Luis Posada at Fort Benning, Georgia, U.S., 1962

Luis Clemente Faustino Posada Carriles (born February 15, 1928) (nicknamed Bambi by some Cuban exiles)^[1] is a Cuban-born Venezuelan anti-communist extremist, domestic terrorist, and former Central Intelligence Agency agent.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]}

Posada has been convicted in absentia in Panama, of involvement in various terrorist attacks and plots in the Americas, including: involvement in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed seventy-three people;^[9][10] admitted involvement in a string of bombings in 1997 targeting fashionable Cuban hotels and nightspots;^[11][12][13] involvement in the Bay of Pigs invasion; and involvement in the Iran-Contra affair.^[14] In addition, he was jailed under accusations related to an assassination attempt on Fidel Castro in Panama in 2000, although he was later pardoned by Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso in the final days of her term.^[15][16] Posada Carriles has always denied involvement in the airline bombing and the alleged plot against Castro in Panama, but has admitted to fighting for "freedom" in Cuba.^[17]

In 2005, Posada was held by U.S. authorities in Texas on the charge of illegal presence on national territory before the charges were dismissed on May 8, 2007. On September 28, 2005 a U.S. immigration judge ruled that Posada cannot be deported, finding that he faces the threat of torture in Venezuela.^[18] Likewise, the US government has refused to send Posada to Cuba, saying he might face torture.^[17] His release on bail on April 19, 2007 had elicited angry reactions from the Cuban and Venezuelan governments.^[19] The U.S. Justice Department had urged the court to keep him in jail because he was "an admitted mastermind of terrorist plots and attacks", a flight risk and a danger to the community.^[13] On September 9, 2008 the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the District Court's Order dismissing the indictment and remanded the case to the District Court.^[20] On April 8, 2009 the United States Attorney filed a superseding indictment in the case. Posada-Carriles' jury trial had been set for February 26, 2010 but it was announced on February 22 that it would be postponed for at least three months.^[20][21] Posada-Carriles' trial ended on April 8, 2011 with a jury acquitting him on all charges.^[22]

Although he has never been convicted for his various acts of violence, Peter Kornbluh of the National Security Archive has referred to him as "one of the most dangerous terrorists in recent history" and the "godfather of Cuban exile violence."^[23] In Miami however, where Posada currently resides, he is considered "a heroic figure in the hardline anti-Castro exile community."^[23]

Early years (1928–1968)[link]

Posada was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba. He studied medicine and chemistry at the University of Havana and worked as a supervisor for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.^[24][25] As a student he had come in contact with Fidel Castro, who had become a figure of some significance in the violent student politics of the time. Misgivings about the Cuban revolution of 1959 led Posada to become an activist in open opposition to the new government. After a spell in military prison Posada sought political asylum in Mexico. By 1961 Posada had relocated to the United States where he helped to organize the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.^[26] Though his squadron failed to see action, Posada made a number of contacts and lifelong friends, including future president of the Cuban American National Foundation, Jorge Mas Canosa, who was stationed in the same platoon.^[27]

After the failed invasion, Posada was trained by CIA in sabotage and explosives at the U.S. Army's Fort Benning between March 1963 and March 1964.^[26][28] He worked closely with the CIA in Miami and was active in the CIA's Operation 40. He later described his role as that of the agency's "principal agent", informing the organisation about political movements within the exile community and operating anti-Castro activities.^[27] In Florida, Posada also trained members of the JURE, Junta Revolucionaria Cubana, a group which aimed to infiltrate Cuba.^[28] CIA files indicate that Posada was involved in a 1965 attempt to overthrow the Guatemalan government. The same year, the CIA reported that Posada was involved in various bombing plans in association with Jorge Mas Canosa. In 1968, relations frayed with the CIA when Posada was questioned about his "unreported association with gangster elements". Posada relocated to Venezuela, taking with him various CIA supplied weapons including grenades and fuses.^[28] He became a naturalized citizen of that country where he began his association with fellow Cuban exile and accused terrorist Orlando Bosch.^[27]

Venezuela (1968–1985)[link]

In Venezuela, Posada became chief of operations of one of the Venezuelan direction of services for intelligence and prevention, the DISIP.^[29][30] The role involved countering various guerrilla movements supported by Cuba, but by 1974 he was dismissed after internal differences with Venezuelan authorities.^[29] Prior to his dismissal, the CIA had begun to believe that Posada was involved in cocaine trafficking, but did not break formal ties until February 13, 1976. The agency also believe that Posada was involved in a plot to assassinate Henry Kissinger, who at that time was advocating a more cooperative approach to Cuba-United States relations.^[28] The Church Committee hearings of 1975, which had been triggered by fears that the CIA were running too many rogue operations, had a significant impact on the agency, and Posada's association was seen to be "not in good odour".^[27] Posada went on to found a private detective agency in Caracas.^[1]

With Orlando Bosch, Guillermo Novo Sampoll, and Gaspar Jiménez Escobedo, he founded the Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations (CORU).^[31] The FBI has described CORU as "an anti-Castro terrorist umbrella organization."^[32]

Cubana Flight 455, 1976[link]

