Latin American conference blasts U.S. government

HAVANA – Hundreds of intellectuals and politicians from Latin America’s left gathered for an anti-terror conference in Cuba, but they never talked about al Qaeda, focusing instead on their own shared nemesis – the U.S. government.

For decades, participants said, the United States was behind efforts to suppress leftist movements in Latin America, from the backing of the region’s violent, right-wing military dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s to current meddling in the politics of liberal-led countries.

The policy, they said, has emerged again with the current handling of a Cuban militant wanted in Venezuela for an airliner bombing – the issue that spawned the conference, originally a three-day event that host Cuban President Fidel Castro extended to run a fourth day today. The event was aimed at drumming up international support for the extradition of the militant, Luis Posada Carriles.

“In reality, we are fighting for the independence of the hemisphere, for the end of the dominance over our hemisphere,” Castro said.

Among the speakers were the ex-Salvadoran guerrilla leader Shafick Handal, former Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel.

Posada, a former CIA operative and naturalized Venezuelan, has devoted most of his life to overthrowing Castro’s government.

Venezuela wants to try him on murder charges for the bombing of a Cubana Airlines plane that exploded after taking off from Barbados, killing 73 people. Posada is accused of plotting the attack while in Caracas and escaping from a Venezuelan prison in 1985 as prosecutors were preparing to appeal his acquittal.

The U.S. government last month rejected Venezuela’s request for Posada’s provisional arrest – a first step that could lead to his extradition – on grounds of insufficient information. The 77-year-old Posada, who had denied wrongdoing in the plane bombing, is due to have an immigration hearing in the United States on June 13.

The case has provoked outrage in the region, where some accuse the administration of President Bush of hypocrisy in its war on terrorism.

“What is the reason they’re protecting this terrorist?” asked Waldo Leyva, a Cuban writer. “This guy is the bin Laden of Latin America!”

Cuba also accuses Posada and three others of trying to assassinate Castro in 2000 during a presidential summit in Panama. They were arrested and convicted of lesser chargers, then pardoned last August by Panama’s outgoing president.