*Although he pleaded not guilty, Posada did not deny prosecutors' version to the AP, noting that for years he entered the U.S. under false identities while working with the CIA and other organizations.*
*On good days, Posada believes the U.S. government won't try to put him away for long. He has done too much for it, including informing on fellow exiles as far back as the 1960s and helping Oliver North supply Nicaragua's Contra rebels two decades later.* *(is still working for them)* *He hopes his knowledge about U.S. intervention in Latin America will protect him. * Posada's day: A long-delayed trial begins For the start of his trial, Luis Posada Carriles walked calmly past two groups of demonstrators, one made up of critics accusing him of terrorism, another made up of supporters waving U.S. flags, Miami Herald reporter Juan O. Tamayo related <http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/10/2009100/posada-trial-opens-in-el-paso.html>Monday from El Paso. Posada and his defense lawyers strolled about 100 feet from the two groups and entered the stone-and-glass U.S. courthouse for his trial on 11 counts of perjury and obstruction in several immigration proceedings, The Herald reported. Spectators and journalists gathered in a third-floor courtroom to watch an audio-video feed from the eighth-floor courtroom where jury selection began, because court officials decided that the audience and potential jurors would not fit into one courtroom. U.S. Judge Kathleen Cardone opened the jury selection process at 9:50 a.m. El Paso time, almost one hour later than scheduled, apparently because of snags in the communications system in the seven-month-old building. Outside, in the cold Texas morning, the two groups of demonstrators kept a respectful distance from each other on the broad plaza in front of the building. About 60 protesters demanded that Posada be extradited to Venezuela or Cuba to face terrorism charges for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner in which 73 people were killed and a string of bombings of Havana tourism spots in 1997 that killed one Italian tourist. *One man held a sign that said, in Spanish, "Posada is a C.I.A. terrorist." Two others unfurled a banner with 67 portraits and the title "The victims of terrorist Posada Carriles and the C.I.A." Several carried banners saying "Extradite Posada; Free the Cuban Five," a reference to the five Cubans sentenced to prison in 2001 on espionage-related charges.* About 50 feet away, a group of Posada supporters waved U.S. flags. No Cuban flags were in sight. One of them held a sign saying *"Posada Carriles is another victim of Castro & Hugo Chávez*." Another carried a sign saying *"Posada Carriles is innocent*." Two others propped a banner with a photo of Posada in the 1960s, wearing a U.S. Army uniform. On the banner, the words *"A soldier, a patriot; a fighter for liberty and democracy*." Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/2011/01/posadas-day-a-long-delayed-trial-begins.html#more#ixzz1AmIlmz6U<http://miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/2011/01/posadas-day-a-long-delayed-trial-begins.html#more%23ixzz1AmIlmz6U> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