Declassified FBI report that reads: "[a confidential source] all but admitted that Posada and [Orlando] Bosch had engineered the bombing of the airline."^[33]

Declassified FBI report that reads: "Our confidential source ascertained (...) that the bombing of the Cubana Airlines DC-8 was planned, in part, in Caracas, Venezuela, at two meetings attended by Morales Navarrete, Luis Posada Carriles and Frank Castro"^[34]

Cubana Flight 455 was a Cubana de Aviación flight departing from Barbados, via Trinidad, to Cuba. On October 6, 1976 two timebombs variously described as dynamite or C-4 planted on the Douglas DC-8 aircraft exploded, killing all 78 people on board, including all 24 members of the 1975 national Cuban Fencing team that had just won all the gold medals in the Central American and Caribbean Championship.^[35]

Investigators from Cuba, Venezuela and the United States traced the planting of the bombs to two Venezuelan passengers, Freddy Lugo and Hernán Ricardo Lozano. Both men were employed by Posada at his private detective agency based in Venezuela, and they both subsequently admitted to the crime. A week after the men's confessions, Luis Posada and Orlando Bosch were arrested on charges of masterminding the attack, and were jailed in Venezuela.^[36] Declassified FBI and CIA reports show that the agencies suspected his involvement in the airline bombing within days of its occurrence.^[37][32] It was reported that several Miami residents and Bosch met in the Dominican Republic shortly before the bombing and issued a statement declaring their intention of waging a terrorist campaign against Cuba.^[1] A declassified CIA document dated October 13, 1976 quotes Posada – at the time in Caracas – as saying a few days before Cubana flight 455 exploded: "We are going to hit a Cuban airliner... Orlando has the details".^[38]

Posada, who denied involvement in the Cubana 455 bombing, insisted his "only objective was to fight for Cuba's freedom".^[39] Posada was found not guilty by a military court; however, this ruling was overturned and he was held for trial in a civilian court. Posada escaped from prison with Freddie Lugo in 1977, turning themselves in to the less-than-sympathetic Chilean authorities. He was immediately extradited, and was held without conviction for eight years before escaping in 1985 while awaiting a prosecutor's appeal of his second acquittal in the bombing. His escape is said to have involved a hefty bribe and his dressing as a priest,^[27][40] as well as the pseudonym "Ramón Medina".^[41] According to Posada, the escape was planned and financed by Jorge Mas Canosa, by then head of the Cuban American National Foundation, a group with close ties to the Reagan administration.^[36] Mas then helped Posada settle in El Salvador, where he joined the White House-directed operations in the region.^[36]

Contras and Central America (1985–2005)[link]

In Central America, Posada was assigned as deputy to Félix Rodríguez, a CIA operative who had overseen the capture of Ernesto "Che" Guevara in 1967. The pair were to coordinate drops of military supplies to the Contras, a paramilitary militia funded by the Reagan administration opposed leftist Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Posada was paid $3,000 per month plus expenses from U.S. Major General Richard Secord, who was directing operations for Oliver North.^[27] The subsequent Iran-Contra investigations cast light over U.S. operations in the region, and several of Posada's connections, including Félix Rodríguez were asked to testify.

Posada remained in El Salvador during the hearings before signing up as a security advisor to the Guatemalan government. He also remained in contact with Cuban exile groups during this period.^[27] In February 1990 Posada was shot while sitting in his car in Guatemala City by unknown assailants that Posada believed were Cuban assassins. In his memoir, Posada said that his recovery and medical bills were paid by the Cuban American National Foundation, with additional payments from Richard Secord.^[36] Though recuperating in Honduras, the FBI believed that Posada was responsible for 41 bombings in the country, Posada himself admitted to planning numerous attacks against Cuba and seeking assistance from the Honduran military to aid his cause, which was not forthcoming.^[27]

Tourist bombings of 1997[link]

In 1997, Posada was implicated in a further series of terrorist bombings in Cuba intended to deter the growing tourism trade on the island. An Italian-Canadian, Fabio di Celmo, was killed and 11 people wounded as a result. In reaction to Celmo's death, Posada told reporter Ann Louise Bardach in a 1998 taped interview that "the Italian was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I sleep like a baby."^[23]

In a taped interview with The New York Times, Posada said: "It is sad that someone is dead, but we can't stop."^[40] Posada was reportedly disappointed with the reluctance of American news organisations to report the bombing attacks, saying "If there is no publicity, the job is useless.^[27] He later recanted the confession.^[42] Raúl Ernesto Cruz León, who Posada admitted was a mercenary under his employment, was sentenced to death by the Cuban authorities after admitting to the attacks.^[27]

The Malecon seafront of Havana

Posada also claimed that Jorge Mas Canosa, the head of the Cuban American National Foundation, was well aware of the attacks, but the two men agreed never to discuss the operations. The Foundation has denied these claims.^[27] In 1998, The New York Times indicated that, even after the U.S. government no longer sponsored Posada's violent activities, Posada Carriles may have benefited from a tolerant attitude on the part of U.S. law enforcement. As bombs were being placed in tourist hotels and restaurants in Havana, the New York Times reported, a Cuban-American business-partner of Posada's tried to inform first Guatemalan, then U.S., law enforcement of Posada's involvement and possible links to Cuban exiles in Union City, New Jersey.^[43]

