HOME	Where the World's Views of America Come into Focus

May 28, 2005

Original Article (Spanish)

The vice president of Venezuela, José Vicente Rangel, criticized the “hypocrisy” of Washington in the fight against terrorism for the obstacles it is imposing on the extradition of presumed terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela.

"It is important to expose the hypocrites and imposters in Washington that on the one hand condemn terrorism and one the other protect a terrorist like Carriles," Rangel said Rangel during protest march held in Caracas to demand that the U.S. turn over Carriles.

"If terrorism is not totally condemned in all its forms, does this not put one on the side of the terrorists? Bush only condemns terrorism when it suits him, and protects terrorists that supported him or his father’s [policies] in the world. There can be no such ambiguity, because there can be no good terrorism and bad terrorism,” explained Rangel.

The vice president congratulated the marchers yesterday [Friday],  and expressed his thanks to the government of Guayana for supporting the desire of Venezuela to have the anti-Castro Carriles returned to Caracas.

The anti-Castro Carriles escaped from a Venezuelan jail in 1985 while awaiting sentencing for his presumed participation in blowing up of a Cuban passenger plane in 1976, in which 73 people were killed.

Rangel said that the march was a "spectacular" example of how the Venezuelan people defend democracy and condemn "the coup d'etat mentality and terrorism."

Carriles, a 77-year-old former member of the Central Intelligence Agency (the Company) and U.S. Army soldier, was stopped in Miami on May 17 by U.S. immigration control agents.

Venezuela maintains that the U.S. is required to extradite Carriles under U.N. Security Council antiterrorist agreements and the Montreal Convention on terrorism.