Cuban Exile Is Charged by U.S.

Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban exile accused of terrorism and wanted in Venezuela to stand trial, was charged by the U.S. government Thursday with entering the country illegally, putting the onus on the former CIA operative to prove he had the right to remain.

Posada, 77, who said he came to the U.S. through Mexico about two months ago, was taken into custody Tuesday by federal agents in Miami.

On Thursday, U.S. immigration officials said he had been charged with entering the U.S. “without inspection,” a violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and would be held without bond. He has a right to a bond hearing, and is scheduled to appear before an immigration judge June 13, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement.

Venezuela has called on the U.S. to extradite the opponent of Cuban President Fidel Castro in connection with the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people. Posada has denied involvement.

Cuban authorities say he is responsible for bombings at Havana hotels in 1997 that killed an Italian tourist and injured 11 others.

Posada was acquitted twice in the airliner bombing by courts in Venezuela, but he escaped from a Caracas jail in 1985 while an appeal was pending.

As a reflection of the tensions surrounding the case, U.S. officials declined to say where Posada was being held.

But an official in the Department of Homeland Security, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Posada had been transferred to El Paso, and that the bond hearing would be held there.

Manny Van Pelt, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington, confirmed that after his arrest Posada was taken from the Miami area by helicopter. But he said he did not know why.

Officials said one reason detainees were taken to a different state was because of limited space in facilities where they were being held.

Another federal official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Bush administration might have wanted to head off any show of support for Posada in Miami’s Cuban American community.

The administration may also be trying to buy time to decide what to do with Posada, the official said.

Ira Kurzban, a Miami lawyer who has written a book on immigration law, said Posada could be freed on bond, detained indefinitely, deported or sent to another country with his consent.

The political clout of Cuban Americans, many of whom vote Republican, made it unlikely that Posada would be sent to Cuba or to Venezuela, Kurzban said.

At the June immigration hearing, Posada could ask for asylum and oppose deportation because his life or freedom would be placed in jeopardy, Kurzban said.

If Posada cannot establish that he has a legal right to be in U.S., the judge can issue a “final order of removal,” or deportation, subject to a review by immigration courts and the federal court system.

Eduardo Soto, a Coral Gables, Fla., immigration lawyer who represents Posada, said he should be allowed to stay in the U.S. because of his work with the CIA against Castro in the 1960s and because he could be persecuted if sent to Venezuela or Cuba.

At a Thursday news conference, Soto said he was satisfied that Posada had been charged with an immigration violation and not with terrorism.

He said he would meet with his client today in Texas and would file motions to have him released on bond and to have the case transferred to Miami.

Asked if Posada might agree to leave the U.S. for a country where he would not face the threat of a criminal trial, Soto said, “I think that that possibility is there.... I think everything is on the table.”

Cuban Americans knowledgeable about the case said Posada could be sent to El Salvador, Honduras or Guatemala.

For many Cuban Americans, Posada represents an era of armed struggle against the Castro regime, said Francisco J. Hernandez, president of the Cuban American National Foundation, a Miami exile organization.

He said a majority of Cuban Americans would be satisfied if Posada were granted due legal process in the U.S. and sent to a country where he would not be in jeopardy.

Dahlburg reported from Miami, Gaouette from Washington.