# Should the U.S. grant asylum to Cuban terrorist Luis Posada Carriles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 9, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318 "2005-05-09T20:39:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/41 "2005-05-13T21:04:31Z")
> [@Nanoda](#): > > Um… is this a serious question? 'Fraid so. Don’t forget, this is a country where Henry Kissinger, implicated in the bloody 1972 military coup in Chile (and don’t get me started on Vietnam and Cambodia), is still a respected elder statesman; Oliver North, a criminal gunrunner, was and still is hailed by many as an “American hero”; and John Negroponte, with his history of cooperation with Central American death squads, was appointed interim ruler of Iraq and is now our National Intelligence Director. (What’s more, the Senate vote on Negroponte’s confirmation was 98 to 2. See this thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=303136](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=303136)) And somebody like Posada also has the at least tacit support of a lot of the Miami Cubans, who think any tactics are good against the Castro regime. Yes, it’s a serious question. > [@Nanoda](#): > > Well huh. Ever since the new board format was introduced, I’ve occasionally opened a tab for GD instead of my desired forum, GQ. If the general posting theme is different here, feel free to ignore my last post, but I’m keeping my newfound incredulity. No, it’s a perfectly good GD post. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/42 "2005-05-14T00:03:39Z")
Never underestimate people’s capacity for hypocrisy. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/43 "2005-05-17T22:04:21Z")
Update: Posada has just been arrested in Miami by the Department of Homeland Security – Immigration and Customs Enforcement: [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11669225.htm](http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11669225.htm) This was right after he had withdrawn his asylum application. So pretending he isn’t here is no longer an option. What will they do with him now? Turn him over to Venezuela, or let him languish in detention indefinitely? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/44 "2005-05-17T22:45:20Z")
The Herald wants me to register **BrainGlutton**. BBC has the story too: [Cuban ‘bomber’ arrested in US](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4557333.stm) We should have a resolution soon: > [@](#): > > The US homeland security department said it had 48 hours to determine his immigration status. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/45 "2005-05-19T02:08:54Z")
According to documents recently released by the National Security Archive, the CIA had concrete advance knowledge of plans to bomb the Cuban airliner in 1976: [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB153/](http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB153/) The Wikipedia article I linked to in the OP said Posada had been convicted of the bombing in Venezueala, but now the Wikipedia says he was twice acquitted, and escaped while the prosecutor was applying for retrial: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis\_Posada\_Carriles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Posada_Carriles) There’s no double jeopardy in Venezuelan law? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/46 "2005-05-19T14:18:23Z")
Update – [http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-cuban-militant-castro,0,239621.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines:](http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-cuban-militant-castro,0,239621.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines:) > [@](#): > > HAVANA – Fidel Castro called the detention of his old nemesis Luis Posada Carriles two months after his arrival in the United States a “farce,” a face-saving move the U.S. government was finally forced to make after Posada’s presence became an embarrassment. > > Speaking on a nightly current events show on state TV Wednesday, Castro said it was impossible for President Bush’s administration to be unaware for so long that Posada, sought in Venezuela for retrial in a deadly plane bombing, was in Miami. > > “What has occurred is a big farce, a big lie, an attempt to escape from a difficult situation,” Castro said of the Tuesday detention of Posada, a Cuban born militant who has spent much of his life trying to topple Castro and his communist government. There’s no pleasing some people . . . ---
**Author:** ![yo\_no\_se](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b487fb/32.png) [@yo\_no\_se](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yo_no_se)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/47 "2005-05-23T19:06:51Z")
Evidently, Carriles was charged with illegally entering the U.S. and moved from FLA to Texas. The speed these charges will be pursued should set all kinds of records… in years. So there it is. Justice is being served. Cough. ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/48 "2005-05-31T02:35:42Z")
Thought you folks might be curious: [the Department of Justice has refused Venezuela’s request to arrest Carriles](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/05/27/national/w142916D25.DTL). This doesn’t change the fact that Carriles is already under arrest by the U.S. for immigration reasons, and the Venezuelan government is apparently still planning on going forward with an extradition request. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/49 "2005-05-31T06:06:21Z")
