Luis Posada Carriles

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Luis Posada Carriles (1963)

Luis Clemente Faustino Posada Carriles (born February 15, 1928 in Cienfuegos , Cuba ; † May 23, 2018 in Miami , USA ) was one of the best-known militant opponents of the one-party system introduced in Cuba from 1959 under the leadership of Fidel Castro . In particular, the governments of Cuba and Venezuela accused him of being instrumental in several terrorist attacks. In the conservative Cuban exile circles in Florida, however, he was long respected as a hero and freedom fighter.

Life

Cuba until 1961

Posada Carriles grew up in an upper middle class family in the southern Cuban port city of Cienfuegos. His parents, Luis Nicolás Posada González and Dolores Carriles Vega, owned a printing company. After attending school, he trained as a chemist and from 1946 to 1948 initially worked at two sugar factories. He then began to study medicine at the University of Havana , which he did not complete. Between 1956 and 1958 he worked as a freelance pest fighter in his hometown, before he was employed as a department manager at the Firestone tire factory in Havana from March 1958 to March 1959 .

After the victory of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and the establishment of a government led by Fidel Castro dictatorially, he joined the organized resistance in Havana in mid-1960 and, according to his own statements, engaged in sabotage activities in the underground, for which the US foreign intelligence agency Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA) supplied the necessary materials, some of which he picked up in Miami . After an arrest in January 1961, he was able to escape the Cuban police and received asylum in the diplomatic mission of Argentina . The following month he was granted safe conduct to emigrate to Mexico , from where he traveled directly to the United States.

USA from 1961

Immediately after his arrival in Florida at the end of February 1961, he volunteered for the Cuban-exiled Brigade 2506 , which was being put together for an invasion of Cuba. After brief training in Guatemala , he was supposed to land in the Cuban Bay of Pigs in April 1961 , but his mission was terminated prematurely due to the failure of the invasion. From October 1961 to March 1963 he worked in the headquarters of his former employer Firestone in Akron ( Ohio ).

As one of 212 Cubans in exile selected by the CIA from among the members of the 2506 brigade, he completed an officer training course for the US Army at Fort Benning (Georgia) from March to August 1963 , where he then served until March 1964. He made friends with two Cubans who were trained at the same time as him and who still supported him three decades later: First, Félix Rodríguez , who remained in the service of the US authorities and was deployed in the fight against the terrorist and guerrilla groups supported by Cuba worldwide came - especially his meeting with Ernesto "Che" Guevara in Bolivia became known. Second, Jorge Mas Canosa , who first got rich as a businessman after leaving the US Army and from the 1980s onwards, as founding president of the Cuban American National Foundation, exercised considerable lobbying influence on US policy on Cuba.

Posada joined the left-wing anti-Castro group "Junta Revolucionaria Cubana" (JURE) , headed by the former minister of the first post-revolutionary cabinet, Manuel Ray , which essentially consisted of former fighters of the July 26th Movement and supported one democratic socialism set in. Between 1965 and 1974, Posada Carriles was paid by the CIA for services rendered, including until 1967 as an instructor at the Miami station responsible for espionage in Cuba ( JMWAVE ), which was disbanded in early 1968.

Venezuela from 1969

In 1969 he took on a management position in the Venezuelan secret service Dirección de los Servicios de Inteligencia y Prevención (DISIP), which worked closely with the CIA. He received the Venezuelan citizenship, which was a condition for working in the secret service. In 1971 he was promoted to head of counter-espionage at DISIP. Posada lost his post shortly after the new president, Carlos Andrés Pérez , who was elected in 1974, took office . According to (today declassified) sources of the CIA, at the same time the US foreign intelligence service had concerns about increasing reports of Posada's cooperation with drug smugglers and other criminals, so that Posada's work for the CIA came to a standstill in 1974. After his dismissal from DISIP, Posada opened the private investigation and security agency ICICA in Caracas , which, with great commercial success, subjected employees to security checks, investigated thefts and installed surveillance systems for large customers such as Chrysler and many of the most respected banks.

