By Josè Pertierra, Counterpunch, October 11, 2011
It was a peaceful Wednesday afternoon in Barbados 35 years ago.
Dalton Guiller had just finished a round of waterskiing and was refueling his
boat on shore when a roar in the sky startled him. A low-flying and
apparently damaged airliner was fast approaching from the west toward the
beach. “It didn’t look right. It was too low. I then saw the
plane rise slightly, bank to the right and crash into the water: nose and wing
first,” said Guiller.
At the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies in
Barbados, Professor Cecilia Karch-Braithwaite also heard the loud droning of a
passenger plane overhead. She told me, “It was unusual, because the
aircraft was flying too low and was on a path that planes never take when they
approach the airport.” She remembers seeing smoke coming from the side of
the plane as it banked to the right and dove nose first into the waters of
Paradise Beach. The university is located on a hill five miles from the
beach.
I met Guiller and Karch-Braithwaite in Barbardos during last week’s
ceremonies to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the murder of the
73 people aboard the Cuban passenger plane that crashed only a few minutes
after takeoff from Seawell International Airport in Barbados. Their
memories of that day are still vivid.
THE VICTIMS
The aircraft was a DC-8, flown by Cubana de Aviación. It had
received its regular maintenance only 10 days earlier and carried 73 persons
the day it crashed. The average age on board was a mere 30 years of age,
because 24 members of the Cuban fencing team were returning to Cuba after
having swept the gold medals at the Pan American games in Caracas, Venezuela.
They boarded the plane wearing their medals. In total, there were 57 Cubans, 11 Guyanese, and 5 Koreans.
THE BOMBS
At 1:23 p.m., local time, Seawell International Airport reported that
the pilot, Wilfredo Pérez, called to report an emergency on board, “Seawell!
Seawell! CU-455 Seawell. . . ! We have an explosion on board. . . . . We have a
fire on board.” A forensic investigation made by Dr. Julio Lara Alonso
established that two bombs exploded aboard CU-455, causing it to crash into the
sea. The first bomb—under a passenger seat—ignited a fire near the front
of the plane, and the second bomb, which exploded about eight minutes later in
the rear bathroom of the plane, brought the plane down in seconds.
“I KILLED MORE THAN THE JACKAL”
Two Venezuelan nationals, Hernán Ricardo and Freddy Lugo, had left the
bombs on the plane, before disembarking in Barbados. Lugo later told
police officials that Ricardo boasted that the 73 people he killed on the plane
were “more than the Jackal,” alluding to the famous terrorist Carlos the
Jackal. “Now I’m the one who has the record, because I’m the one who blew
up that thing,” he told Lugo.
Ricardo confessed to Barbadian and Trinidad officials who were investigating
the crime that he and Lugo bombed the plane and that they worked for the CIA
and Luis Posada Carriles. He even drew a diagram for them of the
detonator he used to ignite the C-4 explosives he placed in the aircraft.
He admitted to receiving $25,000 for downing the plane.
Lugo and Ricardo were extradited to Venezuela by Trinidad and
Tobago. There they were convicted for their role in downing the plane and
sentenced to 20 years. After serving their time, they were
released. Lugo still lives in Caracas, driving a taxi to earn his
living. The Miami Herald
reported that Ricardo is now an undercover operative in Florida for the Drug
Enforcement Administration.
THE MASTERMIND
In 1985 Luis Posada Carriles was indicted and prosecuted as the
mastermind of the murder of the 73 persons aboard that plane. But before the
Venezuelan court could pronounce a verdict, he escaped from prison.
Within a few weeks, he landed a job with the CIA in an operation that later
became known as the Iran-Contra scandal. The United States has never
bothered to explain how it was possible for an international fugitive charged
with 73 counts of first-degree murder to so quickly land a $120,000-a-year job
with the CIA, arming Nicaraguan Contras.
THE HORROR
When he saw the plane crash into the water, Dalton Guiller immediately
swung his small ski boat around and in two minutes arrived on the scene.
“I was with two other chaps, and we went to see whether there were any
survivors. Unfortunately, there were none,” he said. Surrounded
by a strong of smell of fuel, Guiller surveyed the horror. “I saw
suitcases, seats, and personal effects. I saw bodies: only one or two of
them intact. The others were not full bodies.” He added, “They were
suspended at the level of the sea. Perhaps the seat belts cut them off, I
could not tell. It was just striking that two or three of the bodies were
perpendicular under the sea. Trousers, but no top. Top, but no
bottom.”
