The Victims
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Ernesto Machín Guzmán
He was born into a working-class family on 9th August 1936.
After completing his basic and advanced secondary education, he enrolled in the Habana Business Academy. He studied aeronautical engineering at the Inter-American School.
Although his working life started in 1952, it was not until four years later, in 1956, that Ernesto Machín Guzmán joined Cubana de Aviación. In 1964, his ambition and his level of knowledge earned him a promotion to Flight Engineer.
In 1960, he travelled with then president, Osvaldo Dorticós, to Latin America. He also served on various internationalist missions.
He was married with two daughters.
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Ignacio Martínez Gandía
At 25 years of age, he was chosen to manage the Cuban fencing team at the 1976 Central American Games, during which he contributed to his team’s success in winning a gold medal.
His progress to becoming team trainer reflected his great sense of responsibility, dedication and excellent relations with all the competitors in his care, as well as with all those he worked with in the day-to-day task of training our Cuban sportsmen and women.
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Miriam Remedios De La Peña
Born in 1952, Miriam Remedios De La Peña was the mother of a three-year-old girl.
Of working-class origins, in 1970 she joined Cubana de Aviación International Airways Division as a stewardess.
At work, she had been awarded commendations for exemplary performance.
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Enrique Figueredo Del Valle
Enrique Figueredo del Valle was born in La Habana province. He was set to become, in a few years, one of Cuba's best sabre fencers.
He was only 19 when he died. His performance was an important factor in the winning of gold medals in the team sabre tournament.
He had managed to combine the practice of sport with higher education, entering the University of Havana to study civil engineering.
By 1976, Figueredo had begun to excel at the sport; some months earlier he had represented Cuba at an international event for the first time, in Romania.
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José Pestana González
José Pestana González was married and a father of six. His career as a navigator began in 1954, with Cubana de Aviación. Six years later, in 1960, he was appointed to run the airline's planning department.
His union responsibilities included a leading role in the Workers of Distinction movement in the Crew Members Department. He was also a union activist in the organizing secretariat of the Cuban Workers Federation (CTC), at its centre, working on projects designed to develop better ways of living.
José Pestana González participated in several internationalist missions in Peru, Honduras and Africa. His educational level was that of secondary schooling. He was born on 10th September 1935.
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Tomás Joaquín González Quintana
Tomás Joaquín González Quintana was a supervisor with the Cubana de Aviación network's General Control division. Of working-class origins, he left two daughters.
In 1961, he joined the Cuban Aeronautical Institute, as representative and traffic supervisor, as well as network control supervisor.
He was called up during the Missile Crisis (October 1962).
He held posts in the trade union branch of Cubana de Aviación in Havana.
He was 41 years old.
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Guillermo Valencia Guinot
International flight attendant Guillermo Valencia Guinot was born in Pilón, Oriente Province, on 14th March 1923. A married man, he left two sons aged 26 and 21. Educated to advanced secondary level, he started work as a flight attendant with Cubana de Aviación in 1943. He was awarded the Fernando Álvarez medal for 25 years' unbroken service.
A Worker of Distinction from 1973 onwards, he received commendations for exemplary job performance.
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José Fernández Garzón
Born in Santiago de Cuba, he was 19 years of age. Central American & Caribbean finalist in the Caracas championship. He had consolidated his place in the sabre team, which he helped to win the title.
He was studying engineering at the University of Havana.
He had competed in school and juvenile events. 1976 was the year of his debut as an international competitor, representing his country in Romania and Poland.
His trainers had high hopes for him; his qualities were complemented by iron discipline in training for his chosen sport.
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Valentín Ladrón de Guevara Quesada
Valentín Ladron de Guevara Quesada was notable both for his career and for his distinguished service.
In 1961, having attended the Air Cadets School, he started work with Cubana de Aviación, occupying managerial posts in Santiago and Baracoa. In 1963 and 1967, he received his pilot training in the former Soviet Union.
From a working-class family, a pilot by profession, in 1962 he was promoted to the position of Deputy Head of Crews at the José Martí international airport, in which post he remained until 1970.
