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Mailén Díaz Almaguer, the sole survivor of the Flight 972 of Cubana de Aviación, shared a message filled with pain and remembrance on Facebook this Monday to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the worst air disaster in Cuba in three decades.
«If at that time they had told me everything that would come after, I wouldn't have believed it; it has already been 8 years,» wrote Mailén under the hashtag #ProhibidoOlvidar, accompanying her words with five photographs alongside her husband Jean Michel López Salinas, who passed away in the tragedy.
The accident occurred on May 18, 2018 when a Boeing 737-201 leased by Cubana de Aviación from the Mexican airline Global Air crashed just 35 seconds after taking off from José Martí International Airport, heading to Holguín, falling into an agricultural area of the Boyeros municipality.
Of the 113 people on board, 112 died: 101 Cubans, six Mexican crew members, and five foreign passengers.
Mailén was 19 years old and had been married for just two months when she lost her husband and was seriously injured: she suffered the amputation of part of a leg, paralysis in both limbs, and required multiple surgeries and prolonged rehabilitation.
Since then, Mailén has maintained a consistent public presence, documenting her recovery, denouncing the lack of medical supplies in Cuba, and demanding justice for the victims and their families.
In February 2019, on the first anniversary of their wedding, she dedicated heartfelt words to Jean Michel: "A year ago, I was the happiest woman in the world. I hope you are well wherever you are now. I love you and will love you all my life."
This year's anniversary is marked by a significant judicial advancement: on March 30th, a Mexican federal judge condemned Global Air to pay 124.2 million Mexican pesos —around 7.1 million dollars— to the families of four deceased crew members, in the first definitive civil ruling in the case.
Attorney Samuel González Ruiz stated that the airline operated the aircraft without proper maintenance and despite an active flight prohibition, and that "all maintenance records of the aircraft were falsified" by the company's management.
However, the payment is uncertain: Global Air is undergoing a bankruptcy process that began in 2024.
This is compounded by the Cuban regime's refusal to cooperate with Mexican justice: the Prosecutor's Office has sent more than eight international requests for assistance with no response from the government of Havana. Spanish lawyer Carlos Villacorta Salis, representing over 50 Cuban families and Mailén Díaz Almaguer herself, indicated that the recent ruling against Global Air sets an important precedent by establishing a suggested compensation of between 1.7 and 1.8 million dollars per victim, which could serve as a possible basis for future claims.
In September 2025, Mailén began a degree in Theology at the Methodist Seminary of Havana, a new chapter in a life she has been rebuilding step by step since that May morning in 2018.
On April 9, before this date arrived, Mailén had already anticipated the significance of the anniversary: "May JUSTICE be the word that honors May 18 after 8 years of so much suffering and uncertainty."
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