On 3 May 2007 it was revealed that FBI agents traveled to Cuba in 2006 as part of an investigation into Posada's possible role in the 1997 bombings in Havana. New FBI documents were also released revealing new details about Posada's many terrorist plots, including concealing high explosives in shoes and shampoo bottles. ^[44] However the FBI failed to use the evidence to follow up on Posada, using it instead to uncover the Cuban spy network which had brought together the evidence, which led to the conviction of the Cuban Five.^[45]

Panama: Arrest, conviction and release (2000–2004)[link]

Fidel Castro, the target of an alleged failed assassination attempt in 2000

On November 17, 2000 Posada was discovered with 200 pounds of explosives in Panama City and arrested for allegedly plotting the assassination of Fidel Castro, who was visiting the country for the first time since 1959. Three other Cuban exiles were also arrested alongside Posada: Gaspar Jiménez who worked at the Cuban American National Foundation in Miami, Pedro Remón Rodríguez and Carlos Muñiz Varela.^[27]

Communist leader Fidel Castro announced the alleged discovery of the plot on international television, describing Posada as "a cowardly man totally without scruples". Castro also blamed the CANF for allegedly orchestrating the plot. Shortly after, Justino di Celmo, the father of an Italian killed by a bomb in Havana, appeared on Cuban television to urge the Panamanian authorities to extradite Posada to Cuba. Posada was subsequently convicted and jailed in Panama for the assassination attempt.^[27]

In August 2004, Posada and the three other convicted plotters were pardoned by outgoing Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso. Moscoso, who had been close to the Bush administration in the U.S., denied that she had been pressured by U.S. officials to engineer a release of the men, though U.S. officials said they were not involved. "This was a decision made by the government of Panama," said State Department spokesman J. Adam Ereli. "We never lobbied the Panamanian government to pardon anyone involved in this case, and I'd leave it to the government of Panama to discuss the action." President Mireya Moscoso commented, saying that "No foreign government has pressured me to take the decision," she told reporters. "I knew that if these men stayed here, they would be extradited to Cuba and Venezuela, and there they were surely going to kill them there."^[46]

The U.S. government declined to condemn the actions of the four men.^[46] Moscoso's decision was heavily criticized by incoming president Martín Torrijos,^[47] and speculation was rife that the pardon was politically motivated.^[46] Cuba expert Julia E. Sweig said the decision "reeks of political and diplomatic cronyism". Sweig cited business and personal connections between Panama and the Cuban American exile community in Florida, and implied that Florida governor Jeb Bush may have had a role in the release.^[46][48] Immediately after news of the pardon broke, Venezuela and Cuba withdrew diplomatic ties with Panama.^[47]

United States (2005–)[link]

In 2005 Posada requested political asylum in the United States through his attorney, and on May 3, 2005, the Venezuelan Supreme Court approved an extradition request for him.^[6] On May 17, 2005 the Miami Herald conducted an interview with Posada in South Florida; later that day, the Herald and the Associated Press reported that he had been detained by the Department of Homeland Security. He had withdrawn his asylum appeal and was moving to sneak out of the country when arrested. His arrest coincided with large anti-Posada protests in Havana - organizers estimated that hundreds of thousands of Cubans participated in the rally. On September 28, 2005 a U.S. immigration judge ruled that Posada could not be deported because he faced the threat of torture in Venezuela. The Venezuelan government reacted angrily to the ruling, accusing the US of having a "double standard in its so-called war on terrorism".^[18] The US government sought to deport Posada elsewhere, but at least seven friendly nations refused to accept him.^[50] Cuba and Venezuela have sought Posada's extradition under the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings and the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation.^[51] Under the 1971 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation the US is obligated to prosecute Posada for the alleged acts of terrorism if it does not extradite him.^[52]

The US Government has been heavily criticized in some circles, especially in the context of the so-called "war on terror" as well as being hypocritical as far as the Bush Doctrine goes. International law, including the UN Security Council Resolution 1373 of September, 2001, states that countries should not give safe haven or any kind of assistance to people involved in present or past terrorist activities. The final declaration of the XIVth Ibero-American Summit, held in Salamanca in October 2005, includes a demand to "extradite or judge the man responsible for the terrorist blowing-up of a plane of Cubana Aviation in October 1976, which caused the death of 73 innocent civilians".^[53] Posada was referenced in Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's address to the UN General Assembly on September 20, 2006. Railing against the U.S. for "imperialism" and "hypocrisy", Chávez called Posada "the biggest terrorist of this continent", and said: "Thanks to the CIA and government officials, he was allowed to escape, and he lives here in this country, protected by the government."^[54]