Between 1971 and '72 he was work-organizing secretary of the union section of the airport's Operations division. In 1973, he was sent back to the USSR for a four-month course on the IL-62.
His exceptional career was recognized with the award of the 20th Anniversary Medal.
Married with three children, he was born on 14th February 1937.
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Ramón Infante García
A member of the national fencing team since 1968, during which he went to Romania and West Germany.
He subsequently competed in various parts of the world. In 1970, he traveled to Panama and Italy, 1971, attended events in the former USSR and the Pan-American Games in Colombia in 1972, participated in the Lake Balaton (Hungary) competitions; in 1973, competed in Panama, Bulgaria and the GDR; in 1974, attended the Reforma (Mexico) tournament; in 1975, went to the USSR and Hungary; and in 1976, participated in a tour taken in the GDR, West Germany and Hungary.
An unassuming team-mate loved by everyone, he was 27 years old and worked as a trainer with the national sports organization 'INDER'.
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Julia Rosa Torres Álvarez
Julia Rosa Torres Álvarez was born on 12th August 1930 in Santiago de Cuba. After primary school, she chose to train as a teacher, specializing in music.
She taught from 1954 to 1967 in various schools in Santiago de Cuba. She was appointed Head of a Basic Secondary School.
In 1975, she took a job with the provincial public health authority and the same year transferred to the provincial branch of the Institute of Internal Demand, until early 1976. At this juncture, she applied for leave of absence, to enable her to move with her husband, Manuel Abelardo Rodríguez Font, to Barbados.
There, although she was not a Cubana de Aviación employee, she helped him in some of the Unit's tasks.
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Carlos M. Leyva González
Carlos M. Leyva González, a 19-year-old studying for university entrance was one of Cuba's great hopes for the Olympics. He played a major part in the victory of the Oriente squad at the 1975 Scholastic and Youth Games, taking the fencing team to the winner's rostrum.
His international experience began with a significant performance in a competition in Romania at the beginning of that year.
His prowesses on the strip, his physical condition and intelligence in the discipline were the strengths that assured him of rapid progress to a place among our top fencers.
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María E. Rodríguez del Rey Bocalandro
María Rodríguez Del Rey Bocalandro was born on 19th June 1948. Unmarried, she was educated to secondary level and had a degree in French language.
She entered employment with Cubana de Aviación in 1975, from the Cuban Workers Federation (CTC). She worked as a stewardess on domestic flights until 1976, when she transferred to international services.
She became a Worker of Distinction in 1975.
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Lázaro Serrano Mérida (Chelacy)
Father of three (ages 18, 17 and 15), Lázaro Serrano Mérida (Chelacy) had worked as a Cubana de Aviación flight attendant since 1960.
He was born on 5th May 1934.
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Luis A. Morales Viego
Aged 45, he was a member of the fencing Technical Committee and Secretary of the Central American & Caribbean Fencing Confederation. His background as a competitor included appearances at the Pan-American Games in Chicago in 1959, Brazil in 1963 and Canada in1967, the Central American Games in Jamaica in 1962 and Puerto Rico in 1966.
As an international referee, he attended the 1975 Pan-American Games in Mexico, the 1970 Central American Games in Panama, the 1973 World University Games in Moscow and the 1968 and 1972 Olympics (Mexico and Munich respectively). He was noted as an expert organizer of events and played an important role in the staging of the School Games and similar national competitions.
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Ramón José Fernandiz Lefebre
He had worked at the José Martí international airport, where he was employed as a senior flight attendant, since 1956.
A member of the National Revolutionary Reserve from the time a corps was established at the airport, he was mobilized for service at the airport during the Bay of Pigs invasion (1961) and the Missile Crisis (1962).
Fernadiz Lefebre fulfilled his internationalist duties in an exemplary manner. He was based in Guinea Bissau, where he performed tasks for the territory of Angola. He was decorated with an honour of the highest degree: the 20th Anniversary Medal.
He was a Worker of Distinction.
