A 77-year-old former CIA operative wanted in Venezuela in connection with a 1973 airline bombing which killed 73 people, is due to appear in court in the US today on immigration charges.
The case has sparked international outrage, with Latin American governments demanding his deportation so he can be tried on charges related to the 1973 Cuban jetliner bombing.
Luis Posada Carriles is being held in a federal detention center in El Paso on charges that he illegaly entered the country through Mexico in March. He was arrested in Miami in May.
At issue in today's hearing, which could last a week, is whether the former CIA operative and US Army lieutenant should be granted asylum in the United States despite requests by Venezuela that he be deported.
Venezuelan officials have alleged that Posada, an ex-Venezuelan security official, was in Caracas when he plotted the bombing of the Cuban jetliner that crashed off the coast of Barbados, killing 73 people.
A recently declassified CIA document quotes an unidentified former Venezuelan official as saying that shortly before the bombing, Posada was heard to say that he and others "are going to hit a Cuban airplane."
Posada, who is Cuban, was acquitted by a Venezuelan military court but that decision was later thrown out and the case was turned over to a civilian court. He escaped from jail there in 1985 before the civilian trial had been completed.
Posada has denied involvement in any terrorist acts.
CIA documents show that the spy agency trained Posada in 1961 to participate in the Bay of Pigs invasion that sought to overthrown Cuban leader Fidel Castro's communist government.
As part of the deportation case, Immigration Judge William L. Abbott asked lawyers last month to prepare briefs on whether that invasion was a terrorist act. The judge said he said he would consider whether Posada had ever provided material support for acts of terror as part of the case.
Posada's lawyers have said he did not actually participate in the invasion.
A group of protesters demanding Posada's extradition has announced plans to hold a rally in front of the El Paso detention center in advance of Monday's hearing. Also expected to be in court is the family of Raymond Persaud, who died in the jetliner attack.
AP