FIFTY years after the bombing of Cubana de Aviación Flight CU-455 claimed 73 lives, including 11 Guyanese, President of the Guyana–Cuba Solidarity Movement (GCSM), Halim Khan, has paid tribute to the victims while urging the Caribbean to preserve the values of peace, unity and solidarity.
Khan’s tribute comes as Guyana and other Caribbean countries observe the 50th anniversary of the October 6, 1976 tragedy, which has become an enduring symbol of the devastating human cost of terrorism and violence.
The anniversary is being observed as the CARICOM–Cuba Day Against Terrorism, an initiative established in 2022 at the Eighth CARICOM-Cuba Summit in Bridgetown, Barbados, to commemorate the 73 people who perished in the disaster and to reinforce the region’s opposition to terrorism in all its forms.
The aircraft, which had originated in Guyana and was travelling towards Cuba with stops in Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Jamaica, was destroyed shortly after taking off from Barbados.
All 73 people aboard were killed: 57 Cubans, 11 Guyanese and five nationals of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
For Guyana, the tragedy carries a particularly painful significance. The 11 Guyanese victims included young scholarship recipients who were travelling to Cuba to pursue studies, including medicine and other disciplines. Among them was nine-year-old Sabrina Harripaul.
The Guyanese victims were Raymond Persaud, Rawle Thomas, Jacqueline Williams, Rita Thomas, Harold Norton, Gordon Sobha, Ann Nelson, Margaret Bradshaw, Violet Thomas, Sabrina Harripaul and Seshnarine Kumar. Their names continue to be remembered at the Cubana Air Disaster Monument at the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen Campus.
For Khan and the GCSM, the 50th anniversary provides an opportunity not only to remember those who died, but also to reaffirm the importance of Caribbean solidarity.
Khan has previously emphasised that the tragedy demonstrates the need for nations and peoples to stand together in defence of peace and international co-operation.
That message assumes added significance as the Caribbean marks five decades since the tragedy.
The GCSM President noted that the anniversary represents more than a remembrance of a painful chapter in Caribbean history. It is also an opportunity to reinforce the principle that political differences and international disagreements should never result in the loss of innocent civilian lives.
“The continued observance of October 6 ensures that the 73 victims are not reduced to a historical statistic. Their lives, aspirations and the grief experienced by their families remain central to the region’s collective memory,” Khan added. “For Guyana, the loss of the 11 nationals is especially poignant because many were young people whose futures were tied to education and service. Their journey to Cuba represented opportunities for learning and personal development that were abruptly cut short.”
The Cubana Air Disaster Monument at UG remains an important place of national and regional remembrance.
