America's protects international terrorists

On April 13, 2005, Posada requested political asylum in the United States through his attorney. He had snuck into the country across the Mexican border. On May 3, the Venezuelan Supreme Court approved an extradition request for him. Speaking the same day in Washington, D.C., State Department Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Roger Noriega stated that Posada might not have been in the United States. Noriega added that charges against him "may be a completely manufactured issue." However declassified FBI and CIA reports show that the agencies suspected his involvement in the airline bombing within days of its occurrence.

On May 17, 2005 the Miami Herald conducted an interview with Posada in South Florida; later that day, the Herald and the Associated Press reported that he had been detained by the Department of Homeland Security. He had withdrawn his asylum appeal and was moving to sneak out of the country when arrested. His arrest presents diplomatic problems as his extradition is sought by both Cuba and Venezuela, neither of which are close U.S. allies. His arrest coincided with large anti-Carriles protests in Havana - organizers estimated that hundreds of thousands of Cubans participated in the rally. At this time, Carriles is being held by U.S. immigration authorities in El Paso, Texas, on charges of entering the country illegally - Posada's immigration case is now set for hearing before a Homeland Security judge in Texas on August 29, 2005 - where his actions at the Bay of Pigs Invasion may also be called into court [10].

The Venezuelan Government wants to retry Carriles for his role in the 1976 airline bombing. The Cuban government wants to try him for the hotel bombings, but has agreed that extraditing him to Cuba's ally Venezuela would be acceptable, not least because Venezuela has had an extradition treaty with the US since 1922, but Cuba does not. The United States denied Venezuela's extradition request, citing a lack of evidence. The world has questioned this decision since then as a clear evidence of double standard policy by the United States.[11] Moreover, many people have suspicions that all Posada's terrorist actions may be backed and organized by the CIA.

alpha_hazard said:
The US only considers people terrorists if they commit acts of terror AGAINST them...that's the nature of "war" my friend.

jake_lex said:

Well, and if you don't have a very strong lobbying group that gives a lot of money to the Republican Party backing you, either.