Attack on Cuban airliner in 1976

In June 1976, under the leadership of Orlando Bosch, a new alliance of militant Castro opponents called the Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations (CORU) was formed in the Dominican Republic , in whose secret founding meeting Posada took part as one of twenty Cuban exiles. The shooting down of a Cuban plane was discussed as a publicity measure in the armed struggle against the Cuban leadership. According to information from informants documented by the FBI , Posada, together with Orlando Bosch, was the initiator of the bomb attack on flight 455 of the Cuban airline Cubana on October 6, 1976 on the way from Barbados via Kingston (Jamaica) to Havana Passengers, many of them Cuban athletes, were killed. Bosch and Posada were therefore initially brought before a military court in Venezuela, which they acquitted. A renegotiation before a civil court initially ended with an acquittal, but was appealed. Posada spent a total of nine years in custody, before the scheduled appeal proceedings began, and he finally managed to escape from Venezuela in 1985.

Central America from 1985

In El Salvador , through the mediation of his friend Félix Rodríguez, who was already involved in the operations, Posada acted as a liaison for the CIA with local military officers and the Nicaraguan Contras , which became public in the Iran-Contra affair , which was uncovered in 1986 . While working as a security advisor to the government of Guatemala in 1990 , he survived an attack attributed to Fidel Castro in the capital, Guatemala City , in which he was attacked by three assassins and hit by 12 bullets before he was hospitalized for months. Since then, his ability to speak has been limited. According to documents later released, the CIA telephoned him in 1993 in Honduras about another attempted assassination they had received information about.

Series of attacks in Havana in 1997

Between April and September 1997 there was a series of 11 attempted or actual bomb attacks on tourist facilities in Cuba, in which an Italian tourist was killed. These were the largest politically motivated acts of violence since the early 1960s, when the new revolutionary government under Castro prevailed against civil war-like resistance. In November 1997, the Miami Herald newspaper published a report that had been researched for over two months and came to the conclusion that Posada had been the link between the Salvadoran professional criminals and the financiers of the attacks in South Florida. Posada Carriles boasted in a high-profile interview with the New York Times in 1998 that he organized the attacks. The death of the Italian was not planned. He was sitting “in the wrong place at the wrong time”. The aim was to damage the Cuban tourism industry by deterring foreign guests and investors as effectively as possible. Posada distanced himself from his self-accusatory statements after the interview was published and claimed that he had been blackmailed with confidential intelligence documents by the journalists involved. He then wanted to deceive her with deliberately false information in order to protect other people, but this was a "tactical error".

Panama: Unsuccessful attack on Fidel Castro in 2000

In Panama he was arrested along with five other people in connection with the planning of an assassination attempt against the Cuban President Castro in November 2000 and in 2002, together with Gaspar Jiménez, for endangering public security, criminal association, unauthorized possession of explosives and forgery of documents for eight years Sentenced two other accomplices to seven years in prison for endangering public security and criminal organization. In Miami, friends of Posada, who was venerated by many Cubans in exile as a heroic freedom fighter, had previously collected large sums of money for legal fees. Posada Carriles was pardoned in August 2004 by Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso on the last day of her term of office, along with the three other convicted persons, in order to prevent an expected extradition by the successor government of Martín Torrijos to Cuba or Venezuela. Moscoso said he wanted to protect the four from the death penalty they face there. Posada Carriles fled to Honduras , his three accomplices, in contrast to him, had US citizenship and left for Miami . Cuba responded to the pardon by breaking off diplomatic relations with Panama. In 2008, the Panamanian Supreme Court ruled the presidential pardons unconstitutional, and in January 2012 the prison sentences against Posada and his co-defendants were finally confirmed. A few days later, Moscoso said he was "proud to have released the men" and met with Posada and his accomplices in public in Miami. The request for extradition of the four Cubans to the United States, which was requested as a result of the attorneys' confirmation of the sentences, was rejected by the Panamanian government.

