Statement by the Committee of Relatives of the Victims of the Bombing of the Cubana Airplane off Barbados

Reprinted from Daily Granma
Jan. 17, 2007

With shock and indignation, we have learned that the US Department of Justice has handed down seven charges against the notorious terrorist Luis Clemente Faustino Posada Carriles, only for having lied to immigration authorities during his naturalization process in this country.

To our astonishment, the legal charges do not mention him as being a dangerous and still active international terrorist who, even from the prison where he is held, does not tire of boasting about the pain and suffering he has caused in the hearts of numerous families all over the world.

To accept this decision of the Department of Justice with indifference is to become accomplices of the lie, and to accept that important truths remain untold. It is an affront to the memory of the thousands of citizens who have lost their lives in terrorist attacks.

To accept that the notorious international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles be judged only as a harmless liar, is tantamount to accepting the outlandish idea that our family members never died in the massacre that occurred with the sabotage of a Cubana de Aviacion plane in mid-flight. It is like telling tourists in New York to go and admire the beauty of the Twin Towers because these majestic buildings were never destroyed on that fateful day of September 11, 2001.

We urge the government of the United States to honor the truth. We urge the government of the United States to make available to the relevant authorities the documents that they have in their possession, which reveal the terrorist nature of Luis Posada Carriles.

We want the notorious terrorist to be judged for more than just the lies he has told. We demand that the unpunished murderer of our relatives appear before justice, and that he be tried also for the truths that he has openly confessed to the United States media.

WE DEMAND JUSTICE!

Victims Call On US for Posada Conviction

Reprinted from Prensa Latina
Jan. 17, 2007

Havana, Jan 17— Relatives of victims in the mid-air explosion of a Cuban airplane in 1976 by international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles demanded Wednesday that the US apply law to this criminal.

The committee of relatives of the 73 people who died in that sabotage issued a declaration, in which they state having learned "with astonishment and indignation" that terrorist was only accused of lying to the northern country s immigration authorities.

On January 11, the US Department of Justice issued seven charges against Luis Clemente Faustino Posada Carriles for having lied to immigration authorities in his naturalization process in that country.

Those legal charges leave out the fact that he is a dangerous international terrorist.

"To accept," pointed out those relatives, "to try that infamous international terrorist for simply being a liar, is to accept the strange idea that our relatives never died in that sabotage."

"We demand that the US government honors truth and makes public those revealing documents by terrorist Posada Carriles," they stated.

Relatives of Cuban jetliner bombing victims urge US to charge suspect with terrorism

Reprinted from Associated Press
Jan. 17, 2007

HAVANA: Relatives of the 73 people killed in a 1976 jetliner bombing urged the United States to charge the man suspected of the attack with terrorism, saying Wednesday that anything less is an "insult to the memory of the thousands of citizens who have died victims of terrorist actions."

In a statement published in Cuba's Communist Party daily Granma, the families rejected a recent U.S. Justice Department decision to charge Luis Posada Carriles with lying to federal immigration agents in a bid to become a naturalized citizen, saying they received news of the decision with "stupor and indignation."

"To accept that the internationally known terrorist Luis Posada Carriles be judged merely as an innocuous liar is to accept the strange idea that our families were never massacred in the sabotage of the Cubana Airlines plane," the statement said.

Posada, a Cuban native who became a naturalized Venezuelan, is accused of masterminding the attack in which the plane traveling from Barbados to Havana exploded in the air on Oct. 6, 1976. He has denied involvement.

The former CIA operative with ties to the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in the 1960s was indicted last week in El Paso, Texas, on charges of lying on his applications and under oath when applying for naturalization to the United States in September 2005 and April 2006.

He made his first court appearance Tuesday, shackled at the wrists and ankles. He was read the charges in the seven-count indictment but did not enter a plea. He was ordered held without bail pending a bond hearing Friday.

Posada, 78, has been held at an El Paso immigration detention center since May 2005 on a charge that he entered the country illegally through Mexico. The indictment says Posada entered the country on a boat, instead of with the help of a human smuggler as he claims. It also alleges he lied about having a Guatemalan passport and using an alias, among other things.

The Cuban government released its own statement Monday saying it hopes the recent charges "won't become a smoke screen to extend immunity for the serious crime of terrorism."