During a United Nation Security Council meeting to review the work of its three subsidiary counter-terrorism committees, the United States was invited by the representatives of Venezuela and Cuba to comment on the evidence (above) in the Posada case. The US representative, Ms. Willson, then stated, "an individual cannot be brought for trial or extradited unless sufficient evidence has been established that he has committed the offence charged."^[55] She also alleged that removal to Venezuela or Cuba could not be carried out as "it was more likely than not that he would be tortured if he were so transferred."^[55] The Venezuelan representative denied the allegation, and pointed to the United States' own record in Abu Ghraib and in Guantánamo as examples of what Venezuela would not do.^[56]

Luis Posada Carriles was released from jail after paying bond on April 19, 2007. The US Fifth District Court of Appeals in New Orleans rejected a Justice Department request Posada be refused bail for entering the U.S. illegally and he was escorted by Federal agents to Miami where members of the Cuban community welcomed him as a patriot.^[57] Posada was required to remain under 24-hour house arrest at his wife's apartment in Miami until trial, with permission to leave only to meet with attorneys or for doctor's appointments. On May 8, 2007 U.S. district judge Kathleen Cardone dismissed seven counts of immigration fraud and ordered Posada's electronic bracelet removed. In a 38 page ruling Judge Cardone criticized the U.S. government's "fraud, deceit and trickery" during the interview with immigration authorities that was the basis of the charges against Posada.^[58][59] Cardone's ruling was overturned in mid-2008 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which ruled that Posada Carriles should be tried for the alleged immigration violation.^[50]

In 2009, a federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment, which marked his first official link by the United States government to the 1997 bombings in Cuba. On April 9, 2009 The Miami Herald reported:

"The superseding indictment from the grand jury in El Paso does not charge Posada, 81, with planting the bombs or plotting the bombings but with lying in an immigration court about his role in the attacks at hotels, bars and restaurants in the Havana area. The perjury counts were added to the previous indictment that accused Posada of lying in his citizenship application about how he got into the United States. Another new charge is obstruction of a U.S. investigation into "international terrorism.""^[60]

2010 Texas trial[link]

Posada was accused of lying to U.S. authorities and about his alleged involvement in bomb attacks in Havana in 1997, and went on trial in Texas.^[61][17] However many of his backers in the Cuban exile community gathered thousands of dollars for his defense during what they termed a "radio marathon" on Radio Mambí.^[61] The tried case against Posada began after he sailed illegally into the United States and applied for political asylum. However, he was not being tried for killing the 73 people aboard the Cubana airliner or the tourists in Havana; his charges revolved around lying to immigration agents about his trip to the U.S. and illegally crossing the border.^[61] Prosecutors allege that he deceived them about his passport and arrived on a boat named the Santrina, not on a bus as he had told the government during interviews.^[61]

A footnote in a document filed by Posada's lead defense attorney on January 28, 2010, is quite revealing about the kind of classified information that Posada Carriles threatens to expose in the course of the trial. His attorney, Arturo Hernández, argues in that motion, "The Defendant's CIA relationship, stemming from his work against the Castro regime through his anti-communist activities in Venezuela and Central America, are relevant and admissible to his defense." The motion furthermore alleges that the US government had been complicit in bomb-setting in Cuba and asked the court to compel the government to declassify all information that shows the "involvement, knowledge, acquiescence and complicity [of the U.S. Government] in sabotage or bombings in Cuba." Also, the motion requests disclosure of "[t]raining, instructions, memos or other documents reflecting orders to the Defendant to maintain secrecy and not disclose his relationship or information regarding his activities on behalf of the U.S. Government or any of its Agencies." Venezuelan state attorney José Pertierra has interpreted the "bombings" in question as being the 1997 bombings of tourism areas in Cuba, and not necessarily the Cubana Airliner bombing (which did not occur "in Cuba").^[62]

Posada was found not guilty on all charges against him.^[17][42] After the trial he hugged his lawyers and told reporters he was grateful to the US, the court and the jury for what he said was a fair trial, saying that, "What happened here should serve as an example for justice in my country, Cuba, which is unfortunately in the hands of a dictator."^[63]

Alleged relationships[link]

Luis Posada Carriles claimed in a 1998 New York Times interview that he received financial backing from Cuban American National Foundation for a 1997 bombing campaign in Cuba.^[2] CANF has strongly denied Posada's statement. Posada, however, describes long term relationships with CANF figures in his autobiography. Declassified CIA and FBI documents allege that Posada was one of the "engineer[s]" of the 1976 terrorist bombing of Cubana Airlines flight 455 that killed 73 passengers.^[64] The administration of President George W. Bush refused to extradite Posada to Venezuela, where he is wanted for this crime.

The Cuban Ministry of the Interior claimed ^[65] that the three September 4, 1997 bomb attacks against three hotels in Havana, which killed one person,^[66] were planned and controlled by CANF. CANF has denied the allegations.^[67] However, a former board member of the group has stated that several of its leaders planned attacks in Cuba during the 1990s.^[68] In 1997, the CANF published a statement supporting un-conditionally all terrorist attacks against Cuba; the CANF chairman at the time stated that "We do not think of these as terrorist actions".^[69] For his part, Carriles has claimed to be responsible for planning six bombings at Havana hotels and restaurants during 1997.^[70]

Cuba's accusations[link]

"Despite being denounced and calls from Venezuela for his extradition, Luis Posada Carriles, the most dangerous terrorist in the hemisphere, is still conspiring to murder with his accomplices without any intervention from the U.S. legal authorities. Miami continues to have a strong nucleus of right extremists from various Latin American countries, who consider this city and the United States as a sanctuary for their activities."

