George Bush should practice what he preaches

That's eloquently put, but the fact is that one terrorist-related development in Bush's own backyard shows that, when it comes to bringing suspected terrorists to justice, the president is willing to make an exception to his vow, by practicing a hypocritical double standard and bending to political expediency.

I'm referring to the case of Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban native and Venezuelan national who is accused of involvement in a 1976 bombing of an airliner that killed 73 people on a flight from Caracas to Havana and is wanted by both Cuba and Venezuela. Interestingly, Posada Carriles was twice acquitted by Venezuelan courts of bombing the plane, but escaped from a Venezuelan prison in 1985 while awaiting another trial on appeal. He has been on the run ever since.

Last April, Posada Corriles quietly slipped into the US and is now awaiting a Bush administration decision on his request for residency status first given to him in 1962 and for political asylum, in part for his past work for the CIA on behalf of the Nicaraguan Contras. Last May 28, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez told reporters: "We demand that the US government stop its hypocrisy and its two faced attitude and send this terrorist [Posada Carriles] back to Venezuela."

The gutsy Chavez, whose relations with the Bush administration can best be described as rocky, has threatened to break off diplomatic relations with the super power unless it meets Venezuela's demand. Uncle Sam needs to seriously consider this, given that Venezuela is the US' biggest oil supplier. Meanwhile Venezuelans are outraged and thousands of them have taken to the street to demand that Uncle Sam extradite Posada Carriles. There is plenty of evidence to contend that Posada Carriles was a hardcore terrorist long before Bin Laden or AlÊ Zarqawi appeared on the scene. He is linked to the car bomb murder of ex-Chilean foreign minister Orlando Letelier in Washington DC and to a series of bomb attacks in Havana, Cuba, which killed an Italian tourist.

According to US government documents, the Cuban was also involved in the sordid Iran Contra affair in which President Ronald Reagan attempted in the 1980s to topple Nicaragua's Sandanista government by selling arms to Iran and then using the money for his "freedom fighters," the Contras. In 2000, Posada Carriles was jailed in Panama for involvement an alleged plot to assassinate Castro, but he was pardoned that year by outgoing Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso.

The incident illustrates the power of the virulently anti Castro Cuban-American lobby in Florida and its influence on US politics, especially the Republican Party. The lobby played a key role in Bush's two presidential campaigns and will play a key role in any political campaign that Bush's brother Jeb might make beyond his term as Florida governor.The reaction of the Cuban American population living in the Miami area illustrates well the familiar adage that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. A recent poll of 300 Cuban-Americans living in the Miami area revealed that 60 percent of them have a favourable opinion of Posada Carriles.

Still, the case has made international waves and could have fallout for the Bush administration as it pursues its War on Terrorism. It certainly has given Bush's many enemies a lot of ammunition. Consider:

-Last May, the 13th Brazilian Convention on Solidarity with Cuba denounced the US double standard concerning terrorism and its harbouring those who practice it.

- Thanks to the Bush administration policy on the Posada Carriles matter, Cuba is using the controversy for its own propaganda purposes, despite the fact that it is harbouring its own Posada Carriles, Assata Shakur, a member of the Black Liberation Army, a branch of the Black Panther Party. Shakur, who fled to Cuba 25 years ago, was found guilty in US court of the 1973 killing of a New Jersey state trooper, but Cuba won't give up the suspect to US authorities.

- Although Posada Carriles is wanted by Cuba, Venezuela has said unequivocally that it would not extradite the suspected terrorist to Cuba if the US ever approves its extradition request.

- Mexico concedes that Posada Carriles entered the U.S. illegally on his way to the US, but says that Cuba didn't warn it in time that Posada was in the country. Mexico's foreign minister has said that his country would have extradited Posada to Venezuela if it knew of Posada's presence there.

- Even the far away Philippines has been caught up in the international incident, for Cuba has asked for the country's help with the matter because it is a staunch US ally. Last May 30, a Philippine spokesman told the Philippine Star newspaper that, "The DFA (the country's Department of Foreign Affairs) is studying the matter carefully. We prefer that this be handled through diplomatic channels."

In the British Isles, Rosie Kane, Scottish Socialist Party and member of Scottish the parliament, told the BBC News: "I am going to Cuba in the spirit of international solidarity, for truth and justice, and I'll be taking the message that the people of Scotland stand alongside the people of Cuba in opposition to the war mongers in the White House." Meanwhile, Great Britain's Solidarity with Cuba Executive Committee has demanded that the Bush administration extradite Posada Carriles to Venezuela.

It would be disturbing enough if Posada Carriles was the only suspected Cuban terrorist harboured and coddled by the US government, but, unfortunately, there are others. Orlando Bosch, for instance, a co-conspirator in the Havana hotel bombings, was about to be deported when George Bush Sr. granted him US residency, and the Cuban is now living the good life in Miami. Two other anti-Castro terrorists, Jose Dionisio Suerez Esquival and Virgilio Paz Romero, were serving time for Letelier's murder when they were quietly released from jail by Bush Jr. Indeed, according to Amnesty International reports, the US has long been a haven for death squad members and deposed Latin America right wing dictators suspected of human rights violations.

Fortunately, some members of the US Congress have realized the damage the Posada Carriles matter can do to the US and have not let the matter rest. They have asked President Bush to deny Posada Corriles asylum and to extradite him to Venezuela. They have compared the 1976 airplane bombing to the events of September 11.

Bush should listen to the congressman and take note of the growing international outrage over his handling of the suspected terrorist seeking refuge in the US. He needs to be consistent in his policy toward terrorism, no matter its origin, if he expects to have the strong support of the global community in the War on Terrorism. Meanwhile, we Americans don't need to see any more terrorists living the good life in Miami.

Ron Chepesiuk is a visiting professor of journalism at Chittagong University.