A married man, Ramón José Fernandiz Lefebre was born on 12th May 1937.
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Martí Suárez Sánchez
Martí Suárez Sánchez, with origins in the Cuban countryside, was born in Guantánamo, Oriente Province. He was 30 years old.
He started work with Cubana de Aviación in 1966, holding various posts including, latterly, that of international traffic supervisor.
He was married and had no children..
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Demetrio Alfonso
Demetrio Alfonso was born in Havana on 8th March 1932.
In 1972, he was elected Chairman of the Central American & Caribbean Fencing Confederation, which post he held at the time of his death. He was also an international shooting referee. His post within INDER at the time was National Director of Social Sports. He had been decorated with the Giraldo Córdova Cardín order, for his 25 years service to Cuban sport.
He was an exemplary father. He was married with two daughters.
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Cándido Muñoz
A student of port management at Havana University, Cándido had a short but intense athletic life. He was on the Cuban fencing teams that went to the former USSR in 1975 (his first international), and to Bulgaria and Mexico in that same year.
In 1976, he toured with the team in Romania and Poland, our collegue, from San Francisco de Paula, was just 20 years old.
His gifts and perseverance made him a solid prospect for the Cuban fencing team. He was one of the athletes preparing for the next Olympics.
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Julio Herrera Aldama
Julio Herrera Adalma, who worked for Cuba’s social and agricultural construction and development agency (DESA), 25 years old and a member of the national fencing team, was one of the experienced competitors instrumental in the young Cuban team's success in wining all the gold medals in this Central American championship in Caracas, Venezuela.
His international career commenced in 1969, in Hungary. Two years later (1971), he toured Europe with the national team. In 1974, he competed in the USSR and in 1973 took part in two events, in Hungary and the former Soviet Union. As part of his training, in 1976 he had tours in the GDR and West Germany.
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José Arencibia
Aged 23, in his third year of a degree course in Physical Education at the School of Higher Education, he competed in the 1976 Central American Games in Venezuela in the fencing tournaments, winning the gold and bronze medals, to round off an outstanding performance.
His international career began with two consecutive appearances in the GDR, thereafter competing in Hungary, Romania, the USSR and Colombia in 1971. He remained in the team during the following years, representing Cuba in Spain, Algeria, Hungary, Poland, Bugaria, Panama and Mexico, while his record includes the honour of having worn the Cuban team uniform at the Pan-American Games in 1971 and 1975, in Colombia (Calí) and Mexico respectively.
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Orlando López Fuentes
34-year-old trainer Orlando López Puentes, an accountant by qualification, was about to embark on a degree course in Physical Education at the School of Higher Education.
He was national fencing champion in 1966 and took part in several foreign tours, including the 1969 Central American Games in Puerto Rico, the 1967 World Championship in Canada and in the Budapest Universities Games.
In 1968, he married the leading foil fencer Milady Tack Fang, with whom he had a son, Egor, aged three years at the time of his father's death.
His career as an international trainer began in 1968; the most notable events at which he led the Cuban squad included the 1973 World University Games in Moscow and the 1975 Pan-American Games in Mexico.
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Jesús Méndez Silva
Discovered through a campaign to recruit young trainers, this 30-year-old had an outstanding record in the sport, especially in the men's foil branch.
His international career began in 1973 with participation at an event in the former USSR. In 1974, he competed in Mexico, and in the following year in Bulgaria and again in Mexico.
Before heading up the men's foil squad, which won the gold medal at the Venezuela Central American Games, he had wielded this weapon to good effect in the months beforehand in Romania, Poland and Mexico - an indication of the great commitment and technical knowledge he possessed.
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Domingo Chacón Cuello
Born on 7th December 1945 in Havana, into a working-class family. His primary education was obtained at State School No.21 in Havana.
In 1961, aged just 16, he joined the Literacy Campaign Brigades, working in Alto Songo, a village in Oriente Province.
He was returning to Cuba via Guyana on the fatal Cubana flight. He left a wife and young son.