The stay in the USA

In March 2005, Posada Carriles entered the United States undercover , where he had been on a banned entry list for several years, and applied for political asylum there . When his presence became known, press articles appeared drawing attention to his past as a suspected terrorist. In a newspaper interview with the Miami Herald, he discussed details of the hotel bombs in Havana, but without assuming responsibility. The Italian hotel guest was 40 meters away from the bomb and was hit by a splinter in the neck due to unfortunate circumstances. The bombs were not intended to kill, but only to destroy windows and minor property damage. The Cuban President Fidel Castro publicly protested against Posada's undisturbed stay in the USA and had a mass demonstration held in front of the US interest group in Havana, then the Venezuelan government called on the US government under President George W. Bush in May 2005 to arrest Posada, to extradite him to Venezuela for the 1976 plane attack, which the US Department of Justice initially rejected on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence. At a press conference he called shortly afterwards in Miami, Posada denied the allegations of involvement in the bombing of Cubana Flight 455 and stated that he disapproved of "this despicable act as a case of terrorism". He said the US authorities did not want to arrest him, but because he wanted to save the US inconvenience, he plans to leave the country and withdraw his asylum application.

Pre-trial detention and trial

He was arrested immediately after his press conference. Specifically, he was initially investigated on suspicion that he had given false information about the form and place of his entry when questioned by the immigration authorities.

Venezuela , which has had an extradition agreement with the United States that has existed since 1922 and plans to bring Posada Carriles to justice for the bombing of the passenger plane launched in Caracas in 1976, filed a formal extradition request. At the 15th Ibero-American Summit in October 2005 in the Spanish Salamanca participating States called for in a resolution the United States to extradite "those responsible for the plane bombing of 1976 man" without Posada to mention by name.

In September 2006, a judge from an immigration court in El Paso, Texas ruled that Posada could not be deported to Cuba or Venezuela because he was at risk of torture there. Since Posada Carriles was only detained in the United States for an alleged immigration violation and no country agreed to grant Posada Carriles asylum, another magistrate recommended that he be released from custody in September 2006, which was subsequently upheld by a federal court had located. In January 2007, prosecutors charged Posada with false statements to the immigration authorities and possession of forged passports.

Posada was finally released from custody in April 2007 by order of the federal court in El Paso , Texas, subject to conditions - among other things, he was obliged to wear an electronic ankle bracelet and had to leave bail of $ 350,000. The release took place against the express request of the border protection authority Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is subordinate to the Federal Ministry for Internal Security and which had meanwhile taken the position that a "release due to Posada's long past with crimes and acts of violence in which innocent civilians were killed, would pose a threat to both society and the security of the United States ”.

In May 2007, the federal judge handling the case dismissed the prosecution's charges and accused the government of using “fraud, deception and cunning” against Posada. After the public prosecutor's office appealed in November 2007, the federal appeals court ruled in August 2008 that the prosecution must be admitted to the trial. In April 2009, under the beginning of the Obama administration, the Justice Department supplemented the previous indictment against Posada with further charges, which involved false statements about his possible responsibility for attacks.

The main trial before twelve jury finally came only from January 2011, again in El Paso. After a 13-week hearing, which concerned both the truthfulness of Posada's information about his entry in March 2005 and, indirectly, evidence of his involvement in the 1997 bombings in Cuba, Posada was acquitted of all charges in April 2011 . After the trial ended, Venezuela renewed its extradition request to the US authorities.

