THE family members of the victims of the sabotage
of the Cubana passenger plane in 1976, which led to
73 deaths, have launched an Internet page with
information on the masterminds behind the attack,
who include terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, detained
in the United States since last year.
The web page brings together signatories calling
on U.S. President George W. Bush to extradite or try
Luis Posada Carriles.
This call is being made via the
web page opened by the Family Committee of the
Barbados Martyrs, in memory of the sabotage of the
Cuban aircraft.
Under the epigraphy "Say it to Bush and the U.S.
Congress: Extradite or try the terrorist Luis Posada
Carriles," visitors can add their signature to the
petition of the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER)
Coalition.
"You can support the ANSWER Coalition initiative
to prevent terrorist Luis Posada Carriles being
released in the United States. Support the demand to
extradite the terrorist to Venezuela," the box adds.
Posada escaped from a Venezuelan jail in 1985 with
the help of the CIA.
The web page details of the sabotage of the
aircraft, which exploded off the Barbados coast; the
demands of the victims’ families; information on
those who were killed; and documentation and details
on the perpetrators of the criminal act.
"While the victims of September 11 are still
awaiting the capture and trial of Osama bin Laden,
allegedly in hiding in a dark cave, we, the victims
of the acts of terrorism of the Osama bin Laden of
Latin America, Luis Posada Carriles, know very well
where he is," say the relatives in a communiqué on
the website. "He is detained in a center holding
undocumented immigrants. We have seen with dread how
the U.S. government is granting that same immigrant
treatment to Posada Carriles and is protecting him,
while knowing perfectly well that he is a torturer
and international terrorist," they add.
During the launch of the site in Havana, Roberto
González, the brother of one of the five Cuban anti-terrorists
imprisoned in the United States for combating that
scourge, deplored the U.S. government’s total
disregard for life.
González explained that when the case of the
criminal Posada Carriles is linked to that of the
five Cuban anti-terrorists, the island’s need to
seek information on terrorism in the United States
becomes totally clear.
The Five, as Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino,
René González, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando
González are known, were arrested in September 1998
for monitoring Miami terrorist groups responsible
for the death of more than 3,000 Cubans in the last
47 years.
Sentenced to prison terms ranging from double
life to 15 years in a rigged trail in Miami, the
Five are still imprisoned despite the unanimous
ruling of three judges from the 11th Circuit Atlanta
Court of Appeals that declared the trial illegal and
arbitrary, and which the prosecution has appealed.
René González’ brother recalled that Cuba exposed
the presence of Posada Carriles in the United States
and thanks to that the U.S. authorities were unable
to ignore the fact.
"There is a criminal in the United States whose
extradition has been applied for by a legitimately
constituted government like Venezuela and the U.S.
government is making it impossible for him to be
tried for his acts of terrorism," he highlighted.
