The Greatest Pain for a Father
Autumn 2012
Giustino Di Celmo, the father of the Italian tourist murdered in a terrorist bomb attack on a Cuban hotel in 1997 write on his 15 year battle for justice
Fifteen years ago, on September 4 of 1997, a murderous bomb that was planted at the lobby of the Havana Copacabana Hotel severed the life of Fabio Di Celmo, a 32 young Italian tourist.
His death, caused by a terrorist action against Cuba, plunged the Di Celmo family into grief and despair.
There is no greater pain than the one felt by a father over the death of his son, even more so when that son has died a violent and cruel death said Fabio’s father Giustino Di Celmo in a recent statement, in which he recalled that sad moment for his family and once again denounced the terrorist action:
Recently, on June 1, 2012, the day when Fabio would have celebrated his 47 birthday, his mother, Ora Bassi, who for more than sixty years had been my wife and my love, passed away. Ora shared with me the pain of having lost Fabio, our youngest son. She died without the comfort of knowing that the person who masterminded and ordered that terrorist action had been tried for his crime. That is not fair.
Luis Posada Carriles masterminded the terrorist action that killed my son. I will never forget the statements made by this criminal, which were published by The New York Times on July 12 and 13 of 1998.
After recognizing that he had hired the murderous hand of the Salvadoran mercenary who planted the bomb at the Copacabana Hotel, he confessed to the journalist, without any decency, that he was not concerned about Fabio’s death and that he slept like a baby because?. “The Italian was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
However, despite innumerable denunciations, Luis Posada Carriles, a confirmed an confessed terrorist, is walking freely down the streets of Miami and has been awarded several recognitions and honors granted by the Cuban-American mafia and the extreme right of the United States of America.
The farce of his trial at El Paso, Texas, was the last straw. He was only tried for being a liar, although evidence showed that he had masterminded the action that caused Fabio’s death? And then I ask you:
How is it possible that a country that is saying to condemn terrorism is sheltering a terrorist with such a long record of crimes, including the blowing up in mid-air of a CUBANA airliner off the coasts of Barbados, the murder of hundreds of Venezuelans and the death of my son?
How is it possible that the US Government includes Cuba in a list of terrorist countries when Cuba has only been a victim to the terrorist actions perpetrated by the criminals that the US Government itself has hired and protected?
Why is it that the big media do not say that the Five Cuban anti-terrorists are still imprisoned in the United States for trying to prevent the commission of terrorist actions in Cuba while the terrorists are living in freedom in the United States?
How is it possible that the big media remain silent in the face of such injustice, thus denying the American people the opportunity to know the truth?
I could ask many more questions which will make my statement endless. The answers to those questions would confirm the double-standards of the US Government and the big media when it comes to terrorism.
I only wanted to tell all of you that I am a hard-working and peace-loving man, a 92 year-old man who, despite his pain, does not harbor any ill feelings of revenge. Since Fabio died I swore to have no rest until justice is served, and so I decided to stay in Cuba.
I want to be part of the struggle that this country is waging for justice.
I swore I would stay in Cuba until the final moments of my life because, as I have said many times, everyday I see Fabio walking down the streets of Havana; at the court where he used to play football; at the restaurant he longed to have, which is now named after him.
Day after day I pass by the house where Fabio used to live and I feel that by doing that I can look after him, because a good father never abandons his children.
I am very grateful to all those persons who have given me words of encouragement; those who have not abandoned me in this struggle for truth and justice; those who work to knock down the wall of silence that surrounds the terrorist actions perpetrated against Cuba; the Cuban Five, who infiltrated the Miami mafia groupings and risked their lives, their families and their happiness to try to prevent the commission of terrorist actions like the one that severed the life of my son.
I feel grateful to the Government and the Communist Party of Cuba, the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, the Cuban-Italy Friendship Association, La Villeta, the Comitato Fabio Di Celmo and all other institutions that both in Cuba as well as in Italy have supported me in this endeavor.
My special gratitude goes to the people of Cuba, to each and every one of those persons whom I meet in the streets and hug me on behalf of Fabio. All of them make me feel that the members of the Di Celmo family are not alone when we keep on crying out for JUSTICE for Fabio before the deaf ears of the government that is sheltering the mastermind of these actions?
Finally, I would like to convey my gratitude and respect to Commander Fidel Castro. I want Fidel to know that I will never cease in the struggle to bring Posada Carriles and all other terrorists to justice. I will always reject the hypocrisy and double standards of the United States Government.
I will never get tired of living up to my determination of struggling until the last moments of my life. I dream of hugging Fidel again, as he once hugged me and Ora, and telling him: Did you see, my Commander? Justice has been served! - the terrorists have been prosecuted. No one else will ever cry for their crimes, as Tiziana, Livio my wife and I did.
I ask all of you to allow me to fulfill this dream. Together we could make it, if we denounce the injustice and double standards of the imperialists; if we struggle to have Posada Carriles extradited to Venezuela so that he is tried for the crimes he committed; if we all struggle for the freedom of the Cuban Five and for peace in a better world for all.