Posada is wanted by the governments of Cuba and Venezuela to face trial on the bombing charges. But a federal immigration judge who ordered Posada out of the United States ruled he could not be sent to either country.

Several countries have rejected U.S. requests for Posada to be sent there.

Declaración del Comité de Familiares Víctimas de la Voladura del avión cubano en Barbados

Reimprimado de Granma Diario
17 de enero de 2007

Con estupor e indignación hemos conocido que el Departamento de Justicia de los Estados Unidos ha formulado siete cargos contra el connotado terrorista Luis Clemente Faustino Posada Carriles, solo por haber mentido a las autoridades de Inmigración en su proceso de naturalización en ese país.

Para asombro nuestro, los cargos judiciales no aluden a su condición de peligroso terrorista internacional en activo, quien aún desde la prisión donde se encuentra, no se cansa de jactarse del dolor y el luto que ha provocado en el seno de numerosas familias de todo el mundo.

Aceptar indiferentes esta decisión del Departamento de Justicia, es convertirnos en cómplices de la mentira, es aceptar que se dejen de decir importantes verdades, es una afrenta a la memoria de los miles de ciudadanos que han perdido la vida víctimas de acciones terroristas.

Aceptar que se juzgue al connotado terrorista internacional Luis Posada Carriles, solo como un inocuo mentiroso, es aceptar la peregrina idea de que nuestros familiares nunca murieron masacrados en el sabotaje a un avión de Cubana de Aviación en pleno vuelo. Es como si se les dijera a los turistas de visita en Nueva York que concurran a admirar la belleza de las Torres Gemelas, pues esas majestuosas edificaciones nunca se derrumbaron en ese fatídico 11 de septiembre del 2001.

Exigimos que el Gobierno de los Estados Unidos honre la verdad; exigimos que el Gobierno de los Estados Unidos haga públicos los documentos que se encuentran en su poder y que revelan la naturaleza terrorista de Luis Posada Carriles.

Exigimos que el Gobierno de los Estados Unidos enjuicie a Luis Posada Carriles como terrorista o acepte la solicitud de extradición formulada por la República Bolivariana de Venezuela el pasado 15 de junio del 2005.

No deseamos que el connotado terrorista Luis Posada Carriles sea juzgado solo por las mentiras que haya dicho, reclamamos que el impune asesino de nuestros familiares comparezca ante la justicia y sea procesado también, por las verdades que ha confesado ante los propios medios de prensa de los Estados Unidos.

¡EXIGIMOS JUSTICIA!

Reclaman a EE.UU. condena de terrorista Posada Carriles

Reimprimado de Prensa Latina
17 de enero de 2007

La Habana, 17 ene —Familiares de víctimas de la voladura en pleno vuelo de un avión civil cubano en 1976, por el terrorista internacional Luis Posada Carriles, exigieron hoy a Estados Unidos la aplicación de la justicia a este criminal.

El Comité de familiares de los 73 fallecidos en aquel atentado emitieron una declaración donde señalan haber conocido "con estupor e indignación" que ese terrorista solo fue acusado por mentir a autoridades de inmigración del país norteño.

El pasado 11 de enero el Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos formuló siete cargos contra Luis Clemente Faustino Posada Carriles por haber mentido a las autoridades de Inmigración en su proceso de naturalización en ese país.

Los cargos judiciales no aluden a su condición de peligroso terrorista internacional en activo. Posada, agregaron los demandantes, no se cansa de jactarse del dolor y el luto que ha provocado en el seno de numerosas familias de todo el mundo.

Aceptar -apuntaron- que se juzgue a este connotado terrorista internacional solo como un inocuo mentiroso, es aceptar la peregrina idea de que nuestros familiares nunca murieron masacrados en el sabotaje a un avión de Cubana de Aviación en pleno vuelo.

Exigimos que el Gobierno de Estados Unidos honre la verdad, que haga públicos los documentos reveladores de la naturaleza terrorista de Posada Carriles, señalaron.

Estados Unidos debe enjuiciar a Posada Carriles como terrorista o aceptar la solicitud de extradición formulada por Venezuela el pasado 15 de junio del 2005, agregó el texto.

No deseamos que ese connotado terrorista sea juzgado solamente por las mentiras que dijo, reclamamos sea procesado también por los crímenes que confesó ante los propios medios de prensa norteamericanos, señaló otra parte de la declaración.