Reactions

A few days after Posada was released in 2007, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez claimed in a television program that the "terrorist" and US President George W. Bush had commissioned his assassination and wanted to use the released 79-year-old, the "father of all." Terrorists ”. Chavez's Cuban ally Fidel Castro also protested against the release of his decade-long opponent, whom he described as a "monster". Posada was responsible for "countless casualties" and "dozens of government-funded plans for [Castro's] physical elimination". In 2005 he had already compared Posada with Osama bin Laden , and in 2006 the Cuban government had posters made en masse showing Posada's portrait next to Adolf Hitler's . In July 2013, the President of the Venezuelan Parliament, Diosdado , accused Cabello Posada Carriles of working with former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on a plan to assassinate Nicolás Maduro - Chávez's successor as President of Venezuela - for which she had already raised $ 2.5 million assembled a 400-strong mercenary force.

Posada's stay in the United States as a free man has often been cited by commentators as a heavy burden or test case for relations between the Washington-Havana governments. On the other hand, it was also pointed out that the topic was misused for the purpose of political propaganda.

After his release in 2007, Posada lived in Miami, where he occasionally attended public events and appeared in the media. He enjoyed the support of prominent conservative representatives of the Cuban exile community. According to his lawyer, a large portion of Posada's court costs was funded by thousands of individual donors. Hundreds of paying guests have repeatedly participated in fundraisers held by his supporters during his trial and since then. An opinion poll carried out in South Florida in June 2005 came to the conclusion that Posada clearly polarized the Cuban exile community: 75% of the over 50-year-old Cuban exiles were of the opinion that the USA should grant him political asylum, while 53% of those who emigrated from Cuba after 1980 Cubans in exile wanted him to be condemned as a terrorist.

Publications

literature

  • Ann Louise Bardach: Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana, and Washington. Scribner, New York 2009 (Part 2 "The Fidel Obsession" PDF 89 p., With detailed passages about Posada Carriles, available online on the author's website)
  • Ann Louise Bardach: Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana. Random House, New York 2002

