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NATIONAL COMMITTEE TO FREE THE CUBAN FIVE
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Posada Associates Get Short Sentences for Keeping their Mouths Shut Feb. 12, 2008 Havana, Feb 11 (acn) Three associates of terrorist Luis Posada Carriles were sentenced to short terms in prison last Friday in El Paso, Texas for refusing to testify against their partner, responsible for blowing up a Cuban airliner and killing 73 persons in 1976, among other crimes. Santiago Alvarez, Osvaldo Mitat and Ernesto Abreu had pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice last year for refusing to speak to a grand jury investigating whether Posada Carriles had lied to federal authorities to obtain US citizenship, reports Granma newspaper. As part of its evidence, the prosecution presented two tape recordings in which Alvarez, from a prison in Florida, instructs Abreu and Ruben Lopez Castro, another collaborator of Posada, not to testify about the trip of the Santrina shrimp boat (from Mexico to Miami) “to save Luis.” Alvarez’ defense attorney asked the judge for the sentence to be less than 12 months, maintaining that a longer term would make it difficult for the Cuban-born “businessman” to seek protection under the International Convention against Torture to avoid being sent to Cuba. The court responded favorably handing Alvarez a ten month sentence, Mitat eight months and Abreu only two months. Paradoxically, the case of Alvarez and company takes place when the White House admitted for the first time that it had used the “waterboarding” technique of simulated drowning in its interrogations of terrorist suspects, a practice condemned internationally and widely considered torture. Behind the News by Deisy Francis Mexidor The news is fresh: three associates of terrorist Luis Posada Carriles were sentenced to light sentences in El Paso, Texas for refusing to testify against their partner, responsible for blowing up a Cuban airliner and killing 73 persons in 1976, among other crimes.
From left: Santiago Alvarez, Osvaldo Mitat and Jose Hilario Pujul. The Santrina shrimp boat appears in the background. Santiago Alvarez, Osvaldo Mitat and Ernesto Abreu had pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice last year for refusing to speak to a grand jury investigating whether Posada Carriles had lied to federal authorities to obtain US citizenship. As part of its evidence, the prosecution presented two tape recordings in which Alvarez, from a prison in Florida, instructs Abreu and Ruben Lopez Castro, another collaborator of Posada, not to testify about the trip of the Santrina shrimp boat (from Mexico to Miami) "to save Luis." Alvarez’ defense attorney asked the judge for the sentence to be less than 12 months, maintaining that a longer term would make it difficult for the Cuban-born "businessman" to seek protection under the International Convention against Torture to avoid being sent to Cuba. The court responded favorably handing Alvarez a ten month sentence, Mitat eight months and Abreu only two months. Paradoxically, the case of Alvarez and company takes place when the White House admitted for the first time that it had used the "waterboarding" technique of simulated drowning in its interrogations of terrorist suspects, a practice condemned internationally and widely considered torture. But let’s not be fooled. Once again this case shows the extent the US government is willing to go to support terrorists —its terrorists— based in Miami. It also shows the incongruence of how some cases are resolved rapidly and others, like the Cuban Five case, remain in legal limbo before a blind justice.
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Compinches de terrorista Posada condenados a leves penas de cárcel por no testificar contra éste 11 de febrero de 2008 La Habana, 11 feb (Granma-RHC) La noticia está fresca: tres compinches del terrorista Luis Posada Carriles fueron sentenciados, en un proceso que se desarrolló en El Paso, Texas, a leves penas de cárcel por no testificar contra su socio, el autor -entre otros crímenes- de la voladura de un avión civil cubano que costó la vida a 73 personas en 1976, subraya hoy el periódico Granma en un su columna Detrás de la Noticia. Santiago Álvarez, Osvaldo Mitat y Ernesto Abreu se habían declarado culpables de obstrucción de la justicia el año pasado por negarse a hablar ante un jurado investigador que averiguaba si Posada Carriles le mintió a las autoridades federales a fin de obtener la ciudadanía estadounidense. Los fiscales presentaron como parte de las pruebas dos grabaciones en las que Álvarez, desde un centro penitenciario en Florida, instruía a Abreu y a Rubén López Castro, otro colaborador de Posada, a no declarar sobre el viaje en el barco Santrina para "salvar a Luis". La defensa de Álvarez solicitó al juez que lo sentenciara a menos de 12 meses, porque una condena mayor dificultaría la posibilidad de que el "empresario" de origen cubano pudiera acogerse a la Convención Internacional contra la Tortura y evitar ser, según ellos, enviado a Cuba. Un hecho paradójico que ocurre en momentos en que la Casa Blanca admite por vez primera que utilizó el "submarino" o "ahogamiento simulado" en los interrogatorios contra presuntos terroristas, práctica que la comunidad internacional condena y califica como tortura. Pero no nos llamemos a engaño. Una vez más se pone de manifiesto la protección que brinda el gobierno de Estados Unidos a los terroristas de Miami -sus terroristas-. Es sintomático además, observar lo rápido que se deciden los pleitos para unos -artilugios y marañas de sobra-, mientras para otros, como los Cinco antiterroristas cubanos, el limbo legal se extiende ante una justicia con ceguera.
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