April 15th, 1961: Prelude to a Victory.
The attacks that eight northern B-26 bombers perpetrated against the airfields of Ciudad Libertad, San Antonio de los Baños and Santiago de Cuba on April 15th, 1961, evidenced Uncle Sam’s aspirations.
From attacks against leaders, terrorist acts in urban and rural areas, and an insurgent psychological warfare to confuse the population and public opinion, the so-called Operation Pluto represented one of the most aggressive policies promoted since 1960 by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency against the then incipient Cuban Revolution.
Precisely, the surprise attacks that eight northern B-26 bombers, camouflaged with insignia of the national air force and coming from Nicaragua, perpetrated against the airfields of Ciudad Libertad, San Antonio de los Baños and Santiago de Cuba on April 15th, 1961, evidenced Uncle Sam’s bloody aspirations to subjugate the largest of the Antilles.
Destroying the meager air force and manipulating international public opinion with the false perception of an internal rebellion on the island would be the perfect incentives for the mercenary invasion that two days later would be carried out at the Bay of Pigs. However, the Cuban response was not long in coming.
Although the national artillery differed in experience from that of their attackers, the resistance of the rebels undermined the usurper arrogance. The triumph, however, came at the cost of 53 wounded and seven deaths, among which stood out that of the young militiaman Eduardo García Delgado, who at barely 25 years of age heroically perpetuated with his blood the name of ‘FIDEL’ before perishing.
The weight of ignorance fell on the shoulders of the enemy in the following days and that historic day when the Cuban sky was stained with blood passed into immortality as evidence of the revolutionary people’s courage and the prelude to a justified victory.
Written by Yadiel Barbón Salgado.
