Cuba remembers on Wednesday the 60th anniversary of the French steam vessel's blast La Coubre in the Port of Havana, an incident denounced as one of the first US warlike actions against the emerging Revolution.
The final balance of victims shook the country: 101 deaths, including six French sailors and eight Spanish port workers, 400 people injured or disabled for life and 82 orphaned children.
The then Prensa Latina's reporter Leopoldo Formoso recalled the difficult tasks of counting up the mutilated, locating relief homes or aid care makeshift centers for so many affected.
A day after the incident, a massive funeral gathered the capital citizens at the intersection of 23rd Avenue and 12th Street, in front of the crowd, the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro, would bequeath the motto of 'Patria o Muerte' (Freedom or Death!)
Data revealed by experts proved the the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) arranged the sabotage as described by Cuban authorities.
Up to date, Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, also known as French Line company, owner of the ship at the time of the tragedy, still keeps as top secret in a safety deposit box inquiries on the burst.
The file still has a ban of communicating grounded on the legal services of the vessel's last owners even though the incident occurred 150 years ago.