Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Luis Posada Carriles Hearing Update

Protestors outside Luis Posada Carriles asylum hearing. In the background are pictures of the 73 persons who died aboard the Cuban airliner downed in 1976 by
explosives allegedly provided by terrorist Carriles.

The deportation hearing for Cuban terrorist Luis Posada Carriles continued Tuesday in El Paso. Seems Carriles denies allegations of his terrorist activities, has forgotten pertinent facts, or attributes things he admitted involvement in as misquotes by the press due to his poor command of English.

"Because of my language difficulties, there has been confusion in my interviews," Posada said in Spanish through a translator.

But writer Ann Louise Bardach, who interviewed Carriles in 1998 for a NY Times article in which he admitted involvement in a series of bombings of hotels and restaurants in Cuba that killed at least one Italian tourist, said Carriles' English was very good, including slang. (Carriles had also worked as a translator for the U.S. Army in his youth.)

Carriles also swore in his petition for asylum he had never used other names or aliases. Sadly, five passports in the names of Franco Rodriguez Mena, Jose Rivas Lopez, Bambi Lugo, Solo Medina and Ramon Medina belong to Carriles.

Carriles was the alleged supplier of the explosives that detonated aboard a Cuban airliner in 1976 which killed all 73 persons on board.

If his asylum request is denied, Carriles could be deported to Venezuela where he is a citizen and fugitive. Venezuela would like very much for him to come home.

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