CLEARLY, if there is one country that cannot claim to be seriously committed to combating terrorism, it’s the United States. Recent decisions made in the legal procedures – diametrically opposed – against Luis Posada Carriles and our five heroes imprisoned by imperialism, on one hand, and the secret prisons administered by the CIA in eight countries, on the other, corroborate that.

In allowing the deadline to pass for appealing the ruling by immigration Judge William L. Abbott in the simulated immigration trial of Posada Carriles, U.S. Department of Homeland Security representatives have expedited Posada’s path to refuge in that country, unless a third country would be willing to take him in (very unlikely), or the expected "presidential pardon" from Bush Jr. is issued, just like Bush Sr.’s did for Orlando Bosch years ago.

The resolution of Posada’s case is a fallacy, a slap in the face of the international community. No reasons have been given to Venezuela for denying his extradition there. It is denied to Cuba because of its "practice of systematic torture of its prisoners," according to the cynical and shameless argument engendered by the U.S. government in complicity with the counterrevolutionary mafia in Miami.

As journalists Arleen Rodríguez, Lázaro Barredo and Reinaldo Taladrid affirmed during the November 3 "Roundtable" TV program, if there is one country in the world that does not have the moral authority to talk about torture, it’s the United States, which – according to investigations carried out by The Washington Post – has eight secret prisons in Afghanistan, Thailand and other countries, including two former socialist nations.

Built at a cost of more than $100 million, these clandestine jails administered by the CIA apparently hold dozens of prisoners who are refused all legal rights and due process.

The existence of these prisons was not denied or acknowledged by the U.S. Attorney General when he was interviewed on television in that country; however, a campaign is continuing – advanced by Vice President Dick Cheney – in Congress for a legal memorandum to be approved that would authorize the torture of suspects. With all of this, the United States is violating the precepts of the UN International Convention Against Torture and other cruel and inhumane treatment, which it signed, but which it enforces only when it is convenient, and not to arrest, try or extradite – as it is obliged to do – a proven torturer like Posada Carriles.

Meanwhile, it continues to prolong the injustice in the case of the Five, hindering the possibility of their immediate return to their homeland.

As has been reported, the Appeals Court in Atlanta agreed to an appeal by the U.S. Attorney to reconsider the ruling issued on August 9. This does not mean that the August 9 ruling is out of the question, explained Doctor Nurys Piñero, one of the defense team attorneys; it is very clear and contains very weighty elements with respect to legal procedures. The truth contained in that 93-page ruling – affirmed Richard Klugh, Fernando González’s attorney, in a phone call – can not be hidden, the world already knows about it.

When the full court meets to review the ruling, they must take the contents of that decision into account. "I believe that those judges must have a vocation for justice, and when they evaluate the arguments that the defense is going to offer once again, the truth will out: there is no impartiality in Miami for ensuring a fair trial," Piñero commented.