— Jean-Guy Allard, Granma Internacional ^[71]

Cuba's state newspaper Granma, has accused Carriles of being a "psychopath" and "CIA hit man" who is part of a "brotherhood of killers" paid by the U.S. government. Cuban researcher José Luis Méndez has described Carriles as "a man highly trained in the use of explosives, in the use of arms, and techniques for killing, disappearing, kidnapping".^[71] Granma goes on to allege that Carriles "makes regular appearances before those nostalgic for the Batista dictatorship", accusing him of being a central player in a Miami "mafia apparatus" of "terrorists".^[71] In Havana, officials routinely refer to Posada as "the Osama bin Laden of Latin America," while the case remains a particular sore point in US-Cuba relations.^[23]

Personal life[link]

In 1960, when Posada went to the United States, he married a resident of Miami, Florida, and has two children.^[14][72] He currently resides in Miami, where he openly attends "right-wing exile fundraisers" and participates in public protests against Fidel Castro's Cuba.^[23]

See also[link]

• Criticisms of the War on Terrorism
• Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations
• Cuban dissident movement
• War on Terror
• Cuban Five

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana by Ann Louise Bardach, 2003, Vintage Books, ISBN 0-385-72052-1
• Dateline Havana: The Real Story of US Policy and the Future of Cuba by Reese Erlich, 2008, Polipoint Press, ISBN 0-9815769-7-4
• Deadly Secrets: The CIA-Mafia War against Castro and the Assassination of J.F.K by Warren Hinckle & William W. Turner, 1992, Thunder's Mouth Press, ISBN 1-56025-046-1

External links[link]

• Luis Posada Carriles on the Internet Movie Database
• Spartacus Educational Biography
• Profile: Cuban 'Plane Bomber' BBC News, May 9, 2007
• Luis Posada Carriles: The Declassified Record. Declassified CIA and FBI Documents on The National Security Archive
• The Posada File: Part II. Declassified CIA and FBI Documents on The National Security Archive
• Documents linked to Cuban exile Luis Posada highlited targets for terrorism. Declassified CIA and FBI Documents on The National Security Archive
• Bombing of Cuban Jetliner 30 Years Later. Declassified CIA and FBI Documents on The National Security Archive
• Cuba Seeks U.S. Arrest of Castro Foe by Michele Kelemen, NPR, May 7, 2005
• Who is Luis Posada Carriles? by Jose Pertierra, Political Affairs, April 15, 2006
• Hypocrisy on Terrorism: The Case of Luis Posada Los Angeles Times, January 9, 1989
• Luis Posada Carriles photo and article archive by the Latin American Studies Organization
• A Bombers Tale: Key Cuba Foe Claims Exiles' Backing by Ann Louise Bardach, The New York Times, July 12, 1998
• Our Man's in Miami: Patriot or Terrorist? by Ann Louise Bardach, The Washington Post, April 17, 2005
• Terrorist Cuban Exile Luis Posada Carriles Seeking Political Asylum in U.S. by Democracy Now, May 9, 2005
• Cuban Exile Could Test U.S. Definition of Terrorist by Tim Weiner, The New York Times, May 9, 2005
• Why Luis Posada Carriles, an Admitted Cuban Exile Terrorist, Should Face Justice in Venezuela by the Council on Hemispheric Affairs
• Why the U.S. Refuses to Prosecute Luis Posada Carriles for Cubana Airlines Flight 455 – video report by Democracy Now!

v t e Cuba–United States relations Bay of Pigs Invasion · Brothers to the Rescue · Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba · Cuban American · Cuban-American lobby · Cuban dissident movement · Cuban Five · Cuban Missile Crisis · Elián González affair · Guantanamo Bay Naval Base · Helms–Burton Act · List of Cuba – United States aircraft hijackings · Luis Posada Carriles · Mariel boatlift · Operation Northwoods · Operation Peter Pan · Platt Amendment · Spanish–American War · United States Ambassador to Cuba · United States embargo against Cuba · United States Interests Section in Havana

Operation Condor
Poster of disappeared persons compiled by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo
Background histories
Argentina · Bolivia · Brazil (1960s) Chile (1973 coup d'état) · Paraguay Peru · Uruguay
Events
Dirty War National Reorganization Process Operation Colombo · Operation Charly Operation Gladio · Night of the Pencils Operation Independence Ezeiza massacre Margarita Belén massacre Death flights Desaparecidos  (the "disappeared")
Government leaders
Alfredo Stroessner · Augusto Pinochet Basilio Lami Dozo · Hugo Banzer João Figueiredo · Jorge Anaya Jorge Rafael Videla · Leopoldo Galtieri
Targeted militias
Montoneros · ERP · Tupamaros · MIR
Principal operatives
Manuel Contreras · Stefano Delle Chiaie Michael Townley · Luis Posada Carriles Virgilio Paz Romero · Orlando Bosch Hugo Campos Hermida · José López Rega Paul Schäfer · Alfredo Astiz
Organizations responsible
DINA · Caravan of Death Batallón de Inteligencia 601 CORU · SNI · SOA · SISMI · Triple A · CIA
Places
Esmeralda · Estadio Nacional de Chile Villa Grimaldi · Colonia Dignidad · ESMA
Laws
Full stop Due Obedience
Archives and reports
Archives of Terror · Rettig Report Valech Report · National Security Archive
Reactions
CONADEP · Trial of the Juntas Augusto Pinochet's arrest and trial Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo
v t e

