Havana, March 5 (RHC)-- The rebel cry Homeland or Death! that accompanies the revolutionary process in Cuba turns 65 years today since it was first uttered by the historic leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro.
Before a massive gathering of Havana residents, on March 5, 1960, Fidel Castro demonstrated the intentionality of the explosion of the steamship La Coubre the day before, a terrorist attack that killed 101 people and injured more than 400.
Later investigations confirmed the link of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the detonations.
The first of these, at around 3:00 p.m. local time on March 4, 1960, blew up 31 tons of grenades and 44 tons of ammunition inside the ship, coming from the port of Antwerp, Belgium.
Shortly afterwards, the genocidal intention of the perpetrators of this attack was confirmed when a second explosion was recorded, precisely when the aid corps, firefighters and the revolutionary police were providing assistance to the first victims.
In an impassioned speech at the intersection of 23rd Avenue and 12th Street, near the Colon Cemetery in Havana, the commander in chief would bequeath the slogan of Homeland or Death!, to which three months and two days later, he would add as a response We will win!
“Once again we would have no other choice than the one with which we began the revolutionary struggle: freedom or death. Only now freedom means something even more: freedom means Homeland. And our dilemma would be Homeland or Death!, the revolutionary leader reflected.
According to chroniclers, that day would also immortalize the firm face of Ernesto Che Guevara with a snapshot taken by photographer Alberto Korda to become a symbol of resistance.
This Tuesday, the Provincial Court of Havana (TPH) held a solemn session for the 65th anniversary of the event, in which President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, and relatives of the victims participated.
The body confirmed that the explosion of La Coubre “was the result of a terrorist act orchestrated by the United States government, as part of the actions carried out at that time, to discredit the nascent revolution and destabilize the country, and not an isolated accident.”
“It was not an accident, as was proven, but an intentional act. "Sabotage planned outside of Cuba, in which the hand of the US intelligence services was present," the TPH stressed.
Consequently, the judicial body ruled that the act was a crime against humanity and condemned the "double-faced, disloyal and racist" policy of the northern nation that is manifested today with the application of more than a hundred coercive measures, as part of the unconventional war against the island.
(Source: Prensa Latina)
