Luis Posada Carriles

Luis Clemente Posada Carriles (February 15, 1928 – May 23, 2018) was a Cuban exile militant and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent.

He was considered a terrorist by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigationand the Government of Cuba, among others.

Born in Cienfuegos, Posada Carriles fled to the United States after a spell of anti-Castro activism as a student. He helped organize the Bay of Pigs invasion, and after it failed, became an agent for the CIA. He received training at Fort Benning, and from 1964 to 1968 was involved with a series of bombings and other covert activities against the Cuban government. Along with Orlando Bosch, he was involved in founding the Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations, described by the FBI as "an anti-Castro terrorist umbrella organization". Posada and CORU are widely considered responsible for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people.

Posada later admitted involvement in a string of bombings in 1997 targeting fashionable Cuban hotels and nightspots. In addition, he was jailed under accusations related to an assassination attempt on Fidel Castro in Panama in 2000, although he was later pardoned by Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso in the final days of her term. He had denied involvement in the airline bombing and the alleged plot against Castro in Panama, but has admitted to fighting to overthrow the Castro regime in Cuba.

In 2005, Posada was held by U.S. authorities in Texas on the charge of being in the country illegally: the charges were later dismissed. A judge ruled he could not be deported because he faced the threat of torture in Venezuela. The US government refused to repatriate Posada to Cuba, citing the same reason. His release on bail in 2007 elicited angry reactions from the Cuban and Venezuelan governments. The U.S. Justice Department had urged the court to keep him in jail because he was "an admitted mastermind of terrorist plots and attacks", a flight risk and a danger to the community. Posada is considered "a heroic figure in the hardline anti-Castro exile community" in Miami. Peter Kornbluh of the National Security Archive has referred to him as "one of the most dangerous terrorists in recent history" and the "godfather of Cuban exile violence."

Early years (1928–1968)

Posada was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba on February 15, 1928. His family was relatively affluent. He had four siblings. The family moved to Havana when Posada was 17 years old. He studied medicine and chemistry at the University of Havana and worked as a supervisor for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.

As a student he had come in contact with Fidel Castro, who had become a figure of some significance in the student politics of the time. Misgivings about the Cuban revolution of 1959 led Posada to become an activist in open opposition to the new government. After a spell in military prison Posada sought political asylum in Mexico. By 1961, Posada had relocated to the United States where he helped to organize the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, which failed. Although his squadron failed to see action, Posada made a number of contacts and lifelong friends, including future president of the Cuban American National Foundation, Jorge Mas Canosa, who was stationed in the same platoon. The rest of Posada's family remained in Cuba, and continued to support the Cuban revolution; Posada's sister eventually rose to the rank of Colonel in the Cuban army.

After the failure at the Bay of Pigs, Posada was trained by CIA in sabotage and explosives at the U.S. Army's Fort Benningbetween March 1963 and March 1964. He worked closely with the CIA in Miami and was active in the CIA's Operation 40. He later described his role as that of the agency's "principal agent", informing the organisation about political movements within the exile community and operating anti-Castro activities.

In Florida, Posada also trained members of the JURE, Junta Revolucionaria Cubana, a group which aimed to infiltrate Cuba. CIA files indicate that Posada was involved in a 1965 attempt to overthrow the Guatemalan government. The same year, the CIA reported that Posada was involved in various bombing plans in association with Jorge Mas Canosa. In 1968, relations frayed with the CIA when Posada was questioned about his "unreported association with gangster elements". Posada relocated to Venezuela, taking with him various CIA supplied weapons including grenades and fuses. He became a naturalized citizen of that country where he began his association with fellow Cuban exile Orlando Bosch.

Venezuela (1968–1985)

In Venezuela, Posada became chief of operations of one of the Venezuelan direction of services for intelligence and prevention, the DISIP. The role involved countering various guerrilla movements supported by Cuba, but by 1974 he was dismissed after internal differences with Venezuelan authorities. Prior to his dismissal, the CIA had begun to believe that Posada was involved in cocaine trafficking, but did not break formal ties until February 13, 1976. The agency also believe that Posada was involved in a plot to assassinate Henry Kissinger, who at that time was advocating a more cooperative approach to Cuba-United States relations.

The Church Committee hearings of 1975, which had been triggered by fears that the CIA were running too many rogue operations, had a significant impact on the agency, and Posada's association was seen to be "not in good odour". Posada went on to found a private detective agency in Caracas. With Orlando Bosch, Guillermo Novo Sampoll, and Gaspar Jiménez Escobedo, he founded the Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations (CORU). The FBI has described CORU as "an anti-Castro terrorist umbrella organization."