Orlando Bosch Ávila (18 August 1926 – 27 April 2011)^[1] was a Cuban exile militant, former Central Intelligence Agency-backed operative, and head of Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations, which the FBI has described as "an anti-Castro terrorist umbrella organization".^[2] Former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh called Bosch an "unrepentant terrorist".^[3] He was accused of taking part in Operation Condor and several other terrorist attacks, including the 6 October 1976 bombing of a Cuban civilian airliner in which all 73 people on board were killed, including many young members of a Cuban fencing team and five North Koreans. The bombing is alleged to have been plotted at a 1976 meeting in Washington, D.C. attended by Bosch, Luis Posada Carriles, and DINA agent Michael Townley. At the same meeting, the assassination of Chilean former minister Orlando Letelier is alleged to have been plotted. Bosch was given safe haven within the US in 1990 by President George H. W. Bush, who in 1976 as head of the CIA had declined an offer by Costa Rica to extradite Bosch.

Background and personal life[link]

Bosch was born on 18 August 1926 in the village of Potrerillo, 150 miles east of Havana. "Bosch's father was first a policeman in Potrerillo and later a successful restaurant owner in the same village. His mother was a teacher."^[1] In 1946 Bosch enrolled in the University of Havana medical school, where he first met Fidel Castro;^[1] Bosch was president of the medical school student body while Castro was head of the law school student body.^[4] After graduating, Bosch moved to Toledo, Ohio for a paediatric internship.^[4]

Bosch's first wife, Myriam, was a fellow medical school graduate and moved with him to Miami in July 1960, along with their four children, which soon became five. They divorced ten years later, when Bosch was in prison.^[4] In 1976 he had another child with his second wife, Adriana.^[4] He returned to the United States in 1988, despite being wanted for parole violations, saying "I have a loving wife who resides in the United States and five American children with whom I want to share the last years of my life."^[4]

Career[link]

After meeting Castro at the University of Havana, Bosch went on to play a part in underground cells that later carried out the Cuban Revolution of 1959.^[1] Bosch himself did not take part, being forced to flee to Miami to escape arrest. He returned to Cuba after the Revolution, but rapidly became disillusioned, leaving Cuba in July 1960 after helping to organize a failed anti-Castro rebellion in the Escambray mountains.^[1] In his autobiography, Bosch wrote that he had refused to participate in the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion because the US had refused to help the Escambray rebellion.^[1]

Bosch was in contact with the CIA in 1962 and 1963, as the agency itself admitted, as recorded in the National Security Archive.^[5] At this time, Bosch was the General Coordinator of the Movimiento Insurreccional de Recuperacion Revolucionaria (Insurrectional Movement of Revolutionary Recovery, MIRR), which in 1967 became Poder Cubano (Cuban Power). He was a member of the anti-Castro Operation 40.

In 1968 Bosch was arrested in Florida for an attack on a Polish freighter with a 57 mm recoilless rifle and was sent to prison for a ten year term.^[6] He served four years before being released on parole in 1972, and fled the country,^[7] leaving on 12 April 1974.^[4] He moved to Venezuela, where later that year "he was arrested and jailed for two weeks by Venezuela authorities after admitting to two bombings of Cuban and Panamanian buildings in Caracas. He was mysteriously released and turned up in Curaçao where he told a Cuban exile radio newsman from Miami: "We will invade the Cuban embassies and will murder the Cuban diplomats and will hijack the Cuban planes until Castro releases some of the political prisoners and begins to deal with us."^[7] He told The Miami News in June 1974 that he was the head of Accion Cubana, and claimed the organization was responsible for a series of bomb attacks on Cuban consulates in Latin America since August 1973.^[8]

Bosch moved to Santiago, Chile on 3 December 1974, staying in a military house. According to the government of Augusto Pinochet, Bosch "lived quietly as an artist", while the US government held Bosch responsible for postal bombings of Cuban embassies in four countries. The US also accused Bosch of involvement in the August 1975 attempted assassination of Emilio Aragones, the Cuban ambassador to Argentina, and the September 1976 bombing of the Mexican Embassy in Guatemala City.^[4] After an arrest in Costa Rica which saw the US decline an offer by the authorities to extradite Bosch to the United States,^[9] he was deported to the Dominican Republic, where June 1976 saw the founding of the Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations (CORU). Bosch returned to Venezuela on 23 September 1976, aged 50.^[4]

Flight 455[link]

Bosch entered Venezuela in mid-September 1976 under the protection of Venezuelan president Carlos Andrés Pérez, according to the National Security Archive.^[11] A CIA document described a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser in Caracas, Venezuela, held between 22 September and 5 October 1976, to support Bosch's activities. The informant quoted Bosch as making an offer to Venezuelan officials to forgo acts of violence in the United States when President Carlos Andrés Pérez visited the United Nations in November, in return for "a substantial cash contribution to [Bosch's] organization." Bosch was also overheard stating: "Now that our organization has come out of the Letelier job looking good, we are going to try something else." Several days later, Posada was reported to have stated that "we are going to hit a Cuban airplane" and "Orlando has the details." (Both the Bosch and Posada statements were cited in an 18 October 1976 report to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger posted by the National Security Archive on 17 May 2005.)

