|
Venezuela's Chavez to Reconsider U.S. Ties
 President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that Venezuela would reconsider its diplomatic ties with Washington if the United States does not extradite a Cuban exile accused of plotting the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jet. His statements came as a former U.S. prosecutor said he determined in a federal investigation that Luis Posada Carriles was at a 1976 meeting in the Dominican Republic where Cuban exile militants discussed plans to bomb a Cuban plane. The information from former assistant U.S. attorney E. Lawrence Barcella Jr. could be used to convince an immigration judge to deny Posada U.S. asylum, The Miami Herald reported Sunday.The ex-CIA operative is in U.S. custody awaiting a decision on whether he will be extradited to the South American country. He has denied taking part in the bombing. "We can't rush things, but if the United States does not extradite Luis Posada Carriles we will be forced to reconsider our diplomatic ties," Chavez said on his weekly radio program. "We will have to consider whether it's worth having an embassy there, and whether it's worth the United States having an embassy here." The 77-year-old is expected to request asylum at an immigration hearing June 13. He was charged Thursday with entering the U.S. illegally. Venezuela wants to try the 77-year-old Cuban militant with murder and treason for the 1976 bombing, which tore apart the Cubana Airlines plane after it took off from Barbados. Posted by: Fred 2005-05-23 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=119814 |