Was Posada Carriles a CIA Agent or Not?
REINALDO TALADRID HERRERO The events that immediately followed the scandal caused by the mid-air bombing of a Cuban airliner off the coast of Barbados in October 1976: Although a top-priority intelligence information cable from the CIA Operations Directorate dated October 13, 1976, revealed that the Venezuelan government seriously considered the possibility of handing over Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch to US authorities—perhaps in a bid to protect them and get rid of two “hot potatoes”—, the then Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez was forced to arrest them and try them along with Hernan Ricardo and Freddy Lugo, the material authors of the bombing. After nine long years of trials, rulings and appeals, Posada Carriles, whose nom-de-guerre was “Bambi,” challenged the authorities: “Either you set me free or I will speak.” And the blackmail worked. On August 18, 1985, Luis Posada Carriles escaped from a Venezuelan prison thanks to a well-funded operation. Who helped him escap
