Venezuela Slams US in UN Terrorism Debate

[Joanne98]

March 20th 2008, by Kiraz Janicke - Venezuelanalysis.com
Caracas, March 20, 2008 (venezuelanalysis.com) - Venezuela's Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Aura Rodriguez de Ortiz, slammed the U.S. government's "double standard" on combating terrorism during a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, for its failure to prosecute former CIA operative and international terrorist, Luis Posada Carriles. The criticism comes amidst U.S. President George W. Bush's renewed accusations that Venezuela has ties to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which Washington classifies as a "terrorist" organization.

"The case of the terrorist Luis Posada Carriles is an example that shows and confirms the double standards of a government which says it fights against terrorism but endorses terrorist methods," Rodriguez de Ortiz said.

Posada, a Cuban-born Venezuelan citizen who has been described as the "Bin Laden of Latin America," is wanted in Venezuela on 73 counts of first-degree murder in connection to the bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1976. He was previously charged in connection with the bombing in Venezuela, but escaped from prison in 1985 before going to trial.

While he denies involvement in the Cuban airliner attack, Posada freely admitted his involvement in numerous other terrorist attacks in an interview with the New York Times, including a string of hotel bombings in Cuba, which killed an Italian tourist in 1997.

Posada is also wanted in Venezuela in relation to a series of abuses, including a massacre of 40 people, which occurred under his command as Chief of Operations of Venezuelan Intelligence, (the DISIP), in 1973.

Venezuelan authorities have requested Posada's extradition three times since 2005 when he entered the U.S. on a fake passport. However, rather than processing the extradition request, the Department of Homeland Security charged Posada for illegal entry into the country. In May last year a U.S Federal Judge dismissed all the charges and Posada now lives freely in Miami.

Rodriguez de Ortiz questioned why the Posada case was treated as a minor immigration crime, and suggested that the U.S wants to hide its own involvement in his crimes.
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/3291