Cuba Calls for Extradition of U.S.-Backed Terrorists
On November 17, based on information provided by Cuban President Fidel Castro, Panamanian police arrested four members of the Cuban-American National Foundation (FNCA) who were plotting to assassinate President Castro. Castro was in Panama to attend the 10th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government. He denounced the plot at a press conference upon his arrival in Panama, identifying the leader of the group as Luis Posada Carriles, an international terrorist of Cuban descent. The group was caught with numerous weapons, 20 kilograms of C-4 plastic explosives and a sketch of the university where the conference was being held.
Luis Posada Carriles was recruited and trained by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and has been linked to numerous previous assassination attempts against Fidel Castro, as well as many attacks against Cuban missions and officials abroad. He organized the mid-flight bombing of a Cubana Airlines plane which killed 73 passengers and crew, including the Cuban youth fending team that was returning from a gold medal performance at the Central American Games in Venezuela. Posada was arrested and imprisoned in Venezuela for this crime, but escaped with the financial and material assistance of the CIA and FNCA. He continued his terrorist activities on behalf of the CIA, working with Oliver North to assist the Nicaraguan Contras and playing a key role in the Iran-Contra scandal. He organized attempts against the life of Fidel Castro at previous Ibero-American summits and was the master-mind behind the bomb attacks against several Cuban hotels in 1997 which left numerous people injured and killed an Italian tourist.
The Cuban government has officially requested that the government of Panama extradite Luis Posada Carriles and his accomplices to Cuba to stand trial for their crimes, as the vast majority of their victims have been Cuban. It has offered assurances that the group will receive a fair trial and that the Cuban government will not seek the death penalty. The Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) has issued a call for all friends of Cuba to mobilize public opinion and exert pressure on the Panamanian authorities to hand over the terrorists to ensure that justice is served and they are not allowed to escape again.