ShareThisBy ROBERT COLLIER
San Francisco Chronicle
Friday, May 11, 2007
In a case that critics say demonstrates a U.S. double standard on terrorism, a federal judge has dismissed all charges against Luis Posada Carriles, a former CIA operative who has been accused of masterminding a 1976 bombing of a Cuban civilian airplane that killed 73 people and a series of 1997 bombings in Havana.
In a ruling Tuesday in El Paso, Texas, a federal judge dismissed immigration fraud charges against the Cuban-Venezuelan exile, citing a remarkably mundane reason -- the government's translator had botched the English-Spanish interpretation of Posada's naturalization interview in 2005.
Posada, 79, is expected to return soon to his home in Miami as a hero of that city's anti-Castro right wing, despite U.S. government documents made public recently that have tied him to terrorist acts.
The ruling quickly brought sharp criticism from the Venezuelan and Cuban governments, as well as some members of Congress.
Bernardo Herrera, Venezuela's ambassador to the United States, called the ruling "an outrageous double standard." Speaking at a press conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, he likened Posada to Osama bin Laden, noting that the bombing of the Cuban flight remains the world's ninth-deadliest act of airplane terrorism.
"The case of Posada is like if Osama bin Laden had been arrested in Afghanistan because he entered without a visa. For us, it's clear that this is in the hands of the White House," Herrera said.
In Congress, some liberals urged the Bush administration to use its powers under the Patriot Act to certify Posada as a terrorist and keep him behind bars.
"If the administration does not avail itself of all legal avenues to detain this terrorist and bring him to justice, it will send a message to the world that President Bush believes in the old adage that one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter," said Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass.
Legally, Posada remains in a Kafkaesque limbo. He is under a deportation order, but courts have ruled that he cannot be deported to Cuba or its close ally Venezuela because of fears he would be subject to torture in those countries.
Since Tuesday's ruling, the Bush administration has downplayed the collapse of its case against Posada.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a statement late Wednesday noting that Posada must check in with immigration officials upon his return to Miami, but not saying whether it plans to appeal the ruling.
"At this time, we're reviewing the judge's decision and we're evaluating our options," said Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd. He declined to explain why the government had not filed terrorism charges against Posada. "I'm not going to get into our internal deliberations," he said.
Reach Robert Collier at rcollier(at)sfchronicle.com. To comment or for more stories visit scrippsnews.com
