Cuba pays tribute to victims of Barbados crime

The Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) paid tribute Friday to the victims of the crime of Barbados (October 6, 1976) while making a strong condemnation of terrorism against Cuba and the complicity of imperialism.

The commemoration, included in the III Day for Peace, against the blockade and terrorism, was headed by Fernando Gonzalez Llort, president of ICAP, and the representatives in Cuba of Guyana, Barbados and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, countries involved in the tragic event.

The event was also attended by part of the diplomatic corps of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and authorities of the Communist Party of Cuba and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Abdool Halim Majeed, Guyana's ambassador to Havana, called for a minute of silence in remembrance of those killed that day and of the new victims of imperialism and Zionism in Gaza and Lebanon, as innocent as those 73 lives cut short aboard Cubana de Aviación Flight 455.

The diplomat pointed out the perversity in the planning of that operation by Cuban-born agents of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) so that there would be no survivors and with the deliberate aim of terrorizing the Cuban people, attacking the course of the Revolution and halting the wave of development that was taking shape in the Caribbean.

He confessed that this purpose is even more macabre when a family member is lost as in the case of his younger brother who was in the group of young Guyanese who will travel to Cuba to study medicine and whose dreams and future were suddenly snatched away from them.

He further denounced that these attempts constitute the main brake on the progress of the Antillean nation that for more than six decades has resisted the aggressions of U.S. imperialism, prevailing over the maneuvers of economic and biological warfare and achieving monumental achievements that are hidden or distorted by the Western press.

“The actions of criminals like Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch have no place in modern history and it is the commitment of the good people of the world to honor and remember that dark episode to prevent it from happening again,” concluded Abdool Halim Majeed.

For his part, Fernando González Llort pointed out that each one of those who fell on that day in October 1976 was a world of dreams and hopes cut short by hatred and irrational violence that continues in its efforts to suffocate the Cuban people with unilateral actions and designations.

The Hero of the Republic stressed that these maneuvers are doomed to failure while the brotherly peoples raise their voices to demand the cessation of the genocidal blockade, a majority will of the international community that is expressed every year during the votes before the United Nations General Assembly.

“For those 73 souls the best legacy is in the determination in the fight against terrorism and the inspiration to build together a future of peace, justice and love,” he added.

On October 6, 1976, Cubana de Aviación Flight 455, which was en route from the island of Barbados to the island of Jamaica, with final destination Havana, was destroyed after the detonation of two explosive devices.

As a result of the attack, all 73 people on board lost their lives: 57 Cubans, 11 Guyanese and five North Koreans.

Among the dead were the 24 members of Cuba's national youth fencing team, who were returning to their homeland after winning all the gold medals at the Centromeric and Caribbean Championship.