Cuban Militant Posada Carriles Released From New Mexico Jail

A new phase has opened in a case that highlights a major gap in how the US and many others view international terrorism. Luis Posada Carriles walked out of a New Mexico jail last week, free on bail. Posada was being held on immigration charges. But most people who know his name want to see him tried for terrorism.

Posada is the anti-Castro Cuban militant connected to the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people. He is a former CIA operative who has worked for years to bring down the Cuban government. He has been detained in the U.S. on immigration charges since he snuck into the country in 2005. The U.S. has refused to extradite him to Cuba or Venezuela.

On Sunday Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez accused the U.S. of protecting international terrorism and said he would take the case to UN. Cuba has also renewed calls for Posada's extradition. This is Cuban National Assembly president Ricardo Alarcon.

* Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban National Assembly.

Posada is now in Miami ahead of his immigration trial next month. Last week Posada's attorney Louis Fernandez argued Posada's past is irrelevant to his status today.

* Luis Fernandez, attorney for Luis Posada Carriles.

We go now to Venezeula to speak with Jose Pertierra, a Washington DC-based immigration lawyer. He has been retained by the Venezuelan government to represent it in the Luis Posada carriles case here in the United States.

* Jose Pertierra, lawyer who representing the Venezuelan government in the Luis Posada carriles case here in the United States. He joins us on the line from Caracas.

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