Bush Administration Harbors ‘Friendly’ Terrorists While Claiming to Lead the ‘War Against Terror’

The US press is not reporting on the contradictory actions of the Bush Administration with regard to some Venezuelan terrorist suspects. As George W. Bush continues to increase his defense budget by the billions and justifies unwarranted aggression and violence against other nations as part of his ‘war against terror’, the Department of Homeland Security looks the other way as terrorist flood the gates in Miami.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the division of the Department of Homeland Security that handles asylum petitions and immigration matters, is currently considering asylum applications filed by two terror suspects fleeing from justice in Venezuela. An Interpol alert has been issued for the two rebel military officers who are suspects in the terrorist attacks against the Spanish Embassy and Consulate of Colombia in Caracas last February. The suspects are being held at the Krome Detention Center in Florida, and a request by the suspects to be released was recently denied by a judge.

Major newspapers in the US are not reporting that suspected terrorists and rebel military officers German Varela and Jose Antonio Colina may very well soon be lawful US permanent residents, shacked up in the safe-haven of Miami.

These asylum seekers are fierce opponents of the progressive government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whom the Bush administration has sought to overthrow following a long tradition of U.S. governments toppling democratically elected leaders who refuse to comply with all of Washington’s demands. Southern Florida is home for thousands of Latin American exiles who have committed crimes in their own countries, including bankers, anti-Cuban terrorists, and ex-dictators.

For months before being charged in connection with the terror attacks, the rebels gave public speeches wearing their military uniforms and urging their fellow military officers to use force to topple the Venezuelan government. In a public display of tolerance, the government did not detain or harass these rebels for their seditious speeches, something that no U.S. government would tolerate.

Meanwhile, the right-wing Miami Hearld, which holds an editorial line opposed to President Chavez, has tried to persuade U.S. Immigration authorities to grant the asylum to the rebels. Even though Venezuela has no political prisoners and the death penalty is illegal, The Miami Herald said that the lives of these officers would be in danger if they return to Venezuela, since they could be executed.

At the end of January, Venezuela ratified the Inter-American Convention Against Terrorism, but the U.S. has not ratified it yet, so it is not obligated to turn in the suspected terrorist suspects to Venezuela.

How can President Bush claim to be fighting a war against terrorism and at the same time, welcome terror suspects and coup leaders conspiring against democratic governments with open arms?

Please write a brief letter to the editor of one of these newspapers, and let them know that they’re failing the American public by ignoring this news:

The New York Times: [email protected]
USA Today: [email protected]
The Houston Chronicle: [email protected]
The San Francisco Chronicle: [email protected]
The Los Angeles Times: [email protected]
The Chicago Tribune: [email protected]
The Washington Post: [email protected]
Newsday: [email protected]
The New York Daily News: [email protected]
The New York Post: [email protected]
The Wall Street Journal: [email protected]
The Miami Herald: [email protected]

For more information on this story and others related to the Bush Administration’s attempts to undermine democracy in Venezuela, see http://venezuelanalysis.com/anti-chavez-terror