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On September 11, 2001, millions of people all over the world watched in awe at the abominable acts of terrorism committed against the people of the United States.
We, relatives of the victims in the bombing of a Cubana plane off Barbados, were shaken to see the TV images of such a loathsome crime; the pain and the sorrow that have accompanied us for almost three decades were multiplied, as we saw a re-enactment of our own painful experience on new innocent victims.
Our loved ones were deprived of sharing transcendental moments in our lives; they cannot be revived. The only way to honor their memory and put an end to the stigma of terrorism is by making those responsible for such acts, feel the weight of justice.
In September of 1976, the US Government learned in advance of the preparations for the sabotage of a Cuban civilian plane; they alerted no-one, and did nothing to prevent the terrorist act.
On October 6, 2006, it will be thirty years since that abominable crime against innocent passengers traveling in the Cubana plane. In that terrorist act 73 people were killed; of them 57 were Cuban citizens. To date, the relatives of the victims of that treacherous terrorist act, the Cuban people and the international community are still waiting for justice to be done.
Unlike the relatives of the victims of September 11, who do not know the “dark whereabouts” of Bin Laden, we do know where the assassins of our families are, who protects them and who offers them refuge.
The terrorists who assassinated our families are in the United States. One of them, Orlando Bosh, walks freely through the streets of Miami. Frequently, he boasts to the press that he does not feel the slightest twinge nor remorse and that if he had to do it to another civilian airplane in flight, he would do it again.
The other notorious international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, who is currently detained in a US immigration detention center, said with total cynicism and contempt for life to a leading US newspaper in 1998, that his terrorist acts and murders did not prevent him from sleeping like a baby.
Today, we are closer than ever to witnessing an affront to the real war against terrorism, the memory of our loved ones and the victims of the 9/11 attacks. We were outraged and shocked to learn that Attorney Norbert Garney suggested that the Federal Judge Philips Martinez release self-confessed terrorist Luis Posada Carriles from jail. This happened at a time when the US people and the whole world were commemorating the fifth anniversary of the attacks on the WTC.
The arguments presented by the Attorney came as no surprise to us. The US General Attorney has decided not to produce the countless pieces of evidence in the possession of the US government which reveal the true terrorist nature of Luis Posada Carriles. Today the US has decided not to act, just as they did not act thirty years ago and sit idly by to witness the mid-air explosion of a Cuban civilian plane. Posada, meanwhile, expects to be rewarded with his freedom.
President George W. Bush said on April 27, 2005: “if you harbor a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, if you try to hide a terrorist, you, yourself, are just as guilty as the terrorist.” Then we ask ourselves: What are Orlando Bosh and Posada Carriles? And, who protects them? They are the worst type of terrorists and they are protected by the US government.
We, relatives of the victims of the sabotage to a civilian airliner in midair, demand that the Bush administration obey their own laws and international treaties, of which they are signatories. We demand them to honor the memory of the 9/11 victims.
We are not going to give up on our determination that the terrorists appear in court. We are not going to give up on our determination to reject the US government’s hypocrisy and double standards, which defend the supposed existence of a good and a bad terrorism. No one should doubt that we will make the unjust tremble, until Justice is done.
Committee of Relatives of the Victims of the Cubana Flight Blown up Off Barbados.
