No To Terrorism And Imperialism
Commemorating the October 6, 1976 Bombing of Cubana 455
– Isaac Saney, Canadian Network on Cuba, October 6, 2024 –
The Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC) unequivocally condemns the October 6, 1976 horrific terrorist attack on Cubana Airliner Flight 455. In the western hemisphere this was the first and is the only bombing of a civilian airliner during flight. This heinous act, which resulted in the deaths of all 73 passengers and crew on board, stands as one of the most notorious examples of anti-Cuban terrorism carried out by violent counterrevolutionaries. The downing of Flight 455 was masterminded by anti-Cuban terrorists Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carriles—both of whom had longstanding ties to the U.S. intelligence services. These individuals were motivated by a deeply rooted hatred of Cuba’s revolutionary project and a desire to punish the Cuban people for daring to chart an independent and sovereign course.
The Canadian Network on Cuba stands in solidarity with the victims of this atrocious crime and with the Cuban people, who have shown remarkable resilience in the face of decades of terrorism, economic aggression, and imperialist sabotage.
This terrorist attack was not an isolated incident but part of a broader, more than six decades-long campaign of destabilization and aggression against Cuba, orchestrated by forces determined to undermine the Cuban Revolution. Since the Cuban Revolution’s triumph in 1959, the United States has relentlessly attacked the Cuban people through both military and economic means. These actions have included orchestrating an invasion, assassination attempts, terrorist attacks targeting civilians, and systematic economic sabotage. Many of these acts were planned or launched directly from U.S. soil. To date, these acts of terrorism have resulted in the deaths of, at least, 3,478 Cubans and the injury of 2,099 others. In 1997, a series of hotel bombings in Havana claimed the life of Fabio Di Celmo, a young Montrealer of Italian descent.
The October 6, 1976 act of terror was part of Operation Condor, a larger regional campaign targeting progressive movements across Latin America, all supported by Washington. These efforts sought to subdue any challenge to U.S. hegemony in the region and crush the aspirations of people struggling for self-determination and justice.
We call on the international community to remember the victims of Flight 455 and to denounce terrorism in all its forms, especially state-sponsored terrorism that seeks to destabilize sovereign nations like Cuba.
Furthermore, the United States has from the early 1960s waged – and continues to wage- an economic war against the heroic island nation. The U.S. economic blockade—a multifaceted system of economic sanctions that are extraterritorial in nature—has sought to strangle Cuba’s economy and destroy the Cuban Revolution through economic hardship.
The U.S. strategy aims to deny and extinguish Cuba’s right to self-determination, sovereignty, and independence, with the ultimate goal of reimposing U.S. dominance, hegemony, and control. The strategy seeks to starve the Cuban population into submission by crippling the economy, creating shortages and hardships, and deepening social inequalities that the Cuban Revolution has persistently worked to address. The goal is to incite the social unrest Washington so desperately desires, which would provide a pretext for U.S. intervention in Cuba.
This intent was clearly outlined by Lester D. Mallory, then Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and one of the architects of U.S. policy toward Cuba. In a now declassified and infamous memorandum of April 6, 1960, he stated:
“[m]ost Cubans support Castro…The only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship. Every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba, denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation, and overthrow of the government.”
The CNC, therefore, reiterates its demand for an end to the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba, which continues to punish the Cuban people while denying them the right to economic development and prosperity. Poignantly, the international community resoundingly repudiates the U.S. economic war, with the members of the United Nations overwhelmingly voting in favour of Cuba for 32 consecutive years to date.
We honour the memory of the victims of the October 6, 1976 tragedy and stand committed to defending Cuba’s right to self-determination, free from violence and external interference.
The struggle of the Cuban people for dignity, sovereignty, self-determination and peace will never be extinguished by the forces of terror and imperialism.
Justice for the victims of terrorism!
End the U.S. blockade of Cuba!
Long live the Cuban Revolution!
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