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

Original Article (Spanish)

By Jose Pertierra

April 20, 2005

If Posada Carriles were a member of the National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists (UNEAC) instead of terrorist, things would be different. He could never aspire to enter the United States. Cuba is one of the seven nations that the United States considers a terrorist state. With that pretext the government of George W. Bush denies entrance to the Cuban musicians, poets, journalists, writers, and academics by the simple fact that, as they live and work in Cuba, they are tools of the government. "Dangerous" people like, Cintio Vitier  [poet], Chucho Valdes [musician], Ibrahim Ferrer [singer, songwriter], Omara Portuondo [singer, songwriter], Carlos Varela [musician, Victor Casaus [journalist, poet], Pablo Arming Fernandez [writer, poet], Hedelberto Lopez [journalist], Gerald Alfonso [singer] and many, many others that now said to threaten the national security of the United States.

What kind of counter-terrorist program is this? The U.S. Department of Homeland Security denies visas to Cuban poets and artists, but grants free entrance to terrorists. Posada Carriles is the mot recent Cuban terrorist to arrive in Miami, the capital of terrorism, and he is optimistic about obtaining residence soon. This is a man that was in charge of blowing up a Cuban aircraft over Barbados in 1976, which killed 73 people, including many members of the Cuban national fencing team. Carrilesis has also confessed to being the mastermind of the 1997 terrorist campaign against the Cuban tourist sector, when a bomb killed an Italian tourist and wounded 11 others.

America’s immigration laws are very clear: a terrorist cannot apply for citizenship, residency, asylum, a suspension of deportation, or any type of visa. There is no exemption he can apply for to avoid deportation. Nevertheless, Miami seems to be another planet, on which North American law has no jurisdiction. Or is it that the laws of Miami now apply to the entire country?

By the streets of the Cuban section [of Miami] tens of terrorists march around with impunity. In 1989, the Department of Justice considered the asylum request of Orlando Bosch, one of the Posada Carriles’ closest associates. The U.S. concluded, "We cannot protect those that hurt or kill innocent civilians. The security of this country is affected by the need to convince other nations not to protect terrorists. We cannot protect Dr. Bosch and maintain our credibility,”

Applying the U.S. immigration laws to Bosch’s asylum request, the Department of Justice determined that because of his crimes and terrorist activity, he did not qualify for asylum. Nevertheless, the case was heard in Miami, where the rules of the game are different. In spite of the legal decision of its own government, on July 18, 1990, Bush’s father [President George H.W. Bush] granted parole to this terrorist for "humanitarian reasons." It is possible that Bosch eventually managed to become a permanent resident.

We are seeing the “Miamification” of the United States. Intolerance and the glorification of violence now prevail in the country. Firearms abound, and are seen with regularity. A healthy immigrant has fewer civil rights than an American citizen in a vegetative comma, as demonstrated in recent case of Terri Schiavo. Military parades are held before televised sporting events. Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington D.C. will soon be called "Armed Forces Field."  In name of the democracy, they hold prisoners indefinitely, they torture them, and in some cases they assassinate them. The countries that fail to obey the orders of the emperor are bombed, invaded and occupied. Meanwhile, many Americans continue to repeat the mantra that this is the best country in the world, and that this is a real democracy.

Carriles is not stupid. He knows that under the letter of U.S. law, he cannot apply for asylum, or for U.S. residence. Nevertheless, he knows that although he was born in Cuba, his master is the government of the United States, and, as his lawyer reminds us, he is a child of the company [the CIA]. This, he believes, is sufficient for Bush the son to give his the same gift that Bush the father gave Bosch: a green card and a parade in Miami. He knows that in the United States of Miami, it is more valuable to be a member of The Company that the UNEAC, and where it is better to be terrorist than a poet.