Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez-Herrera: Fight terrorism in South Florida
Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez-Herrera: I don't have much in common with Rep. Connie Mack IV. In fact, it's safe to say that Connie Mack doesn't like the country or President I represent.
On October 27, Mack introduced a resolution calling for Venezuela to be designated a state sponsor of terrorism. The resolution is a carbon-copy of one he introduced in 2008 that only attracted nine co-sponsors and never received any serious congressional consideration.
The impact would not merely be political, though. Being classified as a state sponsor of terror imposes a number of sanctions that significantly complicate the process of doing business with that country.
Venezuela is the US' fourth largest supplier of oil, providing roughly 15% of what Americans consume on a daily basis. Moreover, Venezuela is the US second largest trading partner in the region, having done some $64 billion in business in 2008. Of that amount, Florida ranked third in the US, coming in at roughly $7 billion.
Much of this oil and business would be imperilled if Mack got his way. He is taking a costly risk with the legislation, and he's doing so with a country that cannot be credibly linked to terrorist activities or financing. Moreover, adding Venezuela to the already politicized list would prove extremely controversial in the region.
-
But if Mack is truly concerned with terrorism, he should turn his sights closer to home. Just 150 miles away in Miami, one of the hemisphere's most dangerous and unrepentant terrorists lives freely. His name is Luis Posada Carriles.
In October 1976, Posada, a Cuban-Venezuelan who had long worked for the CIA in the region, masterminded the bombing of a Cuban civilian airliner leaving Barbados for Havana. All 73 passengers and crew onboard were killed. Amongst the victims were the 24 members of Cuba's national youth fencing team, who had just won the gold medal at the Central American and Caribbean Championship; 11 Guyanese citizens, many of whom were slated to attend medical school in Cuba; mothers, fathers and children. Only nine bodies were recovered from the wreckage.
Before he could be formally tried in Venezuela, Posada escaped, only to appear in Central America in the 1980s, where he continued engaging in violent acts. In 1997, he was implicated in the bombing of a number of tourist sites in Cuba that left an Italian citizen dead. In 2000, he was finally captured in Panama when he tried to place 200 pounds of explosives in an auditorium crowded with students waiting to hear Cuban President Fidel Castro speak.
After being illegally pardoned by the outgoing Panamanian President, Posada disappeared again, only to appear in South Florida in 2005. Venezuela promptly requested his extradition, citing a treaty between the two countries that dated back to 1923.
Unfortunately, the administration of President George W. Bush, succumbing to pressure from the Cuban-American community in Miami, merely charged Posada with immigration-related offenses. In 2007 Posada was freed, even as Venezuela's request for extradition went unanswered.
If Mack is serious about terrorism -- and is not just throwing around the term for political ends -- he will help bring Posada to justice.
Given his apparent interest in the threat of terrorism in Latin America, we expect that Mack will use his position in Congress to help close a dark chapter in the region's history and have Posada returned to Venezuela to face justice.
Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez-Herrera
http://www.news-press.com/article/20091104/OPINION/911040345/1015/Ambassador-Bernardo-Alvarez-Herrera--Fight-terrorism-in-South-Florida
Constitution of the
