First International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism: Partial tally of the Castro dictatorship

Remembering and speaking truth to power.

 Today is the first International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, and it is a proper occasion to remember, continue to demand justice, and demand an end to the dehumanization and violence visited on our fellow human beings.

Victims of the Castro regime's state terrorism on February 24, 1996

Last year the United Nations General Assembly, "in its resolution 72/165 (2017), established 21 August 2017 as the International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism in order to honor and support the victims and survivors of terrorism and to promote and protect the full enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms. Resolution 72/165 builds on existing efforts by the General Assembly, the Commission of Human Rights and the Human Rights Council to promote and protect the rights of victims of terrorism."

According to the United Nations this action reaffirms the "promotion and the protection of human rights and the rule of law at the national; and international levels are essential for preventing and combating terrorism."

But far too often the United Nations has honored those who have systematically violated human rights, ended the rule of law in their country, been a negative force internationally, and even sponsored and perpetrated terrorist acts. 

Victims of the Castro regime's state terrorism on July 13, 1994

On three occasions the United Nations paid homage to a dead dictator linked to terrorism and drug trafficking. First on December 1, 2016 the United Nations General Assembly held a moment of silence for Fidel Castro in New York City. Five days later on December 6, 2016 at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva Switzerland a moment of silence was held for Fidel Castro. Two weeks later on December 20, 2016 the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York City paid tribute to the dead Cuban dictator for the third time.

NY Daily News Photo, H Hamburg. 1975 Fraunces Tavern bombing by Cuban backed FALN

Worse yet, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added “The Life and Works of Che Guevara” to the World Registrar. UNESCO is providing funds to preserve Che Guevara’s papers. Guevara in addition to promoting communist ideology, is best known as an advocate for guerrilla warfare who viewed terrorism as a legitimate method of struggle against an enemy.

In the first year of the revolution in Cuba (1959) Mr Guevara remarked on the mass executions taking place: “To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary … These procedures are an archaic bourgeois detail. This is a revolution!”  Eight years later (1967) he offered up a terrifying vision of what should drive a combatant. “Blind hate against the enemy creates a forceful impulse that cracks the boundaries of natural human limitations, transforming the soldier in an effective, selective and cold killing machine. A people without hate cannot triumph against the adversary.” This is a recipe for war crimes.

Dr. Eduardo Cardet MD, prisoner of conscience since November 30, 2016

On December 5, 2016 delegates of the U.N. Human Rights Council opened a meeting in Geneva by standing silently after Venezuela’s delegation requested a minute of silence to “honor” the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Meanwhile in Cuba those Cubans that refused to mourn the dead tyrant were being beaten down, jailed and threatened with 15 year prison terms for speaking out.  At least 20 cases were documented and one high profile example stands out two years later, the medical doctor  beaten down in front of his family and jailed for freely expressing himself:  Dr. Eduardo Cardet. He remains in prison today as a prisoner of conscience.

It appears that the UN had forgotten that Fidel Castro presided over the extrajudicial executions of thousands of his countrymen, the destruction of Cuba, twice called for a nuclear first strike on the United States, sponsored terrorism across the world, collaborated with genocidal dictators who murdered millions in Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.  

In 1976 Fidel Castro addressed the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) and declared: "If we decide to carry out terrorism, it is a sure thing we would be efficient. But the mere fact that the Cuban revolution has never implemented terrorism does not mean that we renounce it. We would like to issue this warning."  What Castro failed to mention was that his revolutionary movement came to power not only through a guerrilla struggle in the hills but also widespread urban terrorism and the placing of a huge number of bombs.

On New Year’s Eve in 1956 members of Castro's 26th of July movement set off bombs in the Tropicana nightclub, blowing off the arm of a seventeen-year-old girl. From bombings, killings, and arson in 1957 to a botched plane hijacking to smuggle weapons to the Cuban guerrillas that led to 14 dead and the night of the 100 bombs in 1958 . The organizer of the bombing campaign Sergio González López nicknamed “El Curita” and the terrorist action itself are remembered fondly by the dictatorship.  A park is named in his honor along with a plaque pictured below.

The Castro regime views terrorism as a legitimate tactic to advance its revolutionary objectives. In 1970 the Cuban government published the "Mini Manual for Revolutionaries" in the official Latin American Solidarity Organization (LASO), a publication  of the Tricontinentaland translated it into many languages. The manual is written by Brazilian urban terrorist Carlos Marighella, and it gives precise instructions in terror tactics, kidnappings, etc. and distributed worldwide by the Cuban dictatorship. There is a chapter on terrorism that declares, "Terrorism is a weapon the revolutionary can never relinquish." This manual is still circulating today.

Plaque erected by Castro regime to honor bomber Sergio González López “El Curita”

Apologists for the Castro regime hide behind the propaganda claims of healthcare and education, but that too has been a failure. Costa Rica, Chile, and Colombia have better healthcare than Cuba and did not have to sacrifice their freedoms to achieve it.

On this first International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism people of goodwill should call the United Nations to task for its hypocrisy in honoring terrorists with moments of silence and disseminating the writings of another in the world registrar. Let us remember, pay tribute to the victims of terrorism, and show our solidarity but let us also honor them by demanding justice, the rule of law, and the defense of human dignity.