Castro Slams U.S. Release Of Ex-CIA Agent

Letter Accuses Washington Of Freeing "Monster" Wanted In Cuba, Venezuela For Terrorism

(CBS/AP)  Fidel Castro denounced a U.S. court ruling allowing a jailed Cuban militant who was once a U.S. operative to post bond, accusing the American government of planning to free a "monster."

The charges came in a letter distributed by Foreign Ministry officials after U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone refused earlier Tuesday to reverse her decision to release Luis Posada Carriles.

"The answer is brutal," Castro wrote, referring to Cardone's initial ruling Friday in El Paso, Texas.

"The government of the United States and its most representative institutions have decided the liberation of the monster beforehand," said the statement, which bore Castro's signature.

The letter was the third in recent days signed by the ailing Cuban leader, who has not been seen in public for more than eight months.

Castro, 80, announced July 31 he had undergone emergency intestinal surgery and provisionally ceded his presidential functions to his 75-year-old brother, Raul, the defense minister.

Fidel Castro's medical condition and actual ailment remain a state secret, but he is widely believed to suffer from diverticular disease, a common affliction among the elderly that causes inflammation and bleeding in the colon.

Castro ends his statement with a call for the Cuban people to come out in force on May Day, the national holiday at the beginning of the month, to protest against Posada's release, reports CBS News Havana producer Portia Siegelbaum.

There is great expectation in the Cuba that Castro will make his first public appearance on May 1st, traditionally celebrated in Cuba with a massive march through Havana’s Revolution Square. Siegelbaum says the statement just released is bound to fuel that belief.

On Friday, Cardone ruled that Posada could be released on $250,000 bond. He is being held at the Otero County jail in New Mexico on charges he lied to immigration authorities in a bid to become a naturalized citizen.

Posada, a former CIA operative, is wanted in Cuba in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jetliner that killed 73 people, a charge Posada denies. Castro repeatedly has accused the U.S. government of protecting Posada.

Castro's statement noted that, while Cuba and Venezuela accuse Posada of violent acts, the U.S. government has been holding the 79-year-old on a far less serious charge.

Castro also drew a connection between "the criminal and terrorist character of the accused" and the current U.S. government.

"The most genuine representative of the system of terror that has been imposed upon the world by the technological, economic and political superiority of the most potent power in the world is, without question, George W. Bush," it said.

In a related development, the government scheduled a Wednesday morning news conference in Havana with relatives of the airliner bombing victims.

Posada is a longtime foe of Castro, who publicly accused him at a 2000 presidential summit in Panama of plotting to assassinate him. Posada was soon afterward arrested in Panama and convicted on lesser charges before walking free in 2004, after being pardoned by Panama's president at the time, Mireya Moscoso.

Cuba accuses Posada of being the mastermind of the 1976 Cubana airliner bombing off the coast of Barbados. Among those killed were the young members of a Cuban fencing team returning home after a regional competition.

Venezuelan authorities want to extradite Posada for trial in that South American country, where he is a naturalized citizen. Posada was arrested in Venezuela a few days after the bombing and escaped from prison there in 1985 before a civilian trial in the case was completed.

Posada was detained in Florida in May 2005 for entering the United States illegally. A U.S. immigration judge ruled that he could not be sent to Cuba or Venezuela, citing fears that he would be tortured.

Posada trained with the CIA for the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion and served in the U.S. Army in the early 1960s. In 1965, he allegedly plotted to overthrow the Guatemalan government and blow up a Soviet or Cuban freighter in Mexico, according to the FBI. In 1967, he moved to Venezuela, eventually leading its counterintelligence agency, and was running his own security firm in the mid-1970s.

In 1973, Posada was investigated by the CIA for allegedly smuggling cocaine, but was cleared after he convinced interrogators he was "guilty of only having the wrong kind of friends," a declassified document says. The same document says the CIA "formally terminated" its relationship with him on Feb. 13, 1976.

[pakaal]

For the folks all up in arms about Castro's announcement, maybe you're missing something: CIA-trained Posada is believed to have committed the terrorist act of blowing up a commercial jetliner, killing 73 people. Of course we're not going to allow him to be extradited, if we did, most likely they'd be able to prove his and the USA's involvement in that act of terrorism. But hey, it was OK to do that because we're the good guys, right?

[zootallures2]

The Latin American aircraft carrier.. The M-26-7 Cuba.

[gunnerv1]

Agnim: When did the Terrorist escape and start running GITMO?

[agnim]

"1) Castro is a dictator. It's obvious. There's torture there etc.
Posted by ttinsly at 02:51 PM : Apr 11, 2007"

Yes, there's torture in Cuba -- AT THE TERRORIST RUN CAMP AT GUANTANAMO BAY!

[lars008-2009]

***..... when did communism become a monarchy???

n korea passes power from father to son to son

cuba passes power to his brother....

i thought we were all equal comrade.....

hahahahahahahaha

Always knew demonic-rats were against free speech%u2026%u2026.lol

YouTube blocked video mocking Clinton administration
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52405

A drudge video link
Limits imposed on access to clip critical of Albright-run North Korea policy
http://drudgereport.com/flashma.htm

YOU HAVE BEEN ZUCKERED LIBSCUM...LOL

EXCLUSIVE: 'SCARY MOVIE' DIRECTOR MAKES CAMPAIGN AD; MOCKS DEMOCRATS...
http://www.drudgereport.com/flashma.htm
The David Zucker Albright Ad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h3GPc_yMCE
Hahahahahahahahaha the worst secretary of state ever..
Albright says next president must `restore goodness of American power'
http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=88008


NK NewsDatabase of North Korean Propaganda
http://www.nk-news.net/index.php
http://www.nk-news.net/extras/insult_generator.php
http://www.topofthenews.com/
Join the battle for North Korea... watch the video:
http://mdcyguy.blogspot.com/2006/10/join-battle-for-north-korea.html
http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/dprkchron.asp#1994
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/12/15/nkorea.us/index.html

[lars008-2009]

CBS News Fires Producer for Plagiarism
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8OE1PQ81&show_article=1

[processor2]

to put it politely:

"Intercourse Castro"

...

[gunnerv1]

mcdazz: how does my comment in anyway say that I'm coming out of some closet and while we are at it just what closet would it be. Come on buddy I'm calling you out (nice choice of words, don't you think)

[extremophil]

Castro shouldn't worry so much about things. He ain't gonna be around much longer.

[pwrslm]

lol - and I thought you had the market cornered on being small minded.
I see you still haven't stopped telling lies and spreading false information.
Posted by mcdazz

Is that the best you can do?

Never mind, dont answer that.

Its pretty obvious already.