Flags of mourning are flying in front of the US Interests Office in Havana. Hoisted on Monday, they will remain there to remember the death and pain the US empire has sown on the island. For 24 hours, hundreds of people carrying posters with the photos of 138 of the thousands of Cuban victims of terrorism are joining them in a vigil.

The act of dignity took place at the Jose Marti Anti-Imperialist Plaza, across from the US office. President Fidel Castro, top government and Communist Party officials and leaders from Cuban civil society were present for the commemoration and hoisting of the black flags, each with a single white star in the middle.

The thousands of people on hand, including victims and relatives of those who died from acts of terrorism, wore black T-shirts as a sign of the pain and as a warning that Cuba will never be brought to its knees.

Reverend Raul Suarez, one of the speakers, said what millions of Cubans believe that "the provocations of the US Interests Section (USIS) in Cuba are an insult to the memory, spirit and philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King, for which he gave his life. Besides, they do not represent the feelings of the US people."

Irma Sehwerert, mother of one of the Cuban Five, Rene Gonzalez, said she will never stop demanding justice for her son and his four comrades, imprisoned in the United States for fighting terrorism against Cuba. She spoke on behalf of the five men, heroes on the island and around the globe, and for an entire people victimized by terrorism for nearly half a century with a toll of more than 3,400 dead and over 2,000 permanently disabled.

Carlos Alberto Cremata is today an adult, but when they killed his father in 1976 he was just a boy, forced suddenly to feel the most profound of pains. Repeating a phrase often said by his father—Long Live Life!—, Cremata quoted from an open letter to the American people that demands respect for life and justice for the terrorists who dare to take it.

Commander in Chief Fidel Castro presided at a tribute in honor of the victims of terrorism against Cuba and a denunciation of such actions that began at 6:00 p.m., Monday, at the Jose Marti Anti-imperialist Plaza in Havana.

Held in front of the emblematic Malecon, and just a few steps from the US Interests Section, which has become the command center for counterrevolution in Cuba, the rally gathered victims, family members of victims of terrorism and relatives of the Cuban Five —still being arbitrarily held in US prisons.

The Cuban president was joined by Juan Ameida Bosque, Commander of the Revolution; other members of the Communist Party’s Political Bureau; youth leaders from the Young Communist League (UJC) and several grassroots and political organizations.

Yesterday’s event was also attended by hundreds of young people participating in priority social, economic and cultural programs and by workers who helped in expansion of the Anti-imperialist Plaza. The site —host to many patriotic and rebellious demonstrations— has, in a short time, become a historical site.

Alter listening to the Cuban national anthem, Reverend Raul Saurez, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center in Havana, addressed the crowd. The reverend condemned the terrorist barbarity of the US empire and its delusions of world domination.

Saurez recalled the words of Martin Luther King when the great civil rights leader spoke out against the war in Vietnam and the recruitment of young Americans —rejected by society and without equal opportunities to study or improve their conditions— who were sent to Vietnam to fight, kill and die for an unjust cause. He noted that it was precisely for embracing and defending these ideals that Martin Luther King was assassinated.

"I have been, and will be to my final days, a minister of my people," said Rev. Suarez, who noted that Cuba is the best example of solidarity practiced in favor of life.

Monday’s event paid tribute to the more than 3,000 Cubans who have died as a result of criminal terrorist acts, perpetrated by groups organized, financed and supported by successive US administrations.

Participants carried photos of the victims, especially the 73 people who died in the 1976 midair bombing of a Cubana passenger plane. The authors of this horrendous crime, including mastermind Luis Posada Carriles, remain unpunished.