The United States government wrapped up its case against anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles without calling any witnesses. The judge in the cases hinted he might let him stay.

BY OSCAR CORRAL

An immigration judge in El Paso hinted strongly Monday that Cuban exile militant Luis Posada Carriles would be allowed to stay in detention in the United States, said Matthew Archambeault, a lawyer for Posada.

On the last day of Posada's immigration trial in El Paso, lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security wrapped up their case with a short closing statement -- and without calling any witnesses -- Archambeault said.

''We're 99.9 percent sure the judge is going to'' defer deportation, Archambeault said. ``He is very satisfied with our case.''

If Posada stays, it could fuel accusations by Venezuela and other Latin American countries that the United States is being hypocritical in its war against terrorism by harboring a man accused of terrorism abroad. Domestically, it would please many in the Cuban-American community, which the Bush administration has counted on for strong political support.

Posada, 77, has been linked to the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jetliner and a series of 1997 bombings at Cuban tourist hotels.

The U.S. government could have presented a much stronger case against Posada, calling witnesses to argue that he should be deported to Venezuela, where he holds citizenship. But by calling no witnesses, government lawyers introduced no evidence to rebut the testimony of Joaquin Chaffardet, a Venezuelan lawyer and Posada ally, who testified that Posada would likely be tortured if he were sent to Venezuela.

PUZZLING DECISION

Greg Gagne, a spokesman for the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs the immigration court system, said he did not know why the government decided not to call witnesses.

''I have no clue,'' Gagne said. ``The only thing that occurred today is the defense rested its case.''

Since the day Posada was detained, the U.S. government has said that it would not deport him to Cuba and would likely not deport him to ''countries acting on behalf of Cuba,'' which many experts believe was a reference to Venezuela.

Posada, who was born in Cuba, gained Venezuelan citizenship in the early 1970s when he was a top officer in the Venezuelan state police, DISIP. Venezuela is asking that he be extradited for trial on charges of masterminding the 1976 jetliner bombing.

Posada's lawyers argue that his deportation should be stopped under the Convention Against Torture act, which prohibits the United States government from deporting people to countries where they are likely to be tortured.

The Venezuelan government issued a statement Monday ripping the Bush administration for harboring ``this self-confessed terrorist.''

Venezuelan officials also said no evidence exists that Venezuela would torture Posada and that deferring Posada's deportation would ``cynically twist an international treaty meant to protect innocent victims of torture into an instrument with which to shelter a terrorist.''

EXTRADITION TREATIES

Venezuela said three separate treaties obligate the United States to extradite Posada: an Extradition Treaty between the United States and Venezuela signed on Jan. 19, 1922; the International Convention on Civil Aviation signed in Montreal on Sept. 23, 1971; the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings signed on Dec. 15, 1997.

''Venezuela once again calls on the United States government to follow the law and put the immigration matter in abeyance and proceed with the extradition case of Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela where he is wanted for 73 counts of first degree murder,'' the embassy statement said.

Last week, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez Araque said, ``we are willing to put him in a house made of gold and feed him caviar, as long as he is tried in Venezuela, because there is nothing to indicate that we torture people here.''

If Posada is allowed to remain in the United States under the anti-torture accord, it deals a severe blow to Venezuela's extradition case. Archambeault said federal law states that the government cannot extradite a person to a country if they believe he will be tortured there.

Although immigration law says a person can remain detained even if deportation is deferred because of torture concerns, Posada's lawyers said they would renew their push to have Posada freed if the judge decides he can stay.

CLOSING STATEMENT

On Monday, the government delivered a closing statement that lasted just a few minutes, Archambeault said.

Gina Garrett-Jackson, a Department of Homeland Security assistant chief counsel, told the judge that there was no evidence that Posada would be tortured in Venezuela.

However, she expressed concerns that Venezuela has a questionable human rights record and judicial system, and said the government also had concerns that Posada could be sent to Cuba by Venezuela, Archambeault said.

The Venezuelan embassy said that DHS' failure to contest Posada's request for protection from torture contradicts the position it took in another recent immigration case involving two Venezuelan Army Officers accused of bombing diplomatic missions in Caracas. In that case, Garrett-Jackson and a colleague -- Carlos Lopez -- acted much more aggressively in challenging witnesses for two former Venezuelan national guard lieutenants seeking asylum.

Garrett-Jackson and Lopez sought to show that Lts. Jose Antonio Colina and German Rodolfo Varela were fleeing prosecution -- not persecution -- and did not deserve asylum. After they were granted deferral, Homeland Security appealed the decision on the ground that a former general recently detained in connection with the bombing case had not been tortured.

HYPOCRISY

Venezuela said U.S. claims that they torture prisoners is hypocritical.

''On the other hand, there is ample evidence that the United States engages in the systematic torture of its own prisoners at the Guantanamo Naval Base, the Abu Ghraib prison and other facilities,'' said the embassy statement.

Posada, 77, has been held at a federal immigration detention center in El Paso since he was detained in Southwest Miami-Dade County on May 17, about two months after he sneaked into the United States across the Mexican border near Brownsville, Texas.

Immigration Judge William Abbott told the court Monday morning that he would issue a written decision in the next two weeks that will determine whether Posada stays or goes.

''It's clear that from a lack of presentation of the government's case on this issue, that they feel that he will be tortured,'' Archambeault said.

``But for political reasons, they don't want to come right out and say that they will go for deferral. They will leave it up to the judge to decide.''