U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents get him this afternoon. The Miami Herald claims he was nabbed as he was attempting to leave his safe-house on his way out of the country.
The arrest also came on the day the U.S. government summoned Posada to an asylum interview in downtown Miami. But instead of appearing at the interview, Posada gave a news conference at a warehouse near Hialeah where he said he was having second thoughts about going forward with his asylum application.
Hours later, Posada’s Coral Gables immigration attorney said he formally withdrew the application and that his client was thinking about leaving the country.
He was taken aboard a Federal Government helicopter to an undisclosed destination.
All this following this morning’s press conference at a “secret” Hialeah warehouse.
Claims he withdrew his assylum application to forestall an international “incident’ with Castro, who has been posturing, leading his faithful in a show-demonstration highlighting the hypocrisy of George Bush as an anti-terrorist politician.
”Regarding my application for political asylum in the United States, I want to clarify that the Cuban dictator wishes to create an international situation to damage the image of the United States,” said Posada.
As a result of this concern, Posada said, he was willing to give up his asylum application if it ”were to cause a problem to the government of the United States.” In answer to questions, Posada suggested he was ready to return to a life in the underground.
Posada also said he would be willing to submit himself to a trial by an international court over allegations against him over the Cuban plane.
But Posada set conditions: Cuba must surrender for trial the pilots of the MiG warplanes that shot down two civilian aircraft in 1976 killing four Cuban exiles and the crew of a Cuban boat that rammed and sank a tugboat full of refugees fleeing the island, killing about 40 men, women and children in 1994.
The Cuban exile community regards Posada as a “freedom fighter.” Fortunately, since there were no parading pro-Posada demonstrators in front of the home where he was staying, unlike the Elian situation, I don’t expect the hue and cry to equal what came after Federal Agents seized him and returned him to his father in Cuba.
Now the speculation will circulate around Posada’s fate: Will he be tried in the USA as a terrorist? Will he be deported to a foreign country — not Cuba? Will he be returned to Castro and receive Fidel’s justice?