Cubana Flight 455, 1976 Declassified FBI report that reads: "Our confidential source ascertained (...) that the bombing of the Cubana Airlines DC-8 was planned, in part, in Caracas, Venezuela, at two meetings attended by Morales Navarrete, Luis Posada Carriles and Frank Castro" Main article: Cubana Flight 455

Cubana Flight 455 was a Cubana de Aviación flight departing from Barbados, via Trinidad, to Cuba. On October 6, 1976, two time bombs variously described as dynamite or C-4 planted on the Douglas DC-8 aircraft exploded, killing all 73 people on board, including all 24 members of the 1975 national Cuban Fencing team, which had just won all the gold medals in the Central American and Caribbean Championship.

Investigators from Cuba, Venezuela and the United States traced the planting of the bombs to two Venezuelan passengers, Freddy Lugo and Hernán Ricardo Lozano. Both men were employed by Posada at his private detective agency based in Venezuela. A week later, Luis Posada and Orlando Boschwere arrested on charges of masterminding the attack, and were jailed in Venezuela. It was reported that several Miami residents and Bosch met in the Dominican Republic shortly before the bombing and issued a statement declaring their intention of waging a terrorist campaign against Cuba.

Declassified FBI and CIA reports show that the agencies suspected his involvement in the airline bombing within days of its occurrence. According to a declassified CIA document dated October 13, 1976, with information from what the CIA deemed a usually reliable source, Posada – at the time in Caracas – was overheard to say a few days before Cubana flight 455 exploded: "We are going to hit a Cuban airliner ... Orlando has the details". The details were contained in a memorandum sent to then-secretary of state Henry Kissinger. The memorandum also suggested that Posada was likely to have planned the bombing.

Posada, who denied involvement in the Cubana 455 bombing, insisted his "only objective was to fight for Cuba's freedom". Posada was found not guilty by a military court; however, this ruling was overturned and he was held for trial in a civilian court. Posada escaped from prison with Freddie Lugo in 1977, turning themselves in to the less-than-sympathetic Chilean authorities. He was immediately extradited. He was held awaiting trial in Venezuela for eight years before escaping in 1985 while awaiting a prosecutor's appeal of his second acquittal in the bombing. His escape is said to have involved a hefty bribe and his dressing as a priest, as well as the pseudonym "Ramón Medina".

According to Posada, the escape was planned and financed by Jorge Mas Canosa, by then head of the Cuban American National Foundation, a group with close ties to the Reagan administration.[29] Mas then helped Posada settle in El Salvador, where he joined the White House-directed operations in the region.

Contras and Central America (1985–2005)

In Central America, Posada was assigned as deputy to Félix Rodríguez, a CIA operative who had overseen the capture of Ernesto "Che" Guevara in 1967. The pair were to coordinate drops of military supplies to the Contras, a rebel group funded by the Reagan administration opposed leftist Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Posada was paid $3,000 per month plus expenses from U.S. Major General Richard Secord, who was directing operations for Oliver North. Posada was responsible for managing supply flights from the Salvadoran base of Ilopango to the Contra rebels at the border. The flights ceased in 1986, after American pilot Eugene Hasenfus was shot down and captured by the Nicaraguan government, and confessed to the role of the US government in supporting the Contras.

Posada remained in El Salvador during the hearings before signing up as a security advisor to the Guatemalangovernment. He also remained in contact with Cuban exile groups during this period. In February 1990, Posada was shot while sitting in his car in Guatemala City by unknown assailants that Posada believed were Cuban assassins. In his memoir, Posada said that his recovery and medical bills were paid by the Cuban American National Foundation, with additional payments from Richard Secord. While Posada recuperated in Honduras, the FBI believed that Posada was responsible for 41 bombings in the country. Posada himself admitted to planning numerous attacks against Cuba and seeking assistance from the Honduran military to aid his cause, which was not forthcoming.

Tourist bombings of 1997

In 1997, Posada was implicated in a further series of terrorist bombings in Cuba intended to deter the growing tourism trade on the island. An Italian-born Canadian national, Fabio di Celmo, was killed and 11 others were wounded as a result. In reaction to di Celmo's death, Posada told reporter Ann Louise Bardach in a 1998 taped interview that "the Italian was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I sleep like a baby." In a taped interview with The New York Times, Posada said: "It is sad that someone is dead, but we can't stop."

Posada was reportedly disappointed with the reluctance of American news organisations to report the bombing attacks, saying "If there is no publicity, the job is useless. He later recanted the confession. Raúl Ernesto Cruz León, whom Posada admitted was a mercenary under his employment, was sentenced to death by the Cuban authorities after admitting to the attacks. Cuba initially sentenced Cruz León to death penalty but later commuted the sentence to 30 years imprisonment.

