Cases involving Jamaican 'Dudus' Coke, Venezuela's Luis Posada and the USA

BY RICKEY SINGH:



WHILE Jamaica's security forces intensify their hunt for most wanted reputed dealer in illicit drugs and guns, Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, for extradition to the USA, Venezuela has chosen to increase its pressure for Washington to extradite to Caracas a most wanted terrorist.

He is the Cuban-born naturalised Venezuelan citizen, Luis Posada Carilles, in connection with his involvement in the 1976 bombing tragedy of a Cubana aircraft off Barbados in which 73 people on board perished.

Killings, mayhem and spreading fear have been a virtual way of life in so-called garrison communities of Jamaica, such as Coke's Tivoli Gardens base.

The controversy over Kingston's delay in responding to Washington's extradition request for Coke has led to tensions in their relations.

But the legal arrangements for Coke's extradition are now proceeding in the Jamaican court system, even as the don's 'kingdom' in Tivoli is crumbling under the heavy guns of the security forces.

In contrast, however, to the official foot-dragging over some nine months by Prime Minister Bruce Golding's Government to facilitate, under a bilateral treaty, Coke's extradition to the USA, 'Uncle Sam' has been contemptuously and systematically ignoring, under successive Washington administrations, extradition demands from Venezuela.

Venezuela's Parliament

The refusal to grant Venezuela's extradition requests had started with the presidency of then senior George Bush, and prior to the emergence of a Government in Caracas under President Hugo Chavez.

Having previously been ignored, the Chavez Government moved to involve Parliament. And its National Assembly last Tuesday approved a resolution demanding the extradition of Posada Carilles. He, along with another anti-Cuba exile then in Venezuela, Orlando Bosch (Cuban-American), were wanted for the 1976 terrorist bombing of the Cubana aircraft.

In calling on President Barack Obama's administration for the extradition of Posada, the Venezuelan Parliament noted that the demand had been reinforced by additional testimonies received from relatives of the victims of the Cubana bombing tragedy.

Posada and Bosch have long been identified as the chief plotters of the bombing of the Cubana aircraft on October 6, 1976 when all 73 people on board -- 57 Cubans; 11 Guyanese and 5 North Koreans -- died.

Instead of facilitating their extradition as fugitive terrorists from justice, then President Bush, in response to urgings from the anti-Fidel Castro lobby in Miami and Washington as well as from his son Jebb Bush, then governor of Florida, granted a Presidential Pardon to Bosch.

Even before a US immigration judge was to rule against Posada's extradition to Venezuela on the contention that he would be subjected to "torture while in custody", Caricom foreign ministers had, at a meeting, called for him to face a court trial for his involvement in the Cubana bombing tragedy.

Caricom's moment

If is felt that if the rule of law is to prevail and justice is to be served in what Caricom has officially recognised as "the worst human tragedy" to have occurred by a terrorist act in Caribbean airspace, then NO double standards on implementation of bilateral extradition treaties should be permitted on the part of Jamaica and the USA in the case of Christopher Coke; or that involving Venezuela and America for the extradition of Posada (Bosch having already secured a Presidential Pardon).

This is certainly a matter of regional importance and urgency that should be dispassionately discussed and a relevant decision taken at the forthcoming 31st regular annual Caricom Heads of Government Conference scheduled for November 3-7 in Montego Bay.

While the administrations of the Bushes (father and son) had made what critics view as a mockery of the existing extradition treaty between the USA and Canada, the reality is that the Obama administration CANNOT seriously claim unawareness of its own obligation in relation to Caricom's earlier call for Posada to be brought to justice for the enormous human tragedy in which he and US collaboration have been so well exposed.

Against the backdrop of issues discussed at the recent Washington Dialogue on Security Co-operation between the USA and Caricom, and embraced at last week's meeting in Barbados of the Community's foreign ministers and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, there is another related issue:

It is the proposed initiative of US Attorney General Eric Holder for Caricom governments to be willing to accept "resident US security advisors". This is a matter that involves concerns over "sovereignty" and one that ALL nations like to emphasise whenever necessary or expedient.

If this issue surfaces during the summit's discussion on "crime and security", as is likely, it is reasonable to assume that Caricom leaders may also consider it relevant to question the modalities of compilation of annual US State Department reports on such sensitive matters of mutual interest like drugs and human trafficking.

The US authors never fail to adopt the postures of lecturing and reprimanding this region over such reports.

Perhaps Caricom should consider requesting the Obama administration to accept "resident" Caribbean officials to benefit from how such reports are prepared for official circulation and the approaches by US authorities in curbing trafficking in drugs and humans at their domestic level.

June 20, 2010

jamaicaobserver