The east face of the monument faces the road. There is not more than 20 feet between the road and the monument, though more between the monument and the beach. Payne's Bay is a popular local bathing spot. Payne Methodist Church, established 1857, sits across the street, with an attached schoolhouse that is no longer used. It was common for churches to add a schoolhouse.
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On Oct. 6, 1976, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63 CU-T1201 (ex-CF-DJI. N° 45611, built in 1961), Cubana Flight 755 crashed shortly after take off from Barbados when two bombs, one after the other, exploded in the airplane. It crashed into the sea not far off the coast of Bridgetown, Barbados. 73 persons died (25 crews and 48 passengers - including the entire teen-aged Cuban fencing team).(1) "Two Venezuelan nationals, Hernán Ricardo and Freddy Lugo were later convicted of their involvement in the bombing and jailed for 20 years." The primary organizers, however, were never held accountable for their crimes. They were both Cuban exiles: Orlando Bosch (died 2011 age 84) and the other, Luis Posada (age 89, known CIA operative and anti-Castro terrorist, involved in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion), lives free in the U.S.
The Barbados government installed the monument below, overlooking the crash site.
See this brief account of the monument's establishment. The artist is Virgil Broodhagen (son of artist Karl Broodhagen, known for the Emancipation or Bussa Monument). On or about October 6th every year, the people of Barbados remember the Cubana air disaster by laying wreaths at the Cubana Monument in memory of those who lost their lives.
On December 8, 1972, Barbados, along with Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, jointly agreed to establish diplomatic relations with the Republic of Cuba. In an excerpt from "Remarks by Senator the Honorable Maxine McClean On the Occasion of 45 Years of Diplomatic Relations between Cuba and Barbados on November 27, 2017" (2), she said, "Against a background of an aggressive, isolationist policy that prevailed in the region, these bold men chose to exercise the sovereignty of their new nations and give formal recognition to the already existing profound historic and cultural ties that inextricably bound to the sister island of Cuba. For Barbados the decision was entirely consistent with a core principle of Barbados foreign policy - that Barbados will be friends of all and satellites of none.’"
The placement of the monument also speaks to the shared historical and geo-cultural experiences of these two Caribbean nations. Established as the result of European adventurism, indigenous genocide, the transatlantic slave trade, and colonialism, each nation has evolved through unique geographic, social and economic contexts to become part of the larger Caribbean cultural and political collaboration, a majority Black culture.
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| South face. |
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| West face. |
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| North face. |
October 1976. Al remembers when it happened.
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| Driving by, heading south to Bridgetown. |
Media coverage (some selected from References section of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubana_de_Aviaci%C3%B3n_Flight_455, accessed June 2018)
- 1976 bombing that killed Cuban fencing team requires painful reflection - "At what must have been the nadir of the U.S. government’s detestation for Fidel Castro, who died last week at age 90 after a lifetime of being a burr in Washington’s saddle on the Western Hemisphere, Cubana Flight 455 exploded in the sky above the Caribbean Sea after two bombs planted by men working for once-CIA-connected, anti-Castro Cuban exiles detonated." Washington Post, Dec. 4, 2016
- Cuba a 'true friend' to Barbados - "BARBADIANS CAN ALWAYS count on Cuba’s solidarity and friendship, says second vice president of Cuba, Esteban Lazo. Lazo was speaking to members of the Cuban community in Barbados, including Cuba’s ambassador to Barbados Lisette Perez Perez, at the Paynes Bay, St James Cubana monument, which he visited after he attended the funeral service of the late Prime Minister of Barbados David Thompson on Wednesday." FRI, NOVEMBER 05, 2010 - 12:01 AM
- Cubana Monument - Barbados Pocket Guide
- Remembering Cuban Flight 455 - Government Information Service, October 9, 2017 by Dierdre Gittens
- Mystery of Flight 455 leaves questions - Daily Mail, UK
Notes
(1) http://www.urrib2000.narod.ru/Civ9-e.html, accessed July 24, 2018
(2) http://www.foreign.gov.bb/ministry-media/press-releases/9-headlines/240-45-years-of-diplomatic-relations-between-cuba-and-barbados-2, accessed July 29, 2018
