Victims Protest Cuban Militant's Release

Cuban writer Nicanor Leon presents his book "Crime in Barbados", about the bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1976, in Havana, Wednesday, April 11, 2007. A letter bearing the signature of ailing leader Fidel Castro criticized a U.S. judge's decision to release his longtime foe Luis Posada Carriles on bail. Cuba and Venezuela accuse Posada of being a terrorist responsible for numerous violent acts, including the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people. (AP Photo/ Javier Galeano) (Javier Galeano - AP)

Washington-based attorney Jose Pertierra, who represents Venezuela, said the U.S. is compelled to try Posada or return him under several international treaties it has signed.

Before he can be released, Posada's family members in Miami must also post a $100,000 bond, said Arturo V. Hernandez, Posada's lawyer. And his wife, daughter and son must sign custodianship affidavits committing to supervise Posada upon his release, Hernandez said.

Cuba also accuses Posada of plotting a series of bombings at several Havana hotels in 1997, including one that killed 32-year-old Italian tourist Fabio di Celmo.

His eyes partially obscured by thick bifocals, and a voice that wavered and cracked, di Celmo's father, Giustino, said in an interview that "every time I hear the name of Posada Carriles, my personality changes completely."

"Before me, I see blood, blood and more blood," said the Italian citizen, who moved to Havana after his son's death.

Like Alfonso, di Celmo worried releasing Posada on bond could be risky, saying "a person like that, who is still protected by the United States government, could flee."

Posada is a longtime foe of Castro, who publicly accused him at a 2000 presidential summit in Panama of plotting to assassinate him. Soon afterward, Posada was arrested in Panama and convicted on lesser charges before walking free in 2004, after being pardoned by Panama's then-President Mireya Moscoso.

Posada was arrested in Venezuela a few days after the 1976 jetliner bombing, but escaped from prison in 1985 before a civilian trial in the case was completed.

He was detained in Florida in May 2005 for entering the United States illegally. A U.S. immigration judge ruled that he could not be sent to Cuba or Venezuela, citing fears that he would be tortured.

Posada trained with the CIA for the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion and served in the U.S. Army in the early 1960s.