On 6 October 1976 Cubana Flight 455 was destroyed after takeoff by the detonation of a bomb that had been placed in the aircraft toilets. All seventy-three people on board were killed, including many young members of a Cuban fencing team and five people from North Korea.^{[citation needed]} The bombing would have been plotted at the same meeting, attended by Luis Posada Carriles and DINA agent Michael Townley, where the assassination of the former Chilean minister Orlando Letelier in Washington, D.C. in 1976, was decided upon.^{[citation needed]}

Bosch was arrested in Caracas on 8 October 1976, and held for nearly four years while awaiting trial for his role concerning the Cubana Flight 455 bombing. He was acquitted along with three co-defendants (one of them Luis Posada Carriles) of these charges in September 1980, with the court finding that the flight had been brought down by a bomb but that there was insufficient evidence to prove the defendants were responsible.^[7] Bosch was convicted of possessing false identification papers, and sentenced to 4 and a half months, set against time already served.^[7] Defending himself, he would later say, infamously, "All of Castro's planes are warplanes." In his 2010 memoirs, Bosch denied having authored the bombing, stating that Fidel Castro had "accused me, without evidence, of being the intellectual author of the sabotage of Flight 455 and many other acts with which I had nothing to do."^[12]

Later career[link]

Miami area law enforcement officials linked Bosch to several dynamite bombings, including a blast in the offices of Mackey Airlines in 1977, after the airline announced plans to resume flights to Cuba.^[7]

In 1987, almost a decade after the Flight 455 incident, Bosch was freed from Venezuelan charges and went to the United States, assisted by then-U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela Otto Reich. In the U.S. he was arrested on a parole violation. Bosch was detained in the United States for six months until all charges were dropped and he was able to live in the United States.

A June 2009 edition of the Cuban state newspaper Granma expressed anger at the lack of criminal charges, stating "months after the administration change in Washington, nothing seems to have changed in the banana republic where the monstrous Orlando Bosch, the pediatrician killer, sleeps peacefully in his bed."^[13]

See also[link]

• Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations
• Luis Posada Carriles
• Cuban Power

References[link]

External links[link]

• Spartacus Educational Biography
• "Was Orlando Bosch in Dealey Plaza when the President John F. Kennedy was assassinated?"
• "An Interview with Veteran Anti-Castro Militant Orlando Bosch" by Andy Robinson, La Vanguardia (16 August 2006)
• "The Bosch Case Does Violence to Justice", The New York Times (20 July 1990)
• Cuba Seeks U.S. Arrest of Castro Foe by Michele Kelemen, NPR (7 May 2005)
• "Why the U.S. Refuses to Prosecute Orlando Bosch for Cubana Airlines Flight 455" (video report by Democracy Now!; 10 October 2006)

Critical sites

• "Orlando Bosch's Terrorist Curriculum Vitae", Granma (31 January 2002)
• "On George Bush's Pardon of Anti-Cuban Terrorist Orlando Bosch", World Socialist (26 October 1999)
• "Who is Orlando Bosch?" by W. T. Whitney Jr., People's Weekly World (29 April 2006)

Los Cinco is also the name of the founders of the Mexican American Youth Organization.

Los Cinco (in English: "The Five") is an unofficial collective of Latin American composers living and working in Los Angeles. These composers include: Daniel Catán, Miguel del Águila, Aurelio de la Vega, Enrique González-Medina, and Carlos Rodríquez.

Meant to draw a comparison between this collective and a group of avant-garde Parisian composers active in the 1920s known as "Les Six", the term "Los Cinco" was originally coined by Sean Bradley, an American conductor. Bradley first presented these composers as a collective in public performance, and the label Los Cinco first appeared in print in a Los Angeles Times review dated August 3, 2004.

The music by these composers shares "...certain common features, including a vibrancy of ideas, no fear of sensuality or humor, and an infectious passion." (Josef Woodward, Los Angeles Times)

External links[link]

• L.A. Times article where the term "Los Cinco" first appears in print
• More on the web about Sean Bradley
• More on the web about Daniel Catán
• More on the web about Miguel del Águila
• More on the web about Aurelio de la Vega
• More on the web about Enrique González-Medina
• More on the web about Carlos Rodriguez

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2008)

Mireya Moscoso
President of Panama
In office September 1, 1999 – September 1, 2004
Vice President	Arturo Vallarino Dominador Kaiser Bazan
Preceded by	Ernesto Pérez Balladares
Succeeded by	Martín Torrijos
Personal details
Born	(1946-07-01) July 1, 1946 (age 65) Pedasí, Panama
Political party	Arnulfista Party
Spouse(s)	Arnulfo Arias (1964–1988) Ricardo Gruber (1990–1997)
Alma mater	Miami Dade College
Profession	Interior designer
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodríguez de Arias (born July 1, 1946) is a Panamanian political figure. She was the President of Panama from 1999 to 2004, representing the Arnulfista Party. Moscoso was Panama's first female president.

