“Today, 38 years after the Barbados crime, we are still hurting; but not because the murderers walked free on the streets or because some have died without paying for their crime: Barbados hurts for the children who waited in vain for their parents to arrive,” Ana Laura Calle Pérez, granddaughter of Wilfredo Pérez, pilot of the sabotaged plane, stated during the commemorative ceremony which took place October 6, after the procession to the Revolutionary Armed Forces Mausoleum, in Colón Cemetery. During the event, five floral wreathes were placed in the mausoleum in honor of the 73 people killed, including 57 Cubans, in the name of the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro; Army General Raúl Castro, President of the Councils of State and Ministers; Food and Aerospace Industry workers and the people of Cuba. In our homeland there are many families who carry the painful memory of their murdered loved ones and continue to demand justice, Calle Pérez stated, also emphasizing that the country has been the victim of acts of aggression such as the invasion at Playa Girón (Bay of Pigs invasion), economic and bacteriological war and horrendous attempts and crimes such as the Barbados tragedy; but which have not and never will eradicate the ideas of freedom, justice and honor which guide our peoples’ struggle. On behalf of all the family members and friends of victims of terrorism, Calle Pérez praised the example of the Cuban Five who worked to prevent acts such as these and demanded the release of Ramón, Antonio and Gerardo. “If today Cuba does not mourn the death of even more of her sons, it is precisely because they gave up years of their lives for the benefit of their people,” she stated. Present at the ceremony were Major General Antonio Enrique Lussón, a vice president of the Council of Ministers; Fernando and René, Heroes of the Republic of Cuba, Brigade General Teté Puebla, other relations of the Cuban Five, the victims of the Barbados attack, those affected by State terrorism and countless other Cubans.