The forensic report performed by the Barbadian coroner describes the
condition of the body of little Sabrina, a nine-year old Guyanese girl who was
traveling with her family to Cuba: “Body of a girl around 9 years of age
. . . . Brain missing, only facial bones, scalp, and hair remaining. Lungs and
heart destroyed. Liver and intestines shattered. Buttocks missing on
right lower limb. Compound fracture of tibia and fibula . . . “
THE HATRED
The impetus for the horror that invaded paradise that day in Barbados
was hatred. Since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, terrorists have
murdered 2,478 Cubans and incapacitated 2,099 others.
Declassified U.S. intelligence cables reveal that Luis Posada Carriles
had spoken of plans to “hit” a Cuban airliner only days before Ricardo and Lugo
blew up CU-455. The CIA informed Washington, but no one uttered a word of
warning to the Cuban or Venezuelan governments.
What happened in Barbados three and a half decades ago is not an
isolated incident. The threat persists. From his lair in Miami, one
of the masterminds of the attack on the Cuban airliner, Luis Posada Carriles,
continues to call for violence against the Cuban people. His friends
continue their efforts to violently lash out at the people of Cuba in an effort
to terrorize them into supporting the forceful overthrow of the Cuban
government.
OUR MAN IN LATIN AMERICA
Posada Carriles readily admits his relationship with the CIA.
His lawyer told a federal court judge that everything his client did in Latin
America he did in the “name of Washington.”
What, then, is it that Mr. Posada did in Latin America “in the name of
Washington”? Besides the mass murder of the people aboard that passenger plane,
Posada tortured Venezuelans in the 1970s, assisted in the murder of Nicaraguans
in the 1980s, and trained Guatemalan and Salvadoran death squads in the 1980s
and 1990s. He also planned a series of bombings at prominent Cuban hotels
and restaurants in 1997, resulting in the murder of Italian businessman Fabio
DiCelmo and the wounding of several others. He also conspired to assassinate
the president of Cuba, Fidel Castro, several times, including in 2000 at the
University of Panamá, where he planned to use 100 pounds of C-4 explosives to
blow up a university auditorium full of students along with the Cuban
president.
The cruelty of a 50-year war of terror against Cuba is
abhorrent. The training that the United States has given Cuban-American
terrorists is immoral. Providing them with weapons is a scandal:
continuing to protect them an outrage.
THE DOUBLE STANDARD
In contrast to the United States, Venezuela does not assassinate those
it alleges are terrorists. It relies on the rule of law to pursue them,
but for the rule of law to be effective, the other parties to those laws,
including the United States, must observe their legal obligations. When
Posada Carriles illegally arrived in the United States in 1985, Venezuela
immediately filed an extradition request, based on an extradition treaty that
dates back to 1922 and on an international convention designed to combat
terrorism: the Montreal Convention on Civil Aviation. Rather than
extraditing Posada Carriles to Venezuela, the U.S. government instead tried him
for minor immigration violations in El Paso, and a jury acquitted him of those
in April of this year. He now lives freely in Miami.
United Nations Resolution 1373 forbids the harboring of terrorists by
member nations. This resolution was introduced by the United States to combat terrorism after the
tragedy of 9-11. Does it not also oblige the United States to extradite
the terrorists it harbors?
THE CUBAN FIVE
Thirteen years ago, the United States government arrested, convicted
and subsequently sentenced Five Cubans in Miami to long prison terms, but they
were not terrorists.
The Five had gone to Miami to gather evidence against Cuban-American
terrorists. In 1998, Cuba turned the evidence over to the FBI in the hope that
the terrorists would be arrested and prosecuted. Yet the U.S. government
didn’t arrest or charge the terrorists. Instead it arrested, charged, and
imprisoned those who had gathered the evidence. The Cuban Five have been in
jail now for 13 cruel years.
Gerardo Hernández is serving two life terms plus 15 years. The
Court of Appeals ratified his sentence. Even if he dies in prison twice
and resurrects each time, he would still not have completed his sentence.
