Posada set to leave jail, be turned over to immigration officials
by Alicia A. Caldwell
Apr. 12, 2007
Reprinted from Associated Press
Anti-Castro Cuban militant Luis Posada Carilles is expected to bond out of jail Thursday but will be turned over to immigration authorities, a U.S. Marshals Service spokesman said.
Posada, 79, is being held in an Otero County, N.M., jail on charges that he lied in a bid to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. A federal judge in El Paso, where the case is being heard, ordered him freed last week on $250,000 bond.
The aging militant's wife and adult children were ordered to sign a $100,000 appearance and compliance bond to ensure that Posada would appear for his scheduled May 11 trial. He will also be electronically monitored if released.
Jerry Payan, a supervisory deputy U.S. marshal, said Posada was in the process of completing all the required paperwork Thursday morning, but would not immediately be set free because of an outstanding deportation order.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman in El Paso said Posada would be remanded to ICE custody. But it was unclear Thursday if Posada would be detained or allowed to return to Miami to live with his family while he awaits trial.
Posada's Miami lawyer, Arturo V. Hernandez, declined to comment.
Posada has been jailed since May 2005, when he was arrested on charges of sneaking into the United States illegally. The former CIA operative and U.S. Army soldier told authorities he crossed the border from Mexico into Texas in a vehicle. But federal prosecutors later alleged Posada lied and that he actually entered the U.S. from Mexico aboard a boat.
Posada also was accused of lying about using an alias and other details.
His potential release has sparked protests in Venezuela and Cuba. Both governments want Posada extradited to Venezuela to stand trial on charges that he masterminded the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jetliner from Caracas, an attack that killed 73. Posada has denied involvement.
A federal immigration judge ruled in 2005 that Posada must be deported, but said he could not be sent to Cuba, where he was born, or Venezuela, where he is a naturalized citizen, because of fears that he could be tortured.
Posada filed suit last year asking a federal judge to order immigration authorities to force the government to expel him or set him free. Several countries, including Mexico, have refused to let Posada in.
That case was dismissed earlier this year after Posada was arrested in the criminal case and turned over to U.S. marshals.
Al salir de prisión, Posada será entregado a inmigración
por Alicia A. Caldwell
12 de abril 2007
Reimprimado de Associated Press
EL PASO, Texas, EEUU - El terrorista Luis Posada Cariles será entregado a las autoridades de inmigración, dijo un vocero de los US Marshals, la policía judicial federal.
Posada está preso en una cárcel condado de Otero, Nuevo México, mientras aguarda ser juzgado por el cargo de mentir en su solicitud de ciudadanía. Se suponía que hoy saliera en libertad bajo fianza, como había decidido una jueza de la Corte Federal de El Paso.
Jerry Payan, agente de la policía judicial, dijo que Posada estaba cumpliendo trámites el jueves por la mañana, pero no quedaría en libertad debido a una orden de deportación vigente.
Una vocera de la agencia de inmigración en El Paso dijo que Posada sería entregado a los agentes de esa repartición. Pero no estaba claro si quedaría detenido o se le permitiría regresar a Miami con su familia mientras aguarda el juicio.
El abogado de Posada en Miami, Arturo V. Hernández, se negó a hacer declaraciones.
Posada está preso desde mayo de 2005 por ingresar ilegalmente a Estados Unidos. El ex agente de la CIA y ex soldado del ejército estadounidense dijo a las autoridades que entró a Texas desde México por tierra. Pero los fiscales, como había publicado el diario Por Esto de México en abril de 2005, aseguran que llegó en el barco Santrina.
Venezuela ha pedido que Luis Posada Carriles sea extraditado a ese país para ser juzgado como autor intelectual de un atentado con bomba que provocó la caída de un avión de pasajeros cubano que había partido de Caracas, y que provocó la muerte de 73 personas.
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