October 6, 1976: the enormous pain never silenced

The pain caused by the barbaric crime that on October 6, 1976, took the lives of 73 passengers on Cubana de Aviación 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 the highest honors in a regional championship, still shudders in its immensity.

And still the relatives of the victims and the people clamor for the application of the due sentence of justice to the known intellectual authors of the execrable act, in the country that protected and instructed them as vile hired assassins and political figures, where they died with impunity and peacefully.

Such terrorist act conceived from the U.S. territory by the Cuban counterrevolutionaries Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carriles was known to the government of that nation, which did nothing to prevent it, according to documents declassified by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the State Department.

The reasons are obvious, yesterday and today, since it is no secret to anyone the black record of the two leaders, who had plenty of time to make an active career as torturers, repressors and corrupt, as ringleaders of the counterrevolution in the purest sadistic and mafia style.
A chilling trajectory, rampantly and shamelessly laid bare, not only registered in official documents or press releases, but also in the denunciations of many of their surviving victims from several Latin American countries.

The unheard of did not end with that horrendous crime and the impunity of perpetrators and executors.

Forty-seven years after the event and at a time when the nation commemorates October 6 as the Day of the Victims of State Terrorism, the children of this land suffer the outrage and the consequences of more lies and political manipulation on the subject.
With the inclusion of Cuba in the spurious list of "countries sponsoring terrorism", the U.S. government punishes this nation for its sovereign will, pretending to present the victim of its genocidal policy as the victimizer.

Contrary to the overwhelming majority of the world community, which has denounced it in UN forums, in the region and in other public scenarios, the false accusation has no symbolic value, but causes acute suffering to the Cuban people, by hindering the necessary commercial exchange with the world and placing serious obstacles to its development.

Those who have been observing or maintaining relations with the Cuban government since the triumph of the Revolution up to the present day, know of the strong moral values that sustain its conduct, based on ideals of justice, equity, solidarity, traditions and the zealous exercise of international law. This is not just talk.

The sustained practice of solidarity, we repeat, and collaboration with many countries, especially developing countries and those most in need, distinguishes Cuba's links with its natural geographical environment, Latin America and the Caribbean, and with the world in areas so decisive for the development of humanism.

These are also truths like a temple that enhance the morale of Cubans, who do not usually feel perfect, but strive to be better every day.

So this land that has lost so many children as a result of crimes and attacks conceived by the enemy since the dawn of January, not even in an erroneous "self-defense" and much less in revenge, has never conceived at any governmental level an act of terrorism.
Those who condemn it and do not cease to plot media campaigns know it very well.

Not to forget the ill-fated date of the so-called Crime of Barbados continues to be, now and forever, a sacred duty, as part of the just struggle that animates Cubans every day and as a tribute to all the martyrs of such horrendous events.
According to estimates, 3,748 compatriots lost their lives in monstrous acts of terrorism and more than 2,099 have been maimed or disabled.

This year, as always, there will be a special remembrance of the young athletes who fell victim to the abominable crime, some of whom were not even 20 years old. Among the dead were also 11 Guyanese and five citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
And the relatives of the fallen will never tire of demanding justice, as has already been said, even if ears remain deaf at this time and incredible hoaxes continue to be generated against the Revolution that no longer confuse anyone fair or sensible, but are very harmful when they become punitive measures such as those of today.

The October 6 crime was carried out by Venezuelans Freddy Lugo and Hernan Ricardo, who were arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The four shady characters mentioned in this story accumulated an impressive international action thanks to training and rewards given to them by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

We remember Cuban Leader Fidel Castro, at the mourning farewell to the victims at the Revolution Square, in front of the remains of eight compatriots found:

(...). "They were not millionaires on a pleasure trip, they were not tourists who had time and resources to visit other countries; they were humble workers or students and sportsmen who fulfilled with modesty and dedication the tasks assigned by the homeland.

"In mid-flight the plane was destroyed by an explosive charge a few minutes after taking off from the Barbados airport. With indescribable heroism the brave and expert pilots of the aircraft made a supreme effort to bring it back to land, but the equipment, burning and almost destroyed, could only remain in the air for a few more minutes."

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