Posada also claimed that Jorge Mas Canosa, the head of the Cuban American National Foundation, was well aware of the attacks, but the two men agreed never to discuss the operations. The Foundation denied these claims.

In 1998, The New York Times indicated that, even after the U.S. government no longer sponsored Posada's violent activities, Posada Carriles may have benefited from a tolerant attitude on the part of U.S. law enforcement. As bombs were being placed in tourist hotels and restaurants in Havana, the New York Times reported, a Cuban-American business-partner of Posada's tried to inform first Guatemalan, then U.S., law enforcement of Posada's involvement and possible links to Cuban exiles in Union City, New Jersey.

Posada Carriles stated in a 1998 New York Times interview that he had received financial backing from Cuban American National Foundation for the 1997 bombing campaign in Cuba. The Cuban Ministry of the Interior claimed that the three September 4, 1997 bomb attacks against three hotels in Havana, in which one person was killed, were planned and controlled by CANF. CANF has denied the allegations. Jose Antonio Llama, a former board member of CANF, stated in an interview published in 2006 that several of its leaders planned attacks in Cuba during the 1990s.

In 1997, CANF published a statement unconditionally supporting all terrorist attacks against Cuba; the CANF chairman at the time stated that "We do not think of these as terrorist actions".[41] For his part, Posada claimed to be responsible for planning six bombings at Havana hotels and restaurants during 1997.

Panama: Arrest, conviction and release (2000–2004)

On November 17, 2000, Posada was discovered with 200 pounds of explosives in Panama City and arrested for allegedly plotting the assassination of Fidel Castro, who was visiting the country for the first time since 1959. Three other Cuban exiles were also arrested alongside Posada: Gaspar Jiménez who worked at the Cuban American National Foundation in Miami, Pedro Remón Rodríguez and Guillermo Novo.

Castro announced the alleged discovery of the plot on international television, describing Posada as "a cowardly man totally without scruples". He also blamed CANF for allegedly orchestrating the plot. Shortly after, Justino di Celmo, the father of Fabio di Celmo, an Italian-born Canadian national killed by a bomb in Havana, appeared on Cuban television to urge the Panamanian authorities to extradite Posada to Cuba. Posada was subsequently convicted and jailed in Panama for the assassination attempt.

In August 2004, Posada and the three other convicted plotters were pardoned by outgoing Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso. Moscoso, who had been close to the Bush administration in the U.S., denied that she had been pressured by U.S. officials to engineer a release of the men, though U.S. officials said they were not involved. "This was a decision made by the government of Panama", said State Department spokesman J. Adam Ereli. "We never lobbied the Panamanian government to pardon anyone involved in this case, and I'd leave it to the government of Panama to discuss the action." President Mireya Moscoso commented, saying that "No foreign government has pressured me to take the decision", she told reporters. "I knew that if these men stayed here, they would be extradited to Cuba and Venezuela, and there they were surely going to kill them there."

"No foreign government has pressured me to take the decision, I knew that if these men stayed here, they would be extradited to Cuba and Venezuela, and there they were surely going to kill them there."

Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso

Moscoso's decision was condemned by incoming Panamanian president Martín Torrijos,[44] and speculation was rife that the pardon was politically motivated. Cuba expert Julia E. Sweig said the decision "reeks of political and diplomatic cronyism". Immediately after news of the pardon broke, Venezuela and Cuba withdrew diplomatic ties with Panama. Subsequently, the tape of a phone call made by Moscoso came to light: "Ambassador, good morning. This is the president to inform you that the four Cubans were already pardoned last night and they have left the country [...] Three are on their way to Miami and the other, well, in an unknown direction. Goodbye. A hug." The media in Panama discussed this message as evidence of the accusation that the United States pressured Moscoso to extend the pardon.

United States (2005–2018)

Roger Noriega, then U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. At the time of Posada's arrest in the U.S., Noriega stated that the charges against Posada "may be a completely manufactured issue".

In 2005, Posada requested political asylum in the United States through his attorney, and on May 3, 2005, the Venezuelan Supreme Court approved an extradition request for him.

On May 17, 2005, two journalists from the Miami Herald, Oscar J. Corral and Alfonso Chardy, conducted an interview with Posada in South Florida. Later that day, the Herald and the Associated Press reported that he had been detained by the Department of Homeland Security. He had withdrawn his asylum appeal and was moving to sneak out of the country when arrested. His arrest coincided with enormous anti-Posada protests in Havana - organizers claimed that hundreds of thousands of Cubans participated in the rally. On September 28, 2005, a U.S. immigration judge ruled that Posada could not be deported because he faced the threat of torture in Venezuela. The Venezuelan government reacted angrily to the ruling, accusing the US of having a "double standard in its so-called war on terrorism".[19] The United States government sought to deport Posada elsewhere, but at least seven friendly nations refused to accept him.

