Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, on Thursday, October 6, joined Cuban Ambassador to Guyana, Raul Gortazar-Marrero; People’s Progressive Party/Civic presidential candidate, Donald Ramotar; and relatives of the victims of the 1976 Cubana air disaster in commemorating the event’s 35th anniversary.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds examines a photo at the exhibition held at the Cuban embassy
Prime Minister Hinds said the tragedy has perhaps further strengthened the bond between Guyana and Cuba.
All the speakers at the event, held at the Cuban Embassy, lamented that the perpetrators of the heinous crime are still unpunished, and are walking free in the United States while there are still five Cubans languishing in American jails for trying to stop terrorists from entering the island.
The event ended with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque and the viewing of an exhibition and film.
On October 6, 1976, at 17:24h and nine minutes out of Barbados, and at an altitude of 18,000 feet, a bomb located in the rear lavatories of CU-455 exploded. The captain radioed air traffic control requesting immediate landing.
The plane was in rapid descent, and while the pilots were trying to return the aircraft to the airport, a second bomb exploded, causing the plane to crash into the Atlantic Ocean.
All 48 passengers and 25 crew aboard the plane died: 57 Cubans, 11 Guyanese, and five North Koreans.
The plaque at the Cuban embassy commemorating the 35th anniversary of the Cubana air disaster
Among the dead were 24 members of the Cuban fencing team which had won all the gold medals in the Central American and Caribbean Championships; many were teenagers.
The 11 Guyanese passengers included 18 and 19-year-old medical students and the wife of a Guyanese diplomat; while the five Koreans were government officials and a cameraman.
It was later discovered that the bombs were planted on the plane by two of the perpetrators, who then exited the plane in Barbados.
The two other persons implicated – Louis Posada Carilles and Orlando Bosch – were held in the United States, but are now roaming free in Miami.