Moscoso has an interior design diploma from Miami-Dade Community College in the United States, and she is the widow of former President Arnulfo Arias.

President Mireya Moscoso is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an International network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.

Presidency[link]

In the May 2, 1999 general elections, she became the country's first female President, taking office on September 1, 1999. She ran on a campaign to reduce poverty, improve education, and slow down the country's privatization process. She had run in the previous election (1994), when she was defeated by Ernesto Pérez Balladares of the PRD (Democratic Revolutionary Party). During her term, she oversaw the U.S. handover of the Panama Canal in January 2000.^[1]

End of term[link]

Days before Moscoso ended her term, she pardoned four Cuban exiles– including the violent anti-Castro activist Luis Posada– who had been convicted of plotting to assassinate Fidel Castro, and implicated in the bombing of the Cubana Flight 455 in 1976, which killed all 73 people on board. Posada had admitted to The New York Times in 1998 [1][2], having masterminded a bomb attack in a Cuban hotel, killing Italian Tourist Fabio di Celmo.

The pardon caused Cuba to break off diplomatic relations with Panama. The relations were reestablished under her successor, President Martín Torrijos.

Successor[link]

She was succeeded on September 1, 2004 by Martín Torrijos, son of Omar Torrijos, who was elected in May 2004 with 47% of the votes.

References[link]

v t e Presidents and heads of state of Panama Manuel Amador Guerrero · José Domingo de Obaldía · Carlos Mendoza · Federico Boyd · Pablo Arosemena · Belisario Porras · Ramón Valdés · Ciro Urriola · Pedro Díaz · Belisario Porras · Ernesto Lefevre · Belisario Porras · Rodolfo Chiari · Florencio Arosemena · Harmodio Arias · Ricardo Alfaro · Harmodio Arias · Juan Arosemena · Ezequiel Fernández · Augusto Boyd · Arnulfo Arias · Ricardo de la Guardia · Enrique Jiménez · Domingo Díaz Arosemena · Daniel Chanis · Roberto Chiari · Arnulfo Arias · Alcibíades Arosemena · José Remón · José Ramón Guizado · Ricardo Arias · Ernesto de la Guardia · Roberto Chiari · Marco Aurelio Robles · Arnulfo Arias · José María Pinilla · Demetrio Lakas · Aristides Royo · Ricardo de la Espriella · Jorge Illueca · Nicolás Barletta · Eric Delvalle · Manuel Solís · Francisco Rodríguez · Guillermo Endara · Ernesto Pérez Balladares · Mireya Moscoso · Martín Torrijos · Ricardo Martinelli   Commander of the Panamanian Defense Forces (1968–1989) Omar Torrijos · Florencio Flores Aguilar · Rubén Darío Paredes · Manuel Noriega

Peter Kornbluh is director of the National Security Archive's Chile Documentation Project and of the Cuba Documentation Project.

He played a large role in the campaign to declassify government documents, via the FOIA, relating to the history of the U.S. Government's support for the Pinochet dictatorship.^[1] He is the author of several books, most recently The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability (New Press). Kenneth Maxwell wrote a review in November/December 2003 issue of Foreign Affairs, creating a controversy about Henry Kissinger's involvement in Operation Condor. He won a 1990 James Aronson Award honorable mention for writing in The New Yorker.

His only son, Gabriel Kornbluh, is a successful voiceover artist and broadcast television producer.

Footnotes[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Kornbluh, Peter. 1998. Bay of Pigs Declassified: The Secret CIA Report on the Invasion of Cuba. The New Press. New York. ISBN 1-56584-494-7 ISBN 978-1565844940
• Kornbluh, Peter. 1987. Nicaragua: The Price of Intervention (Institute for Policy Studies)
• Kornbluh, Peter. 1989. The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability (New Press)
• Kornbluh, Peter. (with Michael T. Klare). 1989. Low Intensity Warfare: How the USA Fights Wars Without Declaring Them (Methuen Publishing Ltd ISBN 0-413-61590-1; ISBN 978-0-413-61590-9)
• Kornbluh, Peter. (with Malcolm Byrne). 1983. The Iran-Contra Scandal: The Declassified History (New Press, 1993) ISBN 978-1-56584-047-8
• Kornbluh, Peter. (coordinators, with James G. Blight). 1998. Politics of Illusion : The Bay of Pigs Invasion Reexamined, Lynne Rienner publishers, Boulder, Colorado.

External links[link]

• Biography and articles in The Nation
• Still Hidden: A Full Record Of What the U.S. Did in Chile, The Washington Post, October 24, 1999

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