At daybreak on April 15, 1961, planes camouflaged with the insignia of the Revolutionary Air Force attacked the airport of Ciudad Libertad in this capital, the air base of San Antonio de los Baños, southwest of Havana, and the airfield of the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba.
With this action, the order by then US President John Kennedy, which authorized the subsequent mercenary forces’ invasion of Cuba, was previously prepared and advised by the army of that war power, declassified reports revealed. The air raids by eight US B-26 fighter jets, which had departed from Puerto Rico and Nicaragua, had the mission of destroying, on the ground, the limited Cuban aviation and guaranteeing total coverage to the invaders in their plans for a land attack.
Also, the attackers tried to deceive international public opinion by landing one of their ships in the U.S. city of Miami pretending the desertion of Cuban pilots.
The enemy bombing killed seven people and wounded 53 others, mostly civilians, by shelling the neighborhoods surrounding Ciudad Libertad, besides causing material damage, without accomplishing the mission of destroying all Cuban aircraft.
That sad scenario marked, during the burial of the victims, the proclamation by historic leader Fidel Castro of the socialist character of the Revolution.
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