October 6, 1976: a huge pain never silenced

The immensity of the pain caused by the barbaric crime of October 6, 1976 that took the lives of the 73 passengers of Cubana de Aviación’s Flight 455 off the coast of Barbados, among them the young and victorious members of the National Fencing Team who were returning home after winning a regional championship, still makes us shudder.

The families of the victims and all people still demand that those who masterminded the attack be convicted in the country that sheltered and trained them as vile assassins and political figures and where they died peacefully and with total impunity.

Documents declassified by the CIA and the State Department prove that the U.S. government knew about the terrorist act conceived on U.S. soil by the Cuban counterrevolutionaries Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carriles and yet did nothing to prevent it. The reasons were—and still are—obvious: it is no secret to anyone the dark record of the two individuals, who had a long record as torturers and repressors within a sadistic and shameless mafia-style anti-Cuban movement, as recorded in official documents and revealed by many Latin Americans who survived their actions.

Forty-seven years later, as we commemorate October 6 as the Day of the Victims of State Terrorism, the Cubans suffer the outrage and consequences of more lies and political manipulation on the subject with the inclusion of their country on the spurious list of "state sponsors of terrorism", a move by the U.S. government to punish this nation for its sovereign will, portraying the victim of its genocidal policy as the victimizer.

Despite overwhelming support by the world community and constant denunciations in the UN and regional and other forums, the false accusation has not just symbolic value, for it brings much suffering to the Cuban people by tampering with our foreign trade and hindering our development.

The Cuban government’s commitment to justice, equity, solidarity and international law is not hot air, but the naked truth: the sustained practice of solidarity and cooperation with many nations, especially developing countries and those most in need, distinguishes Cuba's links with Latin America, the Caribbean and the world in areas so important to the development of humanism.

This land that has lost so many children to enemy crimes and attacks conceived since January 1959 has never engaged in terror acts, not even with misleading “self-defense” purposes, let alone in revenge, as its detractors and their smear campaigns know only too well.

Remembering the ill-fated date of the so-called Crime of Barbados is and will always be a sacred duty in the midst of the Cuban people’s just struggle as a tribute to all the martyrs of such horrendous events. According to estimates, 3,748 Cubans lost their lives in monstrous acts of terrorism, and more than 2,099 have been maimed or disabled.

This year, as usual, there will be a special remembrance of the young athletes who fell victim to the abominable crime—which also killed 11 Guyanese and five North Koreans—as their dear ones keep crying for justice and their demands falling on deaf ears and others keep concocting incredible lies about the Revolution that no just or sensible person believes anymore, however harmful they are.

At the memorial service given at the Revolution Square to the remains of eight corpses recovered, Cuban leader Fidel Castro said:

“They were neither millionaires on a pleasure trip nor tourists who had time and resources to visit other countries, but humble workers, students and sportsmen who fulfilled with modesty and dedication the tasks assigned to them by the homeland. (…) Their plane was destroyed in mid-flight by an explosive charge a few minutes after taking off from Barbados. With indescribable heroism, the brave and expert pilots of the aircraft made a supreme effort to bring it back to land, but only managed to keep the burning and almost destroyed plane flying for a few more minutes.”

Glory to these Cubans who fought to the end with fortitude and courage!