Posada Carriles Arrested in Miami

[Background at the National Security Archives - Articles & Actions at PeopleJudgeBush.org]

Washington, May 17 (Prensa Latina) Notorious terrorist of Cuban origin Luis Posada Carriles was arrested Tuesday in Miami after making a public appearance at a press conference the day 1.2 million Cubans marched in Havana to demand justice and an end to terrorism.

CIA and FBI files prove Posada Carriles was the mastermind together with Orlando Bosch, another Cuban born terrorist known as Doctor Death, of many terror attacks, including the mid-air bombing of Cubana Flight 455 that killed all 73 people on board.

According to CNN reports, agents from the Department of Homeland Security detained Posada Carriles and took him first to Krome detention center in Miami, from where he was flown in a DHS helicopter to Homestead Air Force in South Florida.

A brief DHS statement indicated that Posada Carriles was brought into custody to have his immigration status checked over the next 48 hours, but it gave no further detail.

About two hours after the news conference in which he reiterated his request for political asylum, his lawyer Eduardo Soto said Posada Carriles was withdrawing his petition and that he was leaving the country.

President Fidel Castro has accused the Bush administration of double standards on his much publicized war on terrorism by allowing a proved terrorist in the US and has demanded his arrest.

Posada Carriles is wanted in Cuba also for plotting to assassinate President Fidel Castro in November 2000, when the Cuban statesman was attending that year´s Iberian-Latin American Summit.

He was then arrested, tried and got a minor sentence but was released by then President Mireya Moscoso last August. The CIA-trained terrorist is also accused of masterminding a series of bombings in Havana hotels in which an Italian business man was killed.

Venezuela has applied to the US for Posada Carriles to be deported to stand trial for the airliner attack.

Also on Tuesday, the Miami Herald published an exclusive interview with Posada Carriles, in which the daily corroborated and provided evidence for all of Cuban President Fidel Catro´s charges on how and when the notorious mass killer sneaked into South Florida. Posada Carriles told it himself in an interview to the paper.

"Luis Posada Carriles may be the most wanted man in Cuba and Venezuela, but on this recent afternoon, the man accused of deadly terrorism peacefully sips a peach drink, reads about Confucius and marvels at the Miami skyline from the balcony of a Brickell Key high-rise," the Miami Herald wrote.

The terrorist, 77, admitted to making a lot of mistakes throughout his life, but said he has no regret for what he has done.

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