduro took the floor after Washington’s ambassador to the OAS said that his country condemns terrorism.
“That is why we formally ask, once again, that the fugitive, Luis Posada Carriles, be captured and extradited to Venezuela,” the Venezuelan official said.
On Wednesday, the Court of Appeals of New Orleans has scheduled a hearing on the migratory case against Posada Carriles in which both sides will present their arguments.
Attorney Jose Pertierra, who represents Venezuela in its extradition request, said this hearing is a farce as the indictment against Posada on migratory charges was rejected on May 8, 2007.
He added that Posada is not being accused for his terrorist actions but only for lying to the US immigration service.
The jurist added that if they reject the charges he walks free and if they condemn him for lying to the US authorities he would also remain free, as the maximum penalty in this case is a year of imprisonment and he was already in prison for one and a half year.
He noted that Posada Carriles could also receive an official pardon from US President George W. Bush as former President George Bush Sr. did in the past with Cuban-born terrorist Orlando Bosch, who was also linked to the 1976 attack against the Cuban civil aircraft.
Pertierra stressed that Posada Carriles could also be accused for a 1997 bomb campaign against several hotels and restaurants in Havana that resulted in one Italian tourist dead and several others wounded – a crime that he confessed during an interview with The New York Times some years ago.
(www.cubanews.ain.cu)
According to Granma news daily, the petition was made by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro during a plenary session of the general assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) that is underway in Medellin, Colombia.
Maduro took the floor after Washington’s ambassador to the OAS said that his country condemns terrorism.
“That is why we formally ask, once again, that the fugitive, Luis Posada Carriles, be captured and extradited to Venezuela,” the Venezuelan official said.
On Wednesday, the Court of Appeals of New Orleans has scheduled a hearing on the migratory case against Posada Carriles in which both sides will present their arguments.
Attorney Jose Pertierra, who represents Venezuela in its extradition request, said this hearing is a farce as the indictment against Posada on migratory charges was rejected on May 8, 2007.
He added that Posada is not being accused for his terrorist actions but only for lying to the US immigration service.
The jurist added that if they reject the charges he walks free and if they condemn him for lying to the US authorities he would also remain free, as the maximum penalty in this case is a year of imprisonment and he was already in prison for one and a half year.
He noted that Posada Carriles could also receive an official pardon from US President George W. Bush as former President George Bush Sr. did in the past with Cuban-born terrorist Orlando Bosch, who was also linked to the 1976 attack against the Cuban civil aircraft.
Pertierra stressed that Posada Carriles could also be accused for a 1997 bomb campaign against several hotels and restaurants in Havana that resulted in one Italian tourist dead and several others wounded – a crime that he confessed during an interview with The New York Times some years ago.
(www.cubanews.ain.cu)
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