A US immigration judge ruled on Tuesday that Luis Posada Carriles, a Venezuelan citizen and former CIA operative who Caracas says planned the bombing that killed 73 people, could face torture in Venezuela and Cuba and could not be deported to either country.
Chavez, an ally of Cuba who often rages against U.S. policies and the war in Iraq, says Posada is a terrorist and warned this year that he could revise ties with the United States if the Cuban exile were not extradited.
"Now the US government has decided in favor of the terrorist Posada... see the cynicism of the imperialists," Chavez said. "They torture in Guantanamo Bay, they are the ones who torture. They kill, assassinate and bomb people."
Chavez, a tough-talking former soldier, often accuses Washington of trying to topple or assassinate him, but critics dismiss that as populist rhetoric and Venezuela still sells most of its oil and fuel to the United States.
Washington says it is worried about Chavez eroding democracy at home and fueling regional instability by spreading his populist message with energy and trade deals to South American partners.Supporters applaud his campaign to use oil revenues to battle poverty with social reforms.
