Posada rumbo a Miami en arresto domiciliario

El anticastrista Luis Posada Carriles, acusado por Cuba y Venezuela de actos terroristas, salió este jueves en libertad bajo fianza, tras cumplir con los requisitos impuestos por una jueza de Estados Unidos. Posada Carriles, de 79 años, rubricó los documentos de su fianza en un tribunal de El Paso (Texas) acompañado por su abogados Arturo Hernández y Felipe Millán, reportó la agencia española EFE. Millán dijo a Efe que “la fianza fue firmada” y que “las autoridades migratorias decidieron no retenerlo”. El cubano, con nacionalidad venezolana, salió del tribunal sin el uniforme carcelario, vestía un traje beige y blanco, con camisa marrón. El anticastrista estaba detenido en Estados Unidos desde mayo del 2005 por entrada ilegal en el país y será juzgado por presuntamente mentir en su solicitud de la ciudadanía estadounidense. Posada Carriles fue liberado luego de que el Quinto Tribunal de Apelaciones de Nueva Orleans (Luisiana) se pronunció el martes en contra de una moción de emergencia presentada por el gobierno estadounidense para evitar su excarcelación. Una jueza de El Paso le concedió la libertad bajo una fianza de 350.000 dólares (263.000 euros). Su defensa informó que posiblemente el ex informante de la Agencia Central de Inteligencia (CIA) viaje hoy a Miami (Florida) para reunirse con su esposa y dos hijos. Posada Carriles permanecerá en esa ciudad hasta el próximo 11 de mayo, fecha en que iniciará un juicio en su contra en El Paso. Cuba acusa al anticastrista de atentados con bombas en hoteles de La Habana, mientras Venezuela lo responsabiliza de la voladura de un avión de Cubana de Aviación en 1976, que causó 73 muertos.

Actualización:

MIAMI (AP)- Anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles, an aging ex-CIA operative suspected in a decades-old airliner bombing, was released from U.S. custody Thursday pending his trial on immigration fraud charges. Posada was released from a New Mexico jail after posting bond and was flying to Miami to stay at his wife's house, said his lawyer, Felipe D.J. Millan. He was required to post a $250,000 bond and his wife, daughter and son were required to post a $100,000 bond to secure his release. "He is required to report to pretrial services immediately upon his arrival in Miami," said U.S. Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd. There he will receive an electronic monitoring device under the terms of his release. He was being accompanied by U.S. Marshals, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said. The 79-year-old former CIA operative is awaiting a May 11 trial. He is scheduled to remain under 24-hour house arrest at his wife's home until then, with permission to leave only to meet with attorneys or for doctor's appointments, under an April 6 order by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone. Millan said immigration authorities were not detaining him, though there is an outstanding order of deportation. Posada lawyers in Florida and Texas did not return calls. Posada is wanted in Cuba and Venezuela, where he is accused of plotting the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jetliner that killed 73 people. A U.S. judge ruled that he couldn't be deported to those countries because he might be tortured, and no other country has agreed to take him. But attorneys for Venezuela have argued that under international treaties signed by the U.S., if the United States decides not to return Posada to Venezuela, it should at least try him on the bombing charges. Posada was indicted on charges of lying to immigration authorities while trying to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. An appeals court in New Orleans this week rejected the federal government's bid to keep Posada jailed until his trial. Posada has been jailed since March 2005, when he was caught in Miami and sent to El Paso, Texas, to face immigration charges. Federal prosecutors have accused him of lying about how he came into the U.S. and other details. Posada's return was hailed by some in Miami. "He's quite old and in bad of health. We believe he should be with his family and will not be a risk," said Angel De Fana, who heads a Miami-based group that supports political prisoners in Cuba and wrote a letter to Cardone in favor of Posada's release. Breaking news of Posada's release was mentioned briefly in the first part of Cuban state television's midday news program. In the minutes before the news broke, Cuban TV newscasters had warned of the impending release of Posada, who the communist government characterizes as a dangerous terrorist. But there was no immediate reaction to his release after the fact.