Remembering Cubana 455

Editor: Thursday, October 6, marks the 40th anniversary of Cubana Air disaster which claimed the lives of 73, including 11 Guyanese, mainly students. I remember that terrible day vividly, since a colleague of mine, Hubert “Bertie” Marshall had disembarked from the aircraft in Barbados less than three hours before the explosion. I was a student at the time at Cave Hill and from the Campus we could have seen parts of the plane in the Caribbean sea.{{more}}

Two bombs exploded 11 minutes after take off from the Grantley Adams Airport when the aircraft was at an altitude of 18,000 feet. Those who perished were 57 Cubans, five North Koreans, and Guyanese Ann Nelson, Jacqueline Williams, Sabrina Harripaul, Rita Thomas, Margaret Bradshaw, Violet Thomas, Rawle Thomas, Raymond Persaud, Harold Norton, Gordon Sobha and Seshnarine Kumar.

Four men were arrested in connection with the bombing and a trial was held in Venezuela. Freddy Lugo and Hernan Ricardo Lozano were each sentenced to 20-year prison terms. Orlando Bosch was acquitted and later moved to Miami, Florida, where he lived until his death on April 27, 2011. Luis Posado Carriles was held for eight years while awaiting a final sentence, but eventually fled. He later entered the US, where he was held on charges for entering the country illegally, but was released on April 19, 2007.

A monument was erected four years ago on the Turkeyen Campus of the University of Guyana, dubbed the Cubana 455 Monument. The task of building the monument was undertaken by the Ministry of Public Works and takes the form of fountain, four elevated stairs and a plaque with the names of those who died, as well as the flags of Guyana, Cuba, Korea and Barbados.

Speaking at the launching, President Donald Ramotar said the monument will serve as a reminder to Guyanese to understand that the disaster represents the use of terrorism in political struggles.

Oscar Ramjeet