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Jesús Rojo Quintana
Jesús Rojo Quintana, 33, was a Cubana de Aviación official. He was born in Santo Domingo, Las Villas
He invariably completed well the tasks assigned to him, always showing a proactive attitude in performing these.
He was married.
He received several awards and commendations.
Santiago Hayes Pérez
This trainer worked in the women's foil branch of the sport. He was 30 years old, was well-respected by his workmates and was regarded as amply qualified to coach the women's team.
His personal qualities included a highly-developed sense of responsibility in his work and the friendliness with which he responded to questions from anyone wanting to understand any aspect of the sport of fencing.
His enthusiasm and talent led to his representing Cuba in international competition in 1973, in Panama. In 1975, he led teams at competitions in Bulgaria and Mexico, while in 1976 he managed the Cuban squads at events in Romania and Czechoslovakia.
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Ermilio Castillo Castillo
Ermillo Castillo Castillo, 33, was a Cubana de Aviación route inspector.
He joined the National Revolutionary Reserve in 1959. He participated in various reservist maneuvers, including the capture of counterrevolutionaries in the Sierra Maestra mountains.
He was noted for punctilious compliance with instructions and rules, which earned him the appreciation and respect of all his colleagues.
He was often awarded the title of the year's Best Worker in his group.
He was married with two children.
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Inés Luaces Sánchez
A native of Camagüey and 21 years of age, Inés represented her province in various school and junior fencing competitions and fenced for Cuba for the first time in 1975, at an international tournament in Mexico.
She was a dentistry student at Havana University. Inés had earned the respect and affection of her team-mates, friends and teachers, trainers and all those who knew her.
By nature friendly and highly communicative, this foil fencer from Camagüey stood out for her great love of the sport and for her qualities as a revolutionary and human being.
Her tragic death deprived Cuban sport of an exemplary competitor.
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Lázaro Otero Madruga
Lázaro Otero Madruga, 34, was a route inspector with Cubana de Aviación.
Born in Cárdenas, Matanzas Province, into a working-class family, he started work at the age of 10; his primary education suffered in consequence. In the wake of the Revolution, he was able to reach second-semester level in the workers' secondary-education scheme.
He was married with two daughters.
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Jesús Gil Pérez
Havana born and a great fencing veteran, as armourer he was responsible for the proper operation of the épées, sabres and foils of all the athletes who competed in the Fourth Central American & Caribbean Games.
At his training centre, Jesús Gil was much loved by all his comrades, who recognized him as a selfless, tireless worker who spared no effort in the exercise of his profession. His presence was so familiar that it was almost impossible to imagine a fencing match without Jesús Gil standing beside the strip.
His death robbed the Cuban sporting family of one of its best and most highly-disciplined workers, a model of perseverance and love for his day-to-day work.
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Nelson Fernández
Like most of the competitors on this Cuban fencing delegation at the 1976 Central American Games, this young undergraduate studying Physical Education, with only 22 years of age, was one of the prospective bright lights of future competitions.
His debut in international competition was in 1975, when he participated in events in the former Soviet Union, Hungary and the GDR. His programme in 1976 included tournaments starting in Hungary and later in the GDR, Italy and again in Hungary.
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Juan Duany González
This 18-year-old was one of the best trump cards played by Oriente Province at the preceding Scholastic and Youth Games, a member of the sabre squad who was studying for admission to university.
His determination on the strip, his character and his skill with the weapon, marked him out as another rising star in the sport, in which Cuba ranks fifth in Olympic competition.
Like his compatriot Carlos Leyva, Duany's track record in terms of international competitions was cut short.
He had debuted the same year in Romania. His discipline and commitment would unquestionably have won him, within in a relatively short period, much success with the sabre.
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Wilfredo Pérez Pérez
Born into a working class family, national worker-hero Wilfredo Pérez had an impeccable record of service to his homeland and the Revolution. He was the pilot of Cubana de Aviación's CUT-1201 which, on 6th October 1976, after suffering an explosion on board, crashed into the sea just two miles off the west coast of Barbados. He was 36.
