Condolences over Cuban plane crash

To the Communist Party of Cuba,
the labor unions (CTC) and
the people of Cuba:

Workers World Party sends condolences to the families and loved ones of the 68 people who died Nov. 4 in a plane crash in Sancti Spiritus province. We salute the Cuban community workers, military and party members who with machetes and bulldozers hacked their way to the blazing wreckage, hoping in vain to save the lives of the passengers and crew in the worst tragedy in the history of that province.

Cubans who saw the plane fall called pilot Angel Villa Martínez a hero for managing to avoid the nearby town. At the same time in Santiago de Cuba, the flight’s origin, Cuban civil defense workers saved lives by implementing protective measures as Hurricane Tomas threatened both eastern Cuba and Haiti. No one in Cuba died from the storm.

We have confidence that the Communist Party of Cuba and the leadership, whose commitment to socialist construction has so improved the lives of the people despite the cruel U.S. blockade, will conduct a thorough investigation of this tragedy and do what is needed to make air travel safer.

National Committee
Workers World Party