By noon on Oct. 6, 1976, at Seawell International Airport in Barbados, it was humid, raining and 80 degrees. A McDonnell Douglas four-engine DC-8 jet adorned with Cubana Airlines' blue, white and red tail sat on the tarmac, just arrived from Port of Spain, Trinidad. It was in the midst of a hopscotch trip across the Caribbean that started in Georgetown, Guyana; was headed to Kingston, Jamaica; and destined for Havana. Among the passengers were 24 teenage athletes. They were members of Cuba's national fencing team. They caught their country's flagship airliner in Trinidad after competing in a tournament of Central American and Caribbean countries. But neither the Cuban fencers...
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