In 1959, having completed his secondary education, Wilfredo joined the Rebel Army. The following year he was sent to the Air Cadets School in Ciudad Libertad, where he was selected to undergo a pilot's course in Mexico. On his return to Cuba in 1961 as a qualified pilot, he was appointed as an instructor at the Mariel Aviation School. He later transferred to the San Antonio base, where he completed a specialized, fighter-pilot's course. Wilfredo Pérez served with the Revolutionary Armed Forces until 1963, when he moved on to Cubana de Aviación as a co-pilot on IL-14s. His job performance earned him promotion to Captain on this aircraft, subsequently to Captain on BB-318s and, in 1976, as a worker of distinction, to Captain on DC-8s.
In 1968, Wilfredo Pérez was appointed deputy leader of the National Squadron. He was married.
He demonstrated great spirit of solidarity, coupled with an awareness that homeland and revolutionary duty are not confined by narrow geographic borders, carrying out all the internationalist missions assigned to him in a selfless and exemplary manner. Shining examples included his participation in the heroic struggle of the people of Angola, and tasks motivated by solidarity in the Middle East, Ghana, Vietnam and Guinea Bissau.
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Ángel Tomás Rodríguez
Angel Tomás Rodríguez Valdez was born on 21st December 1940, into a working-class home. He was a DC-8 co-pilot.
He participated in the student movement against the tyranny, at the Santa Clara Institute of Secondary Education, where he studied. He was a member of the Rebel Army and in 1967 joined Cubana de Aviación as a pilot. He was married.
He participated in internationalist missions responding to natural disasters in Peru and Honduras.
Miguel Espinosa Cabrera
Miguel Espinosa Cabrera, co-pilot of the DC-8, was born in Campechuela, Granma province, on 1st October 1929. He was married with five children. In 1957, he joined the campaign being waged in the Sierra Maestra mountains by the Rebel Army, led by Fidel, to secure Cuba's final independence. His merits as a fighting man led to his promotion to the rank of Captain. He joined Cubana de Aviación in 1968, as a pilot on IL-14s and IL-18s and later as a co-pilot on DC-8s. He was head of Cubana de Aviación's Western Zone and also held managerial posts in agricultural aviation.
Miguel Espinosa Cabrera was an internationalist worker
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Magaly Grave De Peralta
The life of Magaly Grave de Peralta is a shining example of the selfless contribution of women to defending the achievements of the Revolution and building a new society.
An international stewardess, married and mother of two, her revolutionary career started in 1960 when she became a student of telegraphy and infantry. In 1968, she started her career as a stewardess, at the José Martí International Airport. Magaly Julia Grave de Peralta Ferrer was only 33 years old. She had participated in internationalist missions in Angola.
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Moraima González Prieto
International stewardess Moraima González Prieto started work in 1962, in an office job at the José Martí International Airport.
In 1960, she had undergone military training in the Fifth District, despite being initially refused entry on the grounds of being under age.
As a people's literacy teacher, she took part in the 1961 national campaign to eradicate illiteracy.
She served with the Medical Brigades during the Bay of Pigs invasion,. She became an international stewardess in 1975.
She was married with a son. She was born on 29th June 1945.
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Marlene González Arias
An international stewardess, she was notable for her active participation in Cuba's internationalist mission in Angola.
She was 33 years old and married.
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Carlos Cremata Trujillo
Carlos Cremata Trujillo started with Cubana de Aviación as an office worker in 1962. He was subsequently promoted to Flight Dispatcher, which position he held at the time of his death.
He was married and the father of three children aged 16, 14 and 11. He was born on 17th June 1935.
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Armando Ramos Pagán
Armando Ramos Pagán, pilot navigator, was born on 30th January 1938. He was married with three children.
He participated in the student strikes in protest against the tyranny, at the Santiago de Cuba Institute of Secondary Education, and in the uprising of 30th November 1956 in support of the Granma landing.
