From 2023, October 6 will be known as Caribbean Day Against Terrorism.This announcement was made on Tuesday by Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Cubana Monument in Payne’s Bay, St James, which was erected in memory of the 73 people who died when a Cubana Airlines flight was destroyed in a terrorist bomb attack on October 6, 1976. It went down in Barbados’ waters.Addressing the gathering that included Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel, President of Guyana Dr Irfaan Ali, and other dignitaries, Gonsalves said that after much consultation among Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders, a decision was made to mark the day as significant.“Today at the CARICOM-Cuba Summit, at the initiative of the esteemed Prime Minister of Barbados, the summit accepted that a declaration be made that, henceforth, October the 6th will be known as the Caribbean Day Against Terrorism.“This Caribbean family includes the Republic of Cuba. So anytime anyone says that Cuba is a sponsor of state terrorism, October 6th shall be henceforth etched in the memory of everyone in the Caribbean and the global community, that this day was so declared because of the terrorism that was directed against Cuba and its citizens,” said Gonsalves who is among regional Heads of Government here for the Eighth CARICOM-Cuba Summit.
