The following statement was issues by the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). The Party for Socialism and Liberation is a member organization of ANSWER.
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On Jan. 10, the U.S. government began its sham trial of notorious
terrorist Luis Posada Carriles in El Paso, Texas. Posada is being
charged not as a mass murderer, but as a liar. The night before and the
morning of the trial, activists organized a People’s Tribunal of Posada
that exposed his true criminal history. Posada long functioned as a key
player in the 50-year war of terrorism organized by the U.S. government
and its agents in their attempt to overturn the Cuban Revolution. There
was also a protest and rally at the El Paso Courthouse.
The sham character of the trial was made evident when the U.S.
prosecutor labeled Posada a “remarkable man” who “can do anything he
wants to the Cuban regime,” but that he must stand trial for lying to a
federal officer while seeking citizenship.
The
Unitarian Universalist Community hall in El Paso was packed on Sunday
night to listen to speakers including Ramsey Clark, former
Attorney General of the United States, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the
Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, Keith Bolender, author of a new book
on terrorism against Cuba, Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the
ANSWER Coalition, and Gloria La Riva of the National Committee to Free
the Cuban Five. Speakers detailed how Posada was not acting alone, but
as an agent of the U.S. government in attempting to carry out “regime
change” in Cuba.
Perhaps the most moving part of the evening
came when La Riva introduced a short video of interviews she had
conducted with family members of the victims of Posada’s most heinous
act: the 1976 mid-air bombing of Cubana Flight 455, which took the lives
of 73 people. The audience paid rapt attention as several of the family
members spoke about the impact that event had had on their lives.
Bolender’s
book, “Voices From the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against
Cuba,” is filled with such interviews. In addition to the 1976 plane
bombing, countless acts of terrorism against Cuba have taken the lives
of 3,478 Cubans since 1959, and impacted the lives of thousands more.
One of those is Livio di Celmo, whose brother Fabio was killed in a 1997
hotel bombing organized by Posada. Livio sent a letter demanding
justice for his brother’s murder, which was read at the Tribunal.
The
following morning, a spirited crowd lined the streets in front of the
courthouse when Posada entered. They carried banners demanding his
extradition and the freedom of the Cuban Five. The activists had also
constructed a wall of photos of 74 of Posada’s victims (the 73 victims
of the plane bombing and Fabio di Celmo). Speeches and chants in English
and Spanish continued throughout the morning.
The Tribunal and
the protest received extensive press coverage, including the AP,
Reuters, the Miami Herald, EFE, Telesur, several local TV stations in El
Paso, the El Paso Times and the El Diario de El Paso newspaper.
Video
of the complete Tribunal, which was broadcast live on the Internet, as
well as the protest rally, can be viewed at the website of the National
Committee to Free the Cuban Five, www.freethefive.org. There, you can
also read press coverage of the Tribunal, protest, and ongoing trial.
Copies of Bolender’s book can also be purchased at the site’s online
store.
