Cuban exile was trusted by CIA

Recently released CIA files from the mid-1960s show Cuban exile and suspected terrorist Luis Posada Carriles informed on violent Miami-based efforts to attack Fidel Castro’s fledgling Cuban government even as he was deeply involved in helping them.

In the files, the CIA also appeared confident that Posada was a moderate who would not embarrass the agency or the United States.

“A15 is not a typical kind of ‘boom and bang’ individual. He is acutely aware of the international implications of ill-planned or overly enthusiastic activities against Cuba,” Posada’s CIA handler, Grover T. Lythcott, wrote in a July 26, 1966, memo, using a code name for the Cuban exile.

Another memo describes Posada as loyal to the U.S., of “good character, very reliable and security-conscious.”

But Posada was later suspected in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jet, hotel bombings in Havana in 1997 and other crimes. He faces charges of immigration fraud in Texas, including lying about involvement in the Havana attacks. He declined to comment.

The documents were made public on the 33rd anniversary of the airliner bombing, which killed 73 people.

The files come from a group of CIA papers made public Tuesday by Peter Kornbluh of the independent, nongovernmental National Security Archive. Kornbluh obtained them under a Freedom of Information Act request.

Kornbluh said he was amazed at the CIA’s failure in its assessment of Posada.

Posada sneaked into the U.S. in 2005 and was arrested on immigration fraud charges after giving a news conference.