After Cuba's revolutionary victory, he joined the Revolutionary Airforce as a pilot. He took part in various internationalist missions, including piloting flights to Peru in the wake of the earthquake there, as well as aid flights to Vietnam and Angola. He served for 13 years as a pilot and 6 as a navigator.
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Argelio Reyes Aguilar
A working trip to Guyana's fishing grounds explains the presence of Argelio Reyes Aguilar aboard the Cubana plane downed in Barbados. He was the manager of the Caribbean shrimping fleet operated by the National Fisheries Institute, which has a support base there.
Argelio had worked in the fishing industry for over 10 years. Earlier, he was the administrator of the Regla Fishing Terminal for years and a fish-trade worker in the former Havana Single Market.
He left a family that included two sons and a daughter.
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Leonardo Mackenzie Grant
A member of the foil team and aged just 22, he had represented Cuba in various international events, as his skills in his chosen specialization rapidly advanced.
In 1976, he was in his third year of a degree course in Physical Education at the Manuel Fajardo college of higher education.
His first appearance among Cuba's competitors at international events was in 1973, in which year he fenced in the Soviet Union, and in later years in Panama, the GDR, Hungary and Mexico.
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Carlos T. Conquero Perdomo
Carlos Tiburcio Coquero Perdomo, flight engineer, was 43. He was married with two children, aged 13 and 11.
He graduated in engineering, subsequently studying arts and crafts and graduating as an industrial engineer.
Between 1957 and 1973, he completed several courses in the field of aviation, including Flight Engineer on IL-14s, IL-18s and IL-62s, both in Cuba and in the USSR. He had worked for Cubana de Aviación since 1957. In 1965, he made a special journey to Algeria with Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara.
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Roberto G. Palacios Torres
A navigator by profession, Roberto Genovevo Palacios Torres was born on 3rd January 1949. He was married with two children.
He was a literacy teacher and graduated as a pilot with the Revolutionary Airforce. In 1970, he completed navigator's courses on the BB-318 and IL-18 aircraft. In 1976, he became a crew member on BB-318s.
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Armando Armengol Alonso
Since 1949, Armando E. Armengol Alonso had been a Cubana de Aviación pilot. He was born on 29th December 1918 and was married with two children.
For three years, he was the honorary chief of the national Civil Aeronautics Personnel Licensing Authority. At the time of his death, he was an adviser in the Operations Technical Support department. Armando E. Armengol Alonso participated in internationalist missions to Peru and in Africa.
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Virgen María Felizola
This foil fencer, born in Havana, was just 17.
A university-entrance student at the ESPA, Virgen María won the individual foil bronze medal at the Caracas Centro Americano and also contributed to her squad's victory in the team competition.
She was one of the bright hopes of Cuban fencing, confidently expected to make the national team at the next Olympics. She had come to the fore via the national School Games, of which she was a champion. 1976 was the year of her debut as an international, competing at events in Romania, Poland and Czechoslovakia.
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Manuel Permuy Hernández
He was born at Regla on 2nd December 1936. Economic necessity compelled him to start work at 14, as a labourer. At that time also he started to practise various sports: baseball, volleyball and basketball, the latter being his forte.
With considerable sacrifice, in 1955 he succeeded in entering higher education, to study social sciences, but was frustrated the following year when the political situation of the time led to the closure of the University. He was able to resume his degree studies in the wake of the Revolution however, and graduated in 1961.
In 1976, he was studying for a degree in journalism.
He participated in the reafforestation campaigns, while also teaching basketball. He was a member of the Cuban basketball team for several years, participating in many international championships, including the ninth Central American Games in Jamaica (1962).
In 1968, he joined Cuba's top-level sports organization, INDER, taking on various roles, ranging from director of sporting activities and Guanabacoa regional director to head of the Provincial Relations Department, which post he held at the time of the disaster.
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Ricardo Cabrera Fuentes
A student of architecture at the University of Havana, he had been a member of the national sabre team since 1972, when he fenced at an international event in the GDR.