So, we’re providing safe haven for terrorists now? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/50 "2005-06-01T00:25:16Z")
The hypocrisy of the War On Terror is now made crystal clear. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/51 "2005-06-01T00:38:11Z")
> [@Orbifold](#): > > Thought you folks might be curious: [the Department of Justice has refused Venezuela’s request to arrest Carriles](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/05/27/national/w142916D25.DTL). > > This doesn’t change the fact that Carriles is already under arrest by the U.S. for immigration reasons, and the Venezuelan government is apparently still planning on going forward with an extradition request. That actually sounds like S.O.P. to me - if he’s been arrested for violating any U.S. law, the Feds will want their pound of flesh before turning him over to anyone else. Then they will sort out any competing claims by other authorities. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/52 "2005-07-27T16:34:46Z")
Update: An immigration judge has denied Posada’s request to be released on bound, citing his status as a “terror suspect.” [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/12222041.htm](http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/12222041.htm) Even more interesting: > [@](#): > > Listing a series of terror allegations against Posada over the years, Abbott said even Posada’s participation in operations against Cuba in the early 1960s could be considered terror under today’s standards. > > Abbott’s statement seemed to catch by surprise Posada’s lawyer, Matthew Archambeault, who interpreted it to mean the judge would include the Bay of Pigs invasion – sponsored by the U.S. government – as an act of terror under today’s definition of terrorism. > > ‘‘It doesn’t necessarily matter who helped it,’’ the judge said, in response. ``The question is whether that kind of activity today would be defined as aiding terrorism or participating in acts of terrorism.’’ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/53 "2007-04-22T14:46:00Z")
Update: [Luis Posada Carriles has been released from jail and returned to Miami, under house arrest.](http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/81825.html) See also [here.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041903020.html) Cuba is predictably [pissed.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042000349.html) Venezuela is [demanding his extradition and may take the case to the UN.](http://www.miamiherald.com/948/story/81770.html) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/54 "2007-04-22T15:12:06Z")
I just realized how long it’s been since the last post to this thread. Updates are fair for bumping, but I expect a Mod to lock this thread soon – board policy; too many earlier posters might be gone. Is there any interest in starting a new one? ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/55 "2007-04-22T15:12:14Z")
_“I’ve set a clear doctrine: America makes no distinction between the terrorists and the countries that harbor them. If you harbor a terrorist, you’re just as guilty as the terrorists, and you’re an enemy of the United States of America.”_ – dubya US hypocrisy as its worst. How can anyone believe anything the man says? ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/56 "2007-04-22T15:13:56Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] I just realized how long it’s been since the last post to this thread. Updates are fair for bumping, but I expect a Mod to lock this thread soon – board policy; too many earlier posters might be gone. Is there any interest in starting a new one? [/QUOTE] Yes ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/57 "2007-04-22T15:27:13Z")
[QUOTE=CBEscapee] Yes [/QUOTE] [As you wish.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=417787) ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/58 "2007-04-23T13:58:24Z")
I have been learning about this case recently. Two things stand out from my perspective, one Posada Carriles was not the only leader of the plot to bomb Cubana 455, Orlando Bosch was mentioned. Orlando Bosch is living in Miami after going through a very similar set of circumstances to come into the US some years back. You don’t hear word one from anyone about him. The second is that this is pretty much how things work in Cuba, whip up public outrage about this thing or the other to distract the people from whatever happens to be going on. Righ now what’s going on in Cuba is that a purge of the government is taking place, 4 ministers replaced in the last 6 months, and obviously the transfer of power from Fidel to Raul. That is all, the international outrage is a nice bonus for the Cuban government but the target of the outrage has always been the people in Cuba. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318/59 "2007-04-23T15:16:30Z")
Those interested in the topic may pic up the conversation in the successor thread to which **BrainGlutton** has linked. This is closed. [/Moderating] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-u-s-grant-asylum-to-cuban-terrorist-luis-posada-carriles/401318.md?page=2)