Web links

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  1. ^ Lawyer for Luis Posada Carriles says the militant Cuban exile has died at a South Florida care home , accessed May 23, 2018
  2. ^ Greg Allen: Miami's Cubans Watch Their Hero Go On Trial, in: NPR.org January 9, 2011, accessed April 28, 2014
  3. ↑ Personal Record Questionnaire on Posada (PDF), declassified CIA document dated April 17, 1972, accessed from the National Security Archive on April 30, 2014.
  4. ^ Ann Louise Bardach: Without Fidel. P. 104, Scribner, New York 2009 (English)
  5. ^ Bardach: Without Fidel. P. 107
  6. ↑ a b c Tim Weiner : Cuban Exile Could Test US Definition of Terrorist in: New York Times of May 9, 2005, accessed on March 14, 2012 (English)
  7. ↑ Luis Posada Carriles (PDF), declassified CIA personnel file from 1966, accessed via the National Security Archive on May 2, 2014 (English)
  8. ^ Bardach: Without Fidel. P. 107f
  9. ↑ CIA: Junta Revolucionaria Cubana JURE according to Cuban Information Archives , accessed on May 15, 2012 (English)
  10. ↑ Cuba anger at US Posada Carriles verdict, in: BBC News of April 9, 2011, accessed on April 28, 2014 (English)
  11. ↑ Unclassified summary of the CIA's relationship with Luis Posada Carriles (PDF), CIA document used in the US court case against Posada, accessed via the National Security Archive on April 30, 2014
  12. ↑ Alfonso Chardy and Oscar Corral: Cuban exile militant Luis Posada Carriles' CIA links 40 years ago in South Florida, in: Miami Herald of July 1, 2006, accessed via Global Research on April 28, 2014 (English)
  13. ^ Ann Louise Bardach: Without Fidel. P. 108f.
  14. ^ Ann Louise Bardach: Without Fidel. P. 111
  15. ^ Ann Louise Bardach: Without Fidel. P. 114
  16. ^ White House, back exit, in: Die Zeit from December 19, 1986, accessed on April 29, 2014
  17. ↑ a b Luis Posada Carriles en 'A Mano Limpia', TV appearance from June 2013, accessed on YouTube on May 1, 2014 (Spanish)
  18. ↑ Toni Keppeler: The sad end of the Castro hunter, in: taz.de from January 20, 2011, accessed on April 28, 2014
  19. ↑ a b c d e Peter Kornbluh: Former CIA Asset Luis Posada Goes to Trial, in: The Nation of January 5, 2011, accessed on April 30, 2014 (English)
  20. ↑ Juan O. Tamayo: Cuban Hotels Were Bombed by Miami-Paid Salvadorans, in: Miami Herald of November 16, 1997, accessed via Cuba Hotel Bombings on April 30, 2014 (English)
  21. ↑ Ann Louise Bardach and Larry Rohter: A Bomber's Tale: Taking Aim at Castro; Key Cuba Foe Claims Exiles' Backing. In: New York Times, July 12, 1998, accessed April 29, 2014
  22. ↑ a b Kirk Nielsen: Fidel Made Them Do It, in: Miami New Times, August 9, 2001, accessed April 30, 2014 (English)
  23. ↑ Glenn Kessler: US Denies Role in Cuban Exiles' Pardon, in: Washington Post, August 27, 2004, accessed April 30, 2014 (English)
  24. ↑ Saul Landau: Anti-Castro-Terrorism: Seniors give GAS ( Memento from January 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), ZNet, October 4, 2004
  25. ↑ Inicia juicio contra ex funcionarios que Panameños liberaron a Posada Carriles. (No longer available online.) TeleSUR, November 7, 2008, formerly in the original ; Retrieved November 8, 2008 (Spanish).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.telesurtv.net  
  26. ↑ Review: Cuba breaks off diplomatic relations with Panama, in: derStandard.at of September 2, 2004, accessed on April 30, 2014
  27. ^ Tribunal de Panamá ratifica condena contra Posada Carriles in: Cuba Encuentro of January 14, 2012, accessed on May 15, 2012 (Spanish)
  28. ↑ Ex-president proud of pardoning terrorist suspects, ( Memento of the original from May 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.newsroompanama.com archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in: Newsroom Panama of January 18, 2012, accessed April 30, 2014 (English)
  29. ↑ Costa Rica deportó a Panamá un ex agente CIA buscado por secuestro y tortura en Italia, in: ElPaís.cr of July 29, 2013, accessed on April 29, 2014 (Spanish)
  30. ↑ Tribunales deben decir extradición de Posada Carriles, afirma abogado, ( Memento of the original of April 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tvcamaguey.co.cu archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in: Televisión Camagüey of January 21, 2012, accessed on April 29, 2014 (Spanish)
  31. ↑ a b Oscar Corral and Alfonso Chardy: Posada speaks to Herald, in: Miami Herald of May 17, 2005, accessed on May 1, 2014 (English)
  32. ^ A b Jefferson Morley: Cuban Terror Suspect Sets Off Propaganda Battle, in: Washington Post of April 13, 2005, accessed on April 30, 2014 (English)
