On a day like today, 61 years ago, the airports of San Antonio de los Baños and Ciudad Libertad in Havana, as well as that of Santiago de Cuba, were opened as a prelude to the Bay of Pigs invasion and as an expression of the hostile and genocidal United States government towards the cuban people.
At dawn on April 15, 1961, three simultaneous attacks by B-26 bombers took place. Disguised with the insignia of the Cuban Air Force, they took off from Nicaragua and entered national territory. “It was (…) treated with all the hallmarks and all the rules of a military operation (…) an event that was expected; (…) it was the logical culmination of the burning of the sugar cane fields, the hundreds of violations of our airspace, the pirate attacks, (…) was the consequence of the plans of aggression that the United States hatched in complicity with minion governments in Central America (… )”, Fidel Castro denounced such a violent attack at the funeral of the victims the following day, which left 7 dead, including the young Eduardo García Delgado, who wrote the name of the leader of the revolution in his blood before dying.
In the same speech, Fidel recognized the people’s capacity for mobilization, resistance and patriotism: “(…) the men defended themselves heroically, (…) the brave blood of the defenders flowed at each of these points (… .)”.
With truthful reasoning, he exposed the manipulation of international public opinion by Washington’s media strands: “Imperialism projects crime, organizes crime, arms criminals, trains criminals, pays criminals, (…) and, even if the whole world knew of their adventures, they declared at the time that they were Cuban pilots, they prepared the defiant and novelistic cartoon, they circulated it all over the world, they published it in all the newspapers, radio and television stations of the reaction and the world have reactionary worms (…) here we have the opportunity to appreciate how all your financial, publicity, political, mercenary, secret organs, officials, who so quietly, so unbelievably, are betraying the world, are working”.
“(…) they not only attacked our country, in a cunning and criminal attack that was prepared and known to everyone, (…) with mercenaries paid by the Yankee Central Intelligence Agency; (…) and not only did they destroy national assets, didn’t they? Not only have they destroyed the lives of young people, many of whom were not yet 20 years old, but also, (…) The United States government tried yesterday to deceive the world in the most cynical and shameless way possible can imagine.”
Of the eight B-26 bombers, only five managed to return to Nicaragua. One was shot down by revolutionary forces; another, hit by rebel artillery, was forced to land in Key West, while a third landed in Grand Cayman Island due to an emergency.
The attacks on Cuban airports have not achieved the US government’s mercenary and dominance goals. Defense of the Fatherland demonstrated unconditional support for the “revolution of the humble, by the humble and for the humble”.
“Because what the imperialists cannot forgive us is that we are here, what the imperialists cannot forgive us is the dignity, integrity, courage, ideological firmness, spirit of sacrifice and revolutionary spirit of the Cuban people,” affirmed Fidel in this historic speech proclaiming the socialist character of the revolution.
Author: Yamila Pupo OteroE-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
More articles by this author