CARACAS, May 22.—During his regular Aló Presidente program, President Hugo Chávez confirmed that if, within a specific time frame, the government of the United States fails to enforce the application for the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles, diplomatic relations between the two countries will be affected.

"We will have to make certain decisions if they do not respect the treaty signed in 1922. They are giants with respect to violations, but we are giants of morality and dignity," commented the head of state.

"He tortured, killed and "disappeared" people here," he remarked, going over the notorious terrorist’s criminal history on Venezuelan territory, where he founded a school of terrorists as part of DISIP (the political police). "They poisoned many officials. We have to sort all that out, because that injection was a deep one," said Chávez.

Jesús Marrero, a 58-year-old economist, affirmed during a conversation with the president that he and other comrades were tortured in the presence of Captain Basilio, also known as Posada Carriles.

He exposed the murder of Pancho Alegría and Jesús M. Castillo, to whom the "law of escape" was applied, and also the disappearance of Noel Rodríguez. "Thirty-three years may have passed," he confirmed, "but it will never be erased. I was taken to the basement of the DISIP building where I remained for two months. They took us out at night to a house where we were tortured and where they staged mock executions by firing squad," revealed Marrero.

During the regular Sunday broadcast – this week transmitted from the Caracas Military Club - Chávez said that he was highly concerned at the initial response of the United States with respect to terrorist Posada Carriles.

"They lied when they said they knew nothing of his whereabouts," he stated. "Then they couldn’t keep him in his hiding place. The king was disrobed," he said, after commenting that that was the moment when they began the show, despite the fact that the world has irrefutable evidence of this terrorist’s guilt.

The Bolivarian leader mentioned that Posada Carriles was supported by the CIA, with whose support he planted the bomb exploded aboard the Cubana Aviation plane, causing the deaths of 73 innocent people. "They’re afraid that he’ll talk; they’re protecting him," insisted Chávez.

Finally he emphasized that, in Venezuela, Posada must pay for his crimes, "he must face Venezuelan justice," and reiterated that if the United States does not comply with the established laws, the mutual position of the two embassies will be reassessed.

"Embassies for what purpose? For the sake of appearance? Things either stand or they don’t. If, with all the evidence, a government such as that of Mr. Bush brazenly spits in the face of the world and Venezuela, we will have to review if it is worth us having a diplomatic representation there and they, here," he underlined.

CARACAS, May 22.— The Venezuelan District Attorney today received thousands of signatures supporting the extradition of Cuban-born terrorist Luis Posada Carriles and in support of state firm Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), reported PL.

A demonstration by political and grassroots organizations marched through one section of the capital before handing over the documents, as part of a national anti-terrorism day and also in protest of a slander campaign against PDVSA that has been condemned by the authorities.

WASHINGTON, May 22.— In 1976, Luis Posada Carriles took part in the preparations for anti-Cuba terrorist attacks, including the plans to place a bomb on a passenger plane, reported El Nuevo Herald this Sunday, and cited by PL.

The criminal also attended meetings to finalize details of the attack on a Chilean politician, reported the newspaper, quoting Lawrence Barcella Jr, a former US federal prosecutor. According to the Herald, the presence of Posada Carriles at those meetings was confirmed by terrorist Orlando Bosch, one of his assistants.

Barcella Jr, principal prosecutor in the federal investigation into the assassination of former Chilean Foreign Minister Orlando Letelier, confirmed that his investigation placed Posada at the meeting which took place in Bonao in the Dominican Republic.

The daily revealed that following the meeting in Bonao, at least three attacks took place: an attempt to kidnap the Cuban consul on the Yucatan Peninsula; the bomb on the Cuban plane; and the murders of Letelier and the secretary who was accompanying him.

Meanwhile, an editorial published today in New York’s El Diario/La Prensa and taken from La Opinión in California, maintains that the Bush administration must make the correct decision about the terrorist.

The fugitive from a terrorism case in Venezuela must be extradited to that country, stresses the tabloid, also warning that the government of the United States can not protect Posada Carriles, despite the services carried out, without being accused of double standards and hypocrisy.