Ramón Labañino was sentenced to a life term plus 18 years—subsequently
the Court of Appeals ruled the sentence to be in violation of the law for being
too harsh, vacated it and remanded his case to the same judge who had sentenced
him. Judge Joan Lenard in Miami re-sentenced him and reduced the sentence
to “only” 30 years.
Antonio Guerrero was sentenced to a life term plus 10 years. The
Court of Appeals vacated his sentence, and Judge Lenard reduced it to “only” 21
years and ten months.
Fernando Gonzalez was sentenced to 19 years. The Court of Appeals
vacated it, and Judge Lenard reduced it to “only” 17 years and 9 months.
René González was sentenced to 15 years. The Court of Appeals ratified
his sentence, and he was released from jail on October 7. However, his
release comes with conditions. He is not allowed to return to Cuba, as he
wishes, to rejoin his wife and children but must instead remain in the United
States for three more years—an additional punishment as cruel as it is
irresponsible. The terrorists that the United States protects are free
and would relish exacting their revenge on the man who monitored their
activities on behalf of Cuba.
INDIFFERENCE VS. INDIGNATION
Getting the United States to extradite Luis Posada Carriles is not
easy, and convincing President Barack Obama to free the Cuban Five will also be
difficult. Neither case appears on the radar of American public
opinion. The United States counts on the indifference of people. It
knows that indifference is the unsung ally of injustice.
But as people learn about the history of terrorism against Cuba they
grow indignant and demand justice. Indifference crumbles when confronted
with indignation.
THE MEMORY OF THOSE KILLED
The 73 persons assassinated in cold blood 35 years ago in Barbados are
not forgotten. As I stood on Paradise Beach in front of the monument to
their memory, I listened to the national anthems of Cuba and Barbados and
scanned the sea before me, where the plane lies at the bottom of Deep Water
Bay., remembering that the remains of 58 persons were never recovered.
Standing next to me at the monument was the son of Wilfredo Pérez, the
brave pilot who steered the aircraft away from the sandy beach to avoid killing
dozens of Barbadians on shore. Wilfredo (he is named after his father)
could have easily allowed hatred to consume him, but instead he became a
psychologist. His life’s work is to help broken people to mend.
Killed aboard that plane was also Nancy Uranga, a pregnant 22-year-old
fencer from Cuba. It is well known that 73 persons were killed that day
over Barbados, but few know that Nancy was pregnant and that the terrorists
killed her unborn child as well.
The terrorists also killed Carlos Cremata that day. Carlos was
41 years old. He was a member of the crew and also an actor. His
friends and family recall that Carlos always greeted them with, “Viva la vida”
(Long live life). One of his sons, Carlos Alberto Cremata, founded one of
the world’s most renowned children’s theater companies—La Colmenita (The Little
Beehive)—whose mission is “sembrar el amor” (to sow love). La Colmenita
is now on tour in the United States.
There is a history of injustice in the waters of Paradise Beach in
Barbados. The cold-blooded murder of the 73 people aboard that passenger
plane was a crime against them, their families, and their countries. It
was also a crime against Barbados and its people.
THE BAJAN-AMERICAN
The Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder Jr., is a
Bajan-American. He was raised in a Bajan household in New York. His
father, Eric Sr., was born in Barbados and married the daughter of Barbadian
immigrants.
When he visited Barbados in 2008, the soon-to-be nominated Attorney
General said, “I feel that I grew up partly in Barbados and partly in New
York.”
History has now given him an opportunity to solve a mass murder that
occurred in his parents’ home country 35 years ago. Mr. Holder can
present to a United States District Court Venezuela’s request for the
extradition of Luis Posada Carriles. He can also recommend that President
Obama exercise his constitutional power of executive clemency to free the Cuban
Five.
THE CHARACTER OF THE UNITED STATES AS A NATION
The extradition of Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela and the
liberation of the Cuban Five are the responsibility of the United States and
its people. More than merely legal issues, they are a moral
imperative. At stake are not simply the facts of two particular criminal
cases but bedrock principles of social justice and the character of the United
States as a nation.
Will Eric Holder and President Barack Obama be up to the task?
Will the people of the United States demand justice?
José Pertierra
is an attorney. He represents the government of Venezuela in the
extradition case of Luis Posada Carriles.
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