  33. ^ Ann Louise Bardach: Our Man's in Miami. Patriot or Terrorist? in: Washington Post April 17, 2005, accessed April 29, 2014
  34. ↑ Dietmar Ostermann: Terrorist in the service of the USA, in: Berliner Zeitung of May 19, 2005, accessed on April 30, 2014
  35. ^ Mass demonstration in Cuba: Cubans in exile in Florida in custody, in: n-tv of May 18, 2005, accessed on April 30, 2014
  36. ↑ a b 'Bomb-plot' Cuban crosses into US, in: BBC News from April 12, 2005, accessed on April 30, 2014 (English)
  37. ↑ US Rejects Call to Arrest Cuban Exile, in: Los Angeles Times of May 28, 2005, accessed April 30, 2014 (English)
  38. ↑ Abby Goodnough: US Arrests Cuban Exile Accused in Deadly '76 Airline Bombing, in: New York Times of May 18, 2005, accessed on April 28, 2014 (English)
  39. ^ Ann Louise Bardach: Without Fidel. P. 146
  40. ^ Dispute with Cuba: USA bring charges against ex-CIA employees, in: Spiegel Online of May 19, 2005, accessed on April 28, 2014
  41. ↑ James C. McKinley: Terror Accusations, but Perjury Charges, in: New York Times, January 9, 2011, accessed April 28, 2014 (English)
  42. ↑ Cut summits, urges Colombia head, in: BBC News, October 15, 2005, accessed April 28, 2014 (Spanish)
  43. ^ Gary Marx: Posada ruling angers Venezuela, in: Chicago Tribune of September 29, 2005, accessed April 30, 2014 (English)
  44. ↑ Release Recommended for Detained Cuban Exile, in: Los Angeles Times of September 12, 2006, accessed on April 28, 2014 (English)
  45. ↑ Anthony DePalma: US Releases Cuban Bombing Suspect, in: New York Times of April 20, 2007, accessed on April 28, 2014 (English)
  46. ↑ Will Weissert: Mexican official testifies in ex-CIA agent's trial, in: El Paso Times of March 3, 2011, accessed on April 30, 2014 (English)
  47. ↑ US drops Cuban militant's charges, in: BBC News of May 9, 2007, accessed May 3, 2014 (English)
  48. ↑ Will Weissert: Texas Informant testifies Posada lied about how he got into US in: Legal News from January 26, 2011, accessed April 30, 2014 (English)
  49. ↑ Juan O. Tamayo: Partes presentan sus primeros argumentos en el juicio a Posada Carriles, in: el Nuevo Herald of January 13, 2011, accessed on May 2, 2014 (Spanish)
  50. ↑ Harald Neuber: Protest after Posada Carriles' acquittal. In: amerika21. April 10, 2011, accessed April 10, 2011 .
  51. ^ Hugo Chávez 'verbal attacks - Máximo Polterer, in: Süddeutsche.de of May 13, 2008, accessed on April 29, 2014
  52. ↑ Hugo Chávez: "Terrorist Bush plans my murder", ( Memento of the original from April 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.zeit.de archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in: ZEIT Online from April 23, 2007, accessed on April 29, 2014
  53. ↑ USA: Castro protests against the "release of a monster", in: Welt Online from April 11, 2007, accessed on April 30, 2014
  54. ↑ a b In Cuba, a massive war of words against US in: NBC News of January 24, 2006, accessed April 30, 2014 (English)
  55. ↑ Jim Wyss: Venezuela says Cuban exiles in Miami are backing presidential assassination plots,  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.miamiherald.com   in: Miami Herald of July 31, 2013, accessed April 30, 2014 (English)
  56. ↑ Juan Manuel Cao entrevista a Luis Posada Carriles en 'El Espejo', TV appearance from January 6, 2014, accessed on YouTube on May 1, 2014 (Spanish)
  57. ↑ Rep. David Rivera Supports Luis Posada Carriles, expression of solidarity by David Rivera on December 30, 2010, shortly after his election to the US House of Representatives , video on YouTube , accessed April 30, 2014 (Spanish / English)
  58. ↑ Alfonso Chardy: Cuban ex-CIA agent Posada returns to Miami, in: Miami Herald of April 14, 2011, accessed on April 30, 2014 (English)
  59. ↑ Alfonso Chardy: Posada Carriles: “El juicio ha sido un trago muy amargo”, in: Nuevo Herald of April 14, 2011, accessed on April 30, 2014 (Spanish)
  60. ↑ Exilio cubano dividido en apoyo a Posada Carriles, ( Memento of the original dated May 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.eluniversal.com archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in: El Universal, June 13, 2005, accessed May 1, 2014 (Spanish)
personal data
SURNAME Posada Carriles, Luis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Posada Carriles, Luis Clemente Faustino (full name); Posada, Luis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cuban exile opponent of Castro and suspected terrorist
DATE OF BIRTH February 15, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Cienfuegos , Cuba
DATE OF DEATH 23 May 2018
Place of death Miami , USA