Cuba and Venezuela sought Posada's extradition under the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings and the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation.

Posada was referenced in Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's address to the UN General Assembly on September 20, 2006. Railing against the U.S. for "imperialism" and "hypocrisy", Chávez called Posada "the biggest terrorist of this continent", and said: "Thanks to the CIA and government officials, he was allowed to escape, and he lives here in this country, protected by the government."

During a United Nation Security Council meeting to review the work of its three subsidiary counter-terrorism committees, the United States was invited by the representatives of Venezuela and Cuba to comment on the evidence (above) in the Posada case. The US representative, Willson, stated that "an individual cannot be brought for trial or extradited unless sufficient evidence has been established that he has committed the offence charged." Willson said removal to Venezuela or Cuba could not be carried out because, she claimed, "it was more likely than not that he would be tortured if he were so transferred."

The Venezuelan representative denied the allegation, and pointed to the United States' own record in Abu Ghraib and in Guantánamo as examples of what Venezuela would not do.

“He is not being charged as a terrorist but rather as a liar. My family and I are outraged and disappointed that a known terrorist, Luis Posada, is going to trial for perjury and immigration fraud, not for the horrific crime of masterminding the bombing of a civilian airliner.”— Livio di Celmo, whose brother Fabio di Celmo was killed in a 1997 Posada hotel bombing.

Luis Posada Carriles was released from jail after paying bond on April 19, 2007. The U.S. Fifth District Court of Appeals in New Orleans rejected a Justice Department request Posada be refused bail for entering the U.S. illegally and he was escorted by Federal agents to Miami where members of the Cuban community welcomed him as a patriot. Posada was required to remain under 24-hour house arrest at his wife's apartment in Miami until trial, with permission to leave only to meet with attorneys or for doctor's appointments.

On May 8, 2007, U.S. district judge Kathleen Cardone dismissed seven counts of immigration fraud and ordered Posada's electronic bracelet removed. In a 38-page ruling, Judge Cardone criticized the U.S. government's "fraud, deceit and trickery" during the interview with immigration authorities that was the basis of the charges against Posada.[53][54] Cardone's ruling was overturned in mid-2008 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which ruled that Posada Carriles should be tried for the alleged immigration violation.

In 2009, a federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment, which marked the first time he was officially linked by the US government to the 1997 bombings in Cuba. On April 9, 2009, The Miami Herald reported:

The superseding indictment from the grand jury in El Paso does not charge Posada, 81, with planting the bombs or plotting the bombings but with lying in an immigration court about his role in the attacks at hotels, bars and restaurants in the Havana area. The perjury counts were added to the previous indictment that accused Posada of lying in his citizenship application about how he got into the United States. Another new charge is obstruction of a U.S. investigation into "international terrorism."

2010 Texas trial

“The bottom line is that the Justice Department is trying to hold him accountable for horrible acts of terrorism ... This trial can confirm what everybody already knows, (that) Luis Posada is a leading purveyor of terrorism.”— Peter Kornbluh, National Security Archive, February 25, 2010.

Posada was accused of lying to U.S. authorities about his entry into the country and about his alleged involvement in bomb attacks in Havana in 1997, and went on trial in Texas.[18][56] Many of his backers in the Cuban exilecommunity gathered thousands of dollars for his defense during what they termed a "radio marathon" on Radio Mambí. The events for which Posada was tried began after he sailed illegally into the United States and applied for political asylum. His charges did not relate to his alleged involvement in the bombing of the Cubana airliner, or in the bombings in Havana. His charges revolved around lying to immigration agents about his trip to the U.S. and illegally entering the United States.

Prosecutors alleged that he deceived them about his passport and arrived on a boat named the Santrina, not on a bus as he had told the government during interviews.[56] Posada was acquitted on all charges against him in 2011. A spokesman of the US Justice department expressed disappointment in the outcome, while the Cuban and Venezuelan governments denounced the trial.

Personal life

Posada Carriles separated from his first wife a few years after first moving to the US, and married his second wife, Elina Nives. Nives and he had a son and a daughter together, but lived apart for most of their marriage. He lived in Miami, where he often attended fund raisers among the right-wing exile groups, and participated in protests against the government of Fidel Castro.[A November 2016 El Nuevo Herald newspaper article described Posada in a Miami restaurant celebrating Castro's death. The article reported that the then-88-year-old Posada was a cancer survivor and had suffered a stroke.

He died on May 23, 2018 in Miami, Florida, aged 90: an obituary in the Washington Post stated that he had been diagnosed with throat cancer five years previously.