Luis Posada, Terrorist or Freedom Fighter?

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As Luis Posada sits in a Texas jail, waiting for the US government to decide where he might be extradited, Washington is handling the delicate situation with kid gloves. Venezuela wants the anti-Castro militant returned to Caracas to stand trial for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airplane, a crime for which he's already been acquitted. President Chavez has threatened to sever US-Venezuelan diplomatic if Posada is not returned, but the US has refused. Meantime Cubans demonstrate in Havana, claiming the US is harboring a terrorist, and Cuban Americans in Miami applaud Posada's anti-communist activism. What will the US do and how will the decision affect relations with Venezuela and Cuba? Guest host Diana Nyad speaks with political scientists, legal experts and a journalist who recently interviewed Posada. Making News: Anti-Syrian Lebanese Journalist Assassinated Samir Kassir, a prominent Lebanese journalist known for his opposition to Syria's presence in Lebanon, has been killed by a car bomb. Hanna Anbar, associate publisher of the Beirut-based Daily Star, an English language newspaper distributed throughout the Arab world, has more on the respected journalist and scholar, and Syria's suspected role in his death. Reporter's Notebook: Aid to Africa Divides Allies Yesterday, South African Prime Minister Thabo Mbeki met with President Bush to appeal for increased financial assistance. Mbeki's request may have been a precursor to next month's summit of industrial nations where Britain's Tony Blair will push for rich nations to double their aid to Africa. Bush will oppose the move, preferring to focus on Iraq and nuclear proliferation. Political scientist Edmond Keller heads the Globalization Research Center-Africa at the University of California at Los Angeles.

As Luis Posada sits in a Texas jail, waiting for the US government to decide where he might be extradited, Washington is handling the delicate situation with kid gloves. Venezuela wants the anti-Castro militant returned to Caracas to stand trial for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airplane, a crime for which he's already been acquitted. President Chavez has threatened to sever US-Venezuelan diplomatic if Posada is not returned, but the US has refused. Meantime Cubans demonstrate in Havana, claiming the US is harboring a terrorist, and Cuban Americans in Miami applaud Posada's anti-communist activism. What will the US do and how will the decision affect relations with Venezuela and Cuba? Guest host Diana Nyad speaks with political scientists, legal experts and a journalist who recently interviewed Posada.


Making News: Anti-Syrian Lebanese Journalist Assassinated Samir Kassir, a prominent Lebanese journalist known for his opposition to Syria's presence in Lebanon, has been killed by a car bomb. Hanna Anbar, associate publisher of the Beirut-based Daily Star, an English language newspaper distributed throughout the Arab world, has more on the respected journalist and scholar, and Syria's suspected role in his death.


Reporter's Notebook: Aid to Africa Divides Allies Yesterday, South African Prime Minister Thabo Mbeki met with President Bush to appeal for increased financial assistance. Mbeki's request may have been a precursor to next month's summit of industrial nations where Britain's Tony Blair will push for rich nations to double their aid to Africa. Bush will oppose the move, preferring to focus on Iraq and nuclear proliferation. Political scientist Edmond Keller heads the Globalization Research Center-Africa at the University of California at Los Angeles.


A 2002 inductee into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, guest host Diana Nyad is a business sports columnist for Marketplace. She's served as senior sports correspondent for Fox News, hosted her own show on CNBC, and is the author of Other Shores, Basic Training and The Keyshawn Johnson Story.

Daily Star article on assassination of journalist Samir Kassir

Bardach's 1998 New York Times article on Posada

National Security Archive on Luis Posada Carriles

President and South African President Mbeki discuss bilateral relations

Britain's Tony Blair on Africa

World Bank's Paul Wolfowitz on Africa, development

Willie Brandt Commission

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney