Gangster icon Al Capone: A killer prosecuted for tax evasion.

Adelante, Cuba

Posada Carriles and Al Capone: How U.S. History Repeats Itself

Can one compare that bloodthirsty mobster of the 1930s, Al Capone, to Luis Posada Carriles, a former CIA operative implicated in a number of terrorist attacks and who is apparently being shielded by the Bush Administration? According to this article from Cuba's state-controlled Adelante, the fact that Posada is being prosecuted on immigration violations rather than murder, is analogous to Capone's prosecution on charges of tax evasion.

By Lázaro David Najarro Pujol

Translated By Halszka Czarnocka

April 21, 2007

Cuba - Adelante - Original Article (Spanish)

Camagüey: The history of North American justice repeats itself: the last century's decade of the 30s has returned, but this time more shamefully and in full view of the world.

Yes, it's true, because a new Al Capone has arisen: Luis Posada Carriles . But the difference is that this individual, instead of becoming the most important crime figure in a United States city, is a terrorist and assassin on an international scale.

Why [on what charges] did Al Capone go to prison? And why is it that Posada Carriles has been brought before justice?

Alphonse Gabriel Capone [1] was imprisoned during 1930-1939 for tax evasion. The federal government of the United States thought that the dozens of crimes committed by the mafioso - born in Naples, Italy on January 17, 1899 - were of little importance, a fact that demonstrates the moral double standard of the Yankee authorities in their "fight" against organized crime at that time.

[Editor's Note: The author is mistaken in regard to the motives of federal authorities during prohibition. Unable to convince anyone to testify against Capone since the mobster would have had any informers killed, the authorities tried a new approach to putting him out of business: prosecuting him for tax evasion. It worked, and the approach created a legend of American law enforcement: Eliot Ness and the Untouchables ].

But Luis Posada Carriles, born in the Cuban city of Cienfuegos on February 15, 1928, instead of figuring on the "Most Wanted" list of the Government of the United States, is, paradoxically, the Most Protected: the Federal Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans ruled on Tuesday, April 17, against an attempt by the Public Prosecutor to keep him behind bars until his next court date in May, which is a trial for breaking U.S. migration laws - not for the crimes or acts of terrorism he committed.

Texas District Judge Kathleen Cardone ordered Posada Carriles to be freed on bail - which demonstrates the moral double standard of the Government of the United States in its fight against terrorism.

Since May 2005, Carriles has been "detained" in the United States after admitting to having entering the country illegally from Mexico.

The criminal life of Posada Carriles began in 1954, when he established relations with politicians tied to Dictator Fulgencio Bautista . A year later, he became an undercover collaborator of Bautista's police.

The most widely-discussed criminal act of this "Al Capone" of the 20th and 21st centuries took place on October 6, 1976. He has since been identified as "the main plotter and mastermind, together with Orlando Bosch , of the bombing of a Cuban airliner in mid-flight, off the coast of Barbados, in which 73 people were killed. Both criminals were arrested in Caracas and stood trial there, together with Hernán Ricardo and Freddy Lugo, who were also material authors of the attack." [2]

Carriles is also the mastermind behind terrorist attacks against Cuban hotels in April 1997, as reported by Enrique Bernales Ballesteros, Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Commission, who officially confirmed in September 1999, "that the terrorist campaign executed 2 years earlier in Havana was planned and paid for by the Cuban American National Foundation, of the United States." [3]

Al Capone was found guilty in 1931 of 5 of the 23 charges against him, and sentenced to 10 years in a federal prison for tax evasion - but not for murder. Posada was indicted in January 2007 on charges of having lied about the way in which he entered the country and other details, but not for being a terrorist and a known assassin.

Upon leaving prison, Al Capone went to live in Miami. Luis Posada Carriles, upon being freed on bail, went away like an innocent baby to live in Miami, that "paradise" characterized by the corruption of its politicians, public officials and mafia groups that have transformed this U.S. town into a devil's cauldron. History repeats itself, but this time in a much more shameful way and in plain view of the entire world.

SEE ALSO:

America's Favorite Terrorist Goes Free

Adlelante, Cuba

http://WORLDmeets.US/adelante000001.shtml

Will Bush Free His Favorite Terrorist on October 5th?

La Jornada, Mexico

http://WORLDmeets.US/lajornada000054.shtml

Contemporary Fascism in the United States

Argen Press, Argentina

http://WORLDmeets.US/argenpress000003.shtml

Notes:

[1] Al Capone spent most of the last years of his detention in the prison hospital and was finally set free on November 16, 1939.

[2] See the criminal file of Luis Posada Carriles on the Website of the daily Trabajadores.

[3] "Tracks of Luis Posada Carriles still traceable in Havana," by Yailin Orta Rivera and Norge Martinez Montero, Juventud Rebelde Digital.

Spanish Version Below

Casos Posada Carriles y Alphonse Gabriel Capone: la historia se repite

Lázaro David Najarro Pujol

21 abr.-

Camagüey: La historia se repite para la justicia norteamericana: ha vuelto la década del 30 del siglo pasado, pero esta vez de forma mucho más bochornosa y a la vista de todo el mundo.

Sí, porque ha surgido un nuevo Al Capone: Luis Posada Carriles, pero este personaje en lugar de convertirse en la figura del crimen más importante de una ciudad de EE.UU. es un terrorista y un asesino de ámbito internacional.

¿Por qué fue a la cárcel Al Capone? ¿Por qué ha sido llevado a la "justicia" Posada Carriles?

Alphonse Gabriel Capone[1] fue llevado a prisión en los años 30-31 por evasión de impuestos. Al Gobierno Federal de los Estados Unidos no le importó las decenas de crímenes del mafioso, quien nació en la ciudad italiana de Nápoles el 17 de enero de 1899, lo que demuestra en esos años la doble moral de esas autoridades yanqui en la "lucha" contra la mafia.

Pero, Luis Posada Carriles, quien nació en la ciudad cubana de Cienfuegos el 15 de febrero de 1928, en lugar de estar en la lista de "Más Buscados" del Gobierno de los Estados Unidos, paradójicamente es la figura más protegida: la V Corte Federal del Circuito de Apelaciones en Nueva Orleans falló el martes 17 de abril de 2007 contra el reciente intento de la fiscalía de mantenerlo en prisión hasta que se le realizara, en mayo, un juicio por delitos contra las leyes migratorias y no por los crímenes cometidos y las acciones terroristas.

La magistrada del estado de Texas, Kathleen Cardone había solicitado la liberación bajo fianza de Posada Carriles, lo que evidencia la doble moral del Gobierno de Estados Unidos en la lucha contra el terrorismo.

Carriles se encuentra "detenido" en Estados Unidos desde mayo del 2005, tras reconocer haber ingresado ilegalmente al país desde México.

La vida criminal de Posada Carriles comenzó en 1954 al establecer relaciones con políticos afines al dictador Fulgencio Batista y convertirse un año después en colaborador secreto de la policía batistiana.

La acción criminal más connotada de este "Al capone" de América de los siglos XX y XXI ocurre el 6 de octubre de 1976 al ser identificado como "el principal planificador y autor intelectual, junto a Orlando Bosch, del atentado contra un avión cubano en pleno vuelo, frente a las costas de Barbados, donde perdieron la vida 73 personas. Ambos criminales fueron detenidos en Caracas, y sometidos a un proceso judicial junto a Hernán Ricardo y Freddy Lugo, autores materiales del atentado."[2]

También es el autor intelectual de actos terroristas contra hoteles cubanos en abril de 1997, reconocidos, incluso, por Enrique Bernales Ballesteros, relator especial de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos, quien confirmó oficialmente, en septiembre de 1999, "que la campaña terrorista ejecutada dos años antes en La Habana fue planificada y pagada por la Fundación Nacional Cubano Americana, desde los Estados Unidos."[3]

En cinco de los 23 cargos, Al Capone fue encontrado culpable en 1931 y sentenciado a 10 años en una prisión federal por evasión de impuestos, pero no por asesino. Posada fue encausado en enero de 2007 bajo cargos de haber mentido sobre la forma en que entró al país y otros detalles, pero no por ser un terrorista y un connotado asesino.

Al Capone al salir de prisión se fue a vivir a Miami; Luis Posada Carriles al ser liberado bajo fianza se ha ido a vivir como un bebé en la ciudad estadounidense de Miami, ese "paraíso" caracterizado por la corrupción de los políticos y funcionarios públicos y grupos mafiosos que la han transformado en una caldera del diablo. La historia se repite, pero esta vez de forma mucho más bochornosa y a la vista de todo el mundo.

Notas:

[1] Al Capone pasó gran parte de sus últimos años de reclusión en el hospital de la prisión y finalmente fue liberado el 16 de noviembre de 1939.

[2] Ver Expediente criminal de Luis Posada Carriles en sitio web periódico Trabajadores

[3] La huella del asesino Luis Posada Carriles perdura en La Habana: Yailin Orta Rivera y Norge Martínez Montero. Juventud Rebelde Digital.