Following much pressure, the Bush administration finally arrested convicted terrorist , writes Faiza Rady On Tuesday, Cuban President Fidel Castro marched with hundreds of thousands past the United States mission in Havana in a mass rally "against terrorism". In his address, Fidel blasted the Bush administration for harbouring convicted Venezuelan terrorist in Miami. "Posada Carriles committed dozens of atrocious acts. Thousands of Cubans either lost their lives or were maimed as a result. The US has tolerated the presence of Posada for weeks on US soil in what constitutes a flagrant violation of that country's own laws," said the Cuban president. Unexpectedly, the Bush administration heeded Fidel's call. On Tuesday, US Homeland Security Department officers finally moved to arrest Posada. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has asked the Bush administration to extradite Posada so he can be retried for the bombing of Cubana Flight 455. A Cuban exile and a CIA henchman in the 1960s and 1970s, Posada was tried and convicted in Venezuela for engineering the downing of the Cuban aircraft near Barbados on 6 October 1976. The DC-8 exploded in mid-air, killing all 73 people on board. US Assistant for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roger Noriega was quick to defend Posada claiming that Cuban charges against him "may be a completely manufactured issue". But lies have short legs, as the saying goes. Following Noriega's suggestions to the contrary, Posada's involvement in bombing the Cuban plane was confirmed by declassified CIA and FBI files released last week. Replete with tales of botched assassination attempts on the life of Fidel and accounts of terror attacks against Cuban civilian targets, Posada's file reads like the script for a grade-B Hollywood thriller. Posada's claim to international terrorist fame was first established with the downing of Cubana Flight 455. According to declassified Document 9, FBI, 7 October, 1976, the Venezuelan FBI bureau cabled headquarters that a "confidential source" had identified Luis Posada and Orlando Bosh as implicated in the bombing. "The source all but admitted that Posada and Bosh had engineered the bombing of the airline," reads the report. This information was then confirmed by another source, who spoke to Ricardo Morales Navarrete, a Cuban exile informant for the Venezuelan secret police. Document 10, FBI, 2 November 1976, relates that Morales told the FBI informant of two meetings during which plotting for the plane bombing took place: one in the Anauco Hotel in Caracas; the other in Morales' room at the Hilton. Posada was present at both meetings. Morales also reported that after the plane exploded, one of the terrorists who placed the bomb in the aircraft, called Bosh, telling him "a bus with 73 dogs went off a cliff and all got killed." A hard working organiser, Posada established a terrorist network prior to engineering the aircraft's bombing. He and fellow terrorist Bosh created CORU (Coordination of United Revolutionary Organisations) at a secret meeting in Santo Domingo on 11 June 1976, essentially to plan the plane bombing and other terrorist acts. Between June 1976 and March 1977, individuals associated with CORU engaged in 16 terrorist attacks, including bombings, attempted kidnappings, assassinations and attempted assassinations. Document 13, FBI, 13 August, 1978 describes CORU as an "anti- Castro terrorist umbrella organisation headed by Orlando Bosh". Bosh and Posada were subsequently arrested in Caracas, charged with masterminding the downing of the Cuban DC-8, and convicted by a lower court. In an interview with Venezuelan journalist Alicia Herrera entitled "We placed the bomb and so what", Posada's wife described her companion's state of mind at the time. "When he started with the Barbados affair, I knew he would be successful because the poor guy had dedicated so much effort with so much passion." While awaiting his appeal in a Venezuelan jail, Posada bribed his way out of prison. In September 1985, he walked away a free man. Not one to waste time, he immediately signed up with Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, who was in charge of covertly bypassing the US Congressional act prohibiting the supply of arms to Nicaraguan Contras. The idea was to destabilise and eventually overthrow the democratically elected Sandanista government in Nicaragua. North posted Posada at a US military airbase in Illopango, San Salvador, where he oversaw the distribution of illicit arms. After North's activities were leaked to the press, he was forced to resign. Posada then dedicated himself to his real calling: going after Fidel. In the 1990s, he started to freelance -- conspiring to bomb Havana hotels, restaurants and clubs. Posada's aim was to crush Cuba's booming tourist industry, the country's main source of foreign currency. In a 1997 hotel bombing, an Italian tourist died and seven people were injured. Cuban police captured a Salvadoran national at the site, who denounced Posada as his recruiter. In a July 1998 interview with The New York Times Posada admitted to having planned the bombing, adding that his conscience was so clear he could sleep "like a baby". However, assassinating the Cuban leader proved more difficult than planting bombs in tourist spots. In 2000, Posada plotted to kill Fidel, while the Cuban leader was attending the Iberian-American summit in Panama. The attempt failed, and Posada and his accomplices were arrested and convicted. Sentenced to jail in Panama, they were pardoned in 2004 after serving only four years. In March 2005 following a brief stay in Mexico, Posada slipped into Miami where he has been enjoying the high life -- while requesting political asylum for services rendered.
