ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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The Steam La Coubre was a ship of French origin that was sabotaged in the port of Havana on 4 March 1960 when it was carrying arms and ammunition. There were two explosions that resulted in about a hundred dead and two hundred injured. There is also the possibility of an accident, taking into account the number of weapons and ammunition inside. It should be noted that for the discharge of such goods the ship must be at a safe distance from the port and the transfer must be by skates, a measure of safety that was breached.

Successes
At 3: 10 in the afternoon of 4 March 1960, the freighter La Coubre, a 4310-ton ship carrying 76 tons of Belgian ammunition from the port of Antwerp, exploded while unloading in the Port of Havana. The discharge of dangerous charges directly on the dock was contrary to the ordinances. In these cases, the ships were to tie in the centre of the port and their cargo would be taken to the dock in barges. The decision to download La Coubre directly to the Tallapiedra pier was apparently by Raúl Castro, the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba.

At the time of the explosion, Che Guevara was at a meeting in the building of the National Agrarian Reform Institute. After hearing the explosion and seeing the cloud of dust rising over Havana, he went to the scene and spent the following hours providing medical attention to the injured workers and soldiers, many of them with fatal injuries.

Thirty minutes after the first explosion, while hundreds of people were involved in a rescue operation organized by the FAR, a second, even more powerful, explosion took place that had victims of people who voluntarily went to help the wounded. Although the exact figure is unknown, it is estimated that between 75 and 100 people were killed and another 200 were injured.

Consequences

At night the Council of Ministers in an extraordinary session and approves support for the families of the victims of the explosion. National mourning is also declared for 24 hours.

Alberto Korda took photos at the funeral on March 5 at the Colón Cemetery in Havana, including the Heroic Guerrillero photo, which has become an iconic image of the Che Guevara.

During his speech, Fidel Castro first changed his political motto "Patria y Libertad," which he had used since the founding of the July 26 movement, to the variant "Patria o Muerte" which he had used regularly since.

The Coubre was led to a dry dike. He returned to active service with the French company Compagnie Générale Transatlantique until 1972, when he was sold to a shipping company in Cyprus being renamed Barbara.

Ownership

Fidel Castro claimed that it was an act of sabotage by the United States, which denied any participation. E