Posada Deportation Update Continued

The deportation hearing for Luis Posada Carriles took yet another interesting turn today. Joaquin F. Chaffardet Ramos, a lawyer and former Venezuelan official who claims that he has known Mr. Posada since the 1960s when they worked together as security officials, testified today that Mr. Posada would be tortured if the United States deports him to Venezuela.^[1] Mr. Chaffardet said that the Venezuelan government has denounced Mr. Posada as a terrorist on that country’s state-run media, and that Mr. Posada would almost certainly be sent to Cuba.^[2] Furthermore, while Mr. Posada’s age, 77, would keep Venezuela from imprisoning him for more than four years, Mr. Chaffardet said that the country would likely strip Mr. Posada of his citizenship, which could open the door for his deportation to Cuba.^[3]

After initially refusing to answer any questions about former aliases, and about whether he had committed document fraud,^[4] Mr. Posada finally acknowledged using several aliases and fake passports during a later round of questioning.^[5]

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[1] Alicia A. Caldwell, Militant Said Faces Torture if Extradited, Associated Press, Aug. 30, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Alicia A. Caldwell, Posada Refuses to Answer Questions from U.S. Attorneys, Associated Press, Aug. 30, 2005, not readily available online.
[5] Alicia A. Caldwell, Posada Acknowledges Aliases After Initial Refusal to Respond, Associated Press, Aug. 30, 2005, available here.