Thirty-nine years after a terrorist attack killed eleven Guyanese on board a Cubana Airways flight, President David Granger yesterday reminded that justice for the act was still outstanding.
“Guyana reminds the world that Justice for the Cubana Aviación Flight CU-455 is still outstanding”, Granger lamented at a memorial service held at the Cubana Air Disaster Monument at the University of Guyana.
On October 6, 1976 seventy-three persons, including 11 Guyanese students, were killed when a bomb planted by terrorists destroyed Cubana Flight 455 off Barbados. The flight had left Guyana for the Republic of Cuba. A group of anti-Fidel Castro Cubans was said to be behind the bombing.
The Guyanese who perished were Margaret Bradshaw, Sabrina Harrypaul, Seshnarine Kumar, Ann Nelson, Eric Norton, Raymond Persaud, Gordon M. Sobha, Rawle Thomas, Rita Thomas, Violet Thomas and Jacqueline Williams.
After the laying of wreaths by the President, a family member of one of the deceased and representatives from Cuba and Barbados, the Granger pledged that not only will the victims not be forgotten but that he stands firm in deterring terrorism.
“Guyana reaffirms today … its resolve to defend its independence and to determine its own destiny. Guyana reminds the world of the high price that small states must pay to defend their principles and their independence. Guyana honours the memory of the victims who died on the 6th of October 1976”, the President stated.
A synopsis of the events of the fateful day, compiled by the Ministry of the Presidency and shared with attendees, reiterated that the victims will not be forgotten.
“They died because there are some in this world, and more particularly in this hemisphere, who do not accept the right of a people to fashion their own destinies and to dictate their own goals,” an excerpt from a statement by then President Forbes Burnham on the tragedy read.
The material stated that on Wednesday 6th October 1976, the Cubana Air Flight CU455 was scheduled to fly the route- Guyana to Trinidad, Trinidad to Barbados, Barbados to Jamaica and finally Jamaica to Cuba but that at nearly 14 minutes after takeoff from Barbados it exploded.
“The Captain Wilfredo Perez radioed to the control tower ‘We have an explosion on board. We are descending immediately!…We have fire aboard! We are requesting immediate landing! We have a total emergency!” the handout states. It adds that the plane then went into rapid descent as the pilot unsuccessfully tried to return to the Seawell Airport, now renamed the Tom Adams International Airport.
All 48 passengers and 25 crew members were killed. They were 57 Cubans, 5 Koreans and the 11 Guyanese onboard. Among the dead were 24 members of the 1975 Cuban National Fencing Team that had won medals in the Central American and Caribbean championships while the Guyanese were mainly students, the wife of a diplomat and a family of three.
Government called on its citizenry to remember the deaths of the victims.
From left: President David Granger; Cuba’s Ambassador to Guyana, Julio César González Marchante; Ambassador designate from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Pak Chung Yul; Honorary Consul for Barbados, Gerry Gouveia and brother of one of the victims, Rawle Thomas, Jeffery Thomas, at the wreath laying ceremony. (Ministry of the Presidency photo)
