With one stroke, US President Barack Obama could extradite to Venezuela Luis Posada Carriles, responsible for the 1976 mid-flight explosion of a Cuban civilian airliner, lawyer Jose Pertierra stated on Tuesday.

What Obama needs is not power, but the courage to do justice, said Pertierra, who represents the Venezuelan government in the case, during a ceremony held in this capital.

Pertierra said that five years ago, Caracas asked the United States to extradite Posada Carriles, who escaped from Venezuela after being arrested for the sabotage of the Cuban aircraft, killing 73 people, an event known as the Barbados Crime.

The United States is still protecting him; Posada is a terrorist, and always has been, knows a lot and has much to tell, Pertierra stated.

Posada was a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)agent since 1960, and in 1970, when he was an official with the Venezuelan secret police, DISIP, arresting, torturing and murdering Venezuelans, the lawyer recalled.

"A signature from the president is enough to extradite Posada Carriles; with that same stroke of a pen, Barack Obama could release the Cuban Five, the antiterrorist fighters unfairly imprisoned in US jails for trying to thwart terrorist actions against the island," Pertierra said.