naturalizing Posada

The United States government will interview soon the anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles to consider his request for citizenship for honorable service to the country, their legal representative reported.

"I received a call from Washington in which officials from the office of Immigration and Citizenship (USCIS) indicated they want to interview my client on April 20th", said attorney Eduardo Soto last night to the El Nuevo Herald.

According to Soto, the interview will be held in El Paso, Texas, where Posada has been detained since last May 17.

"It is good news for our case," added the attorney, who plans to file a motion this week seeking Posada's release on parole.

Yesterday, the Nuevo Herald was unsuccessful in their attempts to contact a representative of the USCIS.

The awarding of citizenship to Posada, 78 years old, would be a dramatic about-face in his case and would freeze the extradition process requested by Venezuela. Any charge against the prisoner would then have to be heard before United States courts.

Soto presented his client's citizenship request last September, supported in Section 329 of the immigration law, which allows naturalization to people with distinguished service in the country's armed forces.

Posada served in the United States army between 1963 and 1965, after participating in the preparation of the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. During his military service, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruited him and trained him as demolition specialist.

The subject of Posada's possible naturalization came up days after the Department of Homeland Security sent a letter justifying his indefinite detention because he is considered "a danger to the community and national security."

Last night attorney José Pertierra, representing the Venezuelan government in the extradition case, downplayed the importance of the citizenship question. "This is just a formality, because in fact this individual is not qualified to obtain citizenship", Pertierra stated. "With the sentence he received in Panama for aggravated crimes, his naturalization case is invalidated."

In 2004, Posada was sentenced to eight years by a Panamanian court for crimes against public security and falsification of documents.

"The extradition process isn't buried and sooner or later the Department of Justice will have to act", Pertierra added.

Translated by Dana Lubow