Well, I'll be god-damned. Looks like the CIA has a massive embarrassment on its hands.
Actually, how about a steaming pile of its own ca-ca? Because that's what Luis Posada Carriles is...and you know what they say about steaming piles of ca-ca. Good luck trying to wash off that smell, Lady Macbeth:
The US Justice Department has blocked the release of a Cuban-born exile wanted by Venezuela and Cuba in connection with a plane bombing.
The department opposed a court ruling that anti-Castro activist Luis Posada Carriles should be freed from a Texas detention centre pending deportation.
A department spokeswoman said he might abscond and pose a security risk.
The Cuban plane exploded over Barbados in 1976, killing all 73 people on board - including Cuba's entire fencing team.
The bombing occurred exactly 30 years ago and Cuba is holding a remembrance ceremony on Friday.
Mr Posada - a former CIA operative - is being held in the US for crossing illegally from Mexico after serving time in Panama for plotting to kill Cuban President Fidel Castro.
You know it's bad when the Beeb comes right out and calls him a CIA operative. That news agency is so neutral, they make Switzerland look biased.
But wait! There's more:
Venezuela has intensified its calls for the US to extradite one of its nationals who it blames for the bombing of a Cuban plane 30 years ago.
The country's foreign minister, Nicolas Maduro, demanded the immediate extradition of Luis Posada Carriles, calling him a dangerous terrorist.
[...]
In contrast to Cuban officials, Venezuela's authorities are satisfied that Mr Carriles remains behind bars in the US following a decision by the US Justice Department late on Thursday.
Though they are still far away from putting Mr Posada on trial here, there is now a sense that things could be going their way.
At a news conference, Mr Maduro said that for the first time in history, US justice officials had publicly recognised that Mr Posada could have been involved in acts of terrorism and that if released, he would pose a danger to the community at large.
Mr Maduro said a recent speech by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez at the UN had put public pressure on the US not to release the terror suspect.
But the diplomat also said that Mr Posada was, in his own words, the Bin Laden of the Americas - backed by the Bush family.
Emphasis added.
And that leads me to the salient points here that should not be missed:
1. "Venezuela's authorities are satisfied that Mr Carriles remains behind bars in the US". So much for the notion that the evil, tyrannical Chavez regime wants to extradite him to Venezuela just to torture him. What they want is to see justice done at long last, and to see Posada Carriles tried and sentenced for terrorism. And that's all they want. They don't care whether it happens up here or down there, as long as it happens.
Which leads me nicely to...
2. "...[F]or the first time in history, US justice officials had publicly recognised that Mr Posada could have been involved in acts of terrorism and that if released, he would pose a danger to the community at large." Just this admission alone is a huge victory for Venezuela. And a vindication for Cuba, especially the families of the bombing victims. They've waited 30 years to hear anything that sounded even remotely like an admission of responsibility from the US. Now, suddenly, someone is forced to own up to the fact that this bomber is indeed their boy, and yes, he likes to play with matches just a tee-tiny tad too much.
Sweetest of all, though, is...
3. "Mr Maduro said a recent speech by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez at the UN had put public pressure on the US not to release the terror suspect." So much for the idea that Chavecito's "brimstone" joke at the UN might have been to his discredit. Or that his speech on the whole was ignored, for that reason or for the simple fact that BushCo is scared shitless of him. Sounds to me like someone took him seriously--whether because of Maduro's recent run-in with the Homeland Gestapo (complete with false accusations of past terrorism) or because Chavez raised the issue of Bush Crime Family's terrorist ties in front of what essentially amounts to the whole world--or at least, its duly constituted UN representatives. How terribly embarrassing...especially since it's all true!
No wonder the media in the US are hyping the Mark Foley scandal for all it's worth. A kid-diddler is an easy sacrifice to throw under the bus, especially when the Big Boss's family reputation is at stake.
Never fear, Gentle Readers; I'll be following the demise of Luis Posada Carriles as it unfolds. I'm sure there are many more chapters yet to come.