In 1973, he toured with the team in Panama, the GDR and Bulgaria. In 1974, he competed in the USSR and Mexico. In 1975, he was back in the Soviet Union and appeared also in the Pan-American Games in Mexico as part of the Cuban delegation. In 1976, he toured successfully in the GDR, West Germany and Hungary.
He was 23 when he died.
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Sonia Coto Rodríguez
Sonia Coto Rodríguez and her husband Alberto Mario Abreu Cil, had completed their tour of duty at the fishing support base in Georgetown operated by the Caribbean shrimping fleet. They were on their way back to Cuba and a reunion with their relatives.
Sonia was 33; she worked for the Fleet in Guyana.
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Alberto Mario Abreu Cil
Alberto Mario Abréu Gil had completed his tour of duty in Guyana as supply manager for the Caribbean shrimping fleet and was returning to Havana.
He was 38 years old at his death.
He started work as a diver in 1968, at the Academy of Sciences' Oceanography Institute, where he specialized as a researcher into underwater archaeology.
He started work for the National Fisheries Institute in 1973.
He was married to Sonia Coto Rodríguez, who also died in the Barbados air disaster.
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Alberto Drake Crespo
This university-entrance student was only 18. He had come to the fore via the School Games, in which he had a glowing record. He had attended the Advanced Athletics School, where he combined study with intensive fencing practice. He belonged to the sabre team and was regarded by the trainers in that specialization as a national team prospect. Born in Matanzas, Drake had competed in his first international event in 1976, at friendly junior games in Romania. He was Central American individual and team champion in his specialization.
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Silvia Marta Pereira Jorge
The working life of Silvia Marta Periera Jorge, Youth militant, began in 1966, when she became a stewardess based at the José Martí international airport.
Married with two children aged 8 and one year, she was working as an international flight attendant. At the same time, she was studying legal sciences at the University of Havana. She was 28.
She had been a Worker of Distinction every year since 1972.
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Nancy Uranga Romagosa
22 years old and from the Pablo de la Torriente Brau sugar mill in Pinar del Rio, Nancy was one of Cuba's top fencers.
She was studying biology at the University of Havana and had participated in international fencing events since 1972, when she competed in the USSR. The arenas of several counties (the GDR, Panama, Mexico, Hugary, Italy and Canada) had witnessed her superb skills.
She participated in the Pan-American Games in the Mexican capital and in the Montreal Olympics.
She was carrying her first child.
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Jorge de la Nuez Suárez
He had been a builder in his home village, Güira de Melena in La Habana province. He fought in the Bay of Pigs campaign, which marked the first defeat of the United States in Latin America. He fulfilled duties in the national Revolutionary Navy, reaching the rank of second lieutenant. At the time of his death, he was working for the National
Fisheries Institute. He left three children: Lazarit, Ricardo and baby Jorgito. -
Eusebio Sánchez Domínguez
An international flight attendant of just 25 years of age. Despite his youth, he had participated in internationalist missions to Angola. He was a father, with a daughter aged five.
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Manuel Abelardo Rodríguez Font
Manuel Abelardo Rodríguez Font, 50, was the chief of Cubana de Aviación's Barbados office. He left a daughter.
He had worked for Cubana de Aviación since 1953 and had participated in the revolutionary insurgence of 30th November 1956 in his home town, Santiago de Cuba.
In 1957, he was sent into exile and travelled to the United States, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica and Venezuela. He returned to Cuba in the wake of the Revolution.
He served with a rescue brigade during the operations in the wake of hurricane Flora, which took the lives of hundreds of Cubans.
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Milagro Peláez González
Born in Esmeralda, Camagüey, this 21-year-old competitor had already given a good account of herself at the fourth Central American & Caribbean Games in Caracas, Venezuela, winning the silver medal as one of the Cuban trio that monopolized the trophies in the individual competition.
She was studying for university entrance. Her international debut was in 1975, when she competed in Bulgaria and Mexico. Subsequent appearances were in the GDR, the USSR and Czechoslovakia. Her great self-command on the strip brought her important victories and augured well for a bright future in Cuban sport.