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Further information: [[:Luis Posada]]

Luis Posada is a Cuban-born Venezuelan and a former CIA operative. He has been accused of several acts of terrorism against Cuba such as Cubana Flight 455 in 1976. Shortly after the bombing, the Castro government accused the CIA of "directly" participating.[1] Cuba has not repeated these accusations more recently but still criticize the US for not extraditing Posada.[2] In an interview in 2001, Cuban Vice President Ricardo Alarcón stated: "The most quoted phrase by President Bush or ever repeated by him refers to the same idea every time he speaks. "'Those who harbor a terrorist are as guilty as the terrorist himself'".

Venezuela has accused the US of hypocrisy on terrorism since the US "virtually" collaborated with convicted terrorist Luis Posada by failing to contest statements that Posada would be tortured if he were extradited to Venezuela. Some U.S. officials, who declined to speak on the record, also deplored the decision by immigration judge William Abbott not to extradite Posada. The administration stressed that Posada may still be subject to deportation to another country, although their efforts thus far to persuade several Latin American countries have proved fruitless.

Peter Kornbluh writes in The Nation that "What is available so far does not indicate that the United States covertly orchestrated or supported the attack. But the files do indicate that the close ties between CIA and FBI officials and allies inside the Cuban exile movement enabled the bombing to go forward--despite ample intelligence that, if acted upon, could have prevented it. When the entire file is made public, as it should and must be, the degree of US responsibility will be more apparent."[3]