Luis Posada, Freedom Fighter or Terrorist?

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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. (An extended version of this discussion aired earlier today on To the Point.) Making News: FAA Approves LAX Modernization Plan Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff took a tour of Los Angeles International Airport today with Mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa and several Congress representatives. Some 18.5 million travelers are expected to come through LAX this summer, a 6% increase over last summer. LAX is aging and crowded and security is an issue. Aviation reporter Ian Gregor attended today's LAX press conference for the Daily Breeze.
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.

LAX Master Plan

FAA on LAX Master Plan, environmental reports

National Security Archive on Luis Posada Carriles

Bardach's 1998 New York Times article on Posada

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney

Producer:

Frances Anderton