[News] Double standard of Bush's "war on terrorism"

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Published: Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Bylined to: <mailto:features @ vheadline.com>Ahora.cu

Double standard of Bush's "war on terrorism" has again been unmasked

Ahora.cu: The double standard of US president Bush's war on terrorism 
has again been unmasked in light of recent events in Miami related to 
ultra-right wing Cuban Americans, commented participants on Tuesday's 
edition of the Cuban radio and television program "The Round Table."

Washington is faced with the public challenge of either putting on 
trial or protecting its long time accomplices living with impunity in 
southern Florida.

In that light, the US has failed to respond positively to Venezuela 
's extradition request on Luis Posada Carriles, accused in the South 
American country of planning a 1976 plane bombing that took 73 lives.

In a clear and direct defiance of the US government, in a recent TV 
interview on Miami's channel 41 TV, the leader of the right wing 
organization "Brothers to the Rescue," Jose Basulto, boasted of an 
attack he launched against a hotel in Havana from a speed boat in the 
1960s . He stated that the FBI has never questioned him about the attack.
    * Basulto, affirmed that he was trained by the CIA , and that he 
led Cuban-American groups in terrorist acts against the island.

Analysts stated that Basulto incriminated himself, without fear of 
police reprisals, on a program that focused on the hearing for his 
accomplices, well-known terrorists Santiago Alvarez Magrina and 
Osvaldo Mitat, who were arrested on November 18 and charged with 
storing illegal firearms. They were charged with no right to bail.

After George W. Bush's assertion after 9/11 that nations were either 
with the US in the fight against terrorism or against it, it now 
remains to be seen what the president's reaction to Basulto's remarks 
will be and his public bragging about how he has incited people to 
commit terrorist acts against Cuba.
    * Alvarez smuggled Posada from Mexico to the United States on 
board his boat the Santrina in March of this year. This fact, amply 
documented and reiterated by Cuba, has received no attention from the 
government of the United States.

Panelists on the Round Table delved into Alvarez' thick criminal 
dossier, and spoke about his work to introduce terrorists in Cuba, 
and how he advised one of his accomplices on how to blow up the 
famous Havana Tropicana Cabaret. The recording of his instructions 
was aired on the program.

Alvarez, the son of a corrupt senator of pre-revolutionary Cuba, has 
publicly stated his close friendship with Luis Posada and other terrorists.

Meanwhile in a federal court hearing in Miami on Tuesday, Alvarez and 
Mitat pleaded not guilty to weapon charges and their trial was 
postponed one more week at the request of the defense lawyers.

Friends of the defendants are trying to change the venue of the trial 
to Miami, where there is a favorable climate for their cause, and are 
insulting the government for its announced decision to try them in 
Fort Lauderdale.

In the opinion of analysts, it is hard to predict if there will be a 
fair trial, although it is evident that Alvarez and Mitat, are going 
through a tough time and the media has plenty of evidence linking 
them to Posada.

During the program it was learned that 30 radio and TV frequencies 
based in Miami, beam more than 2,000 hours a week of subversive 
programs against Cuba, and the US government is earmarking 47 million 
dollars a year for this aggression.

The panelists recalled that when the farcical trial against the Cuban 
Five took place, the prosecutors believed that Miami was the right 
venue to obtain a conviction.

Notorious CIA agent Felix Rodriguez, decorated for ordering the 
assassination of Commander Ernerto "Che" Guevara, told a Miami TV 
channel that he would do his best to help Alvarez and Mitat. 
Rodriguez is the current chairman of the 2506 Mercenary Brigade.


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