Namibia, May 19th, 2020- The second President of Namibia, H.E. Mr. Hifikepunye Pohamba, received in his offices a team from the Cuban Television Information System, led by the journalist and director Milton Díaz Canter.
The former president, who led Namibia between 2005 and 2015, talked about the history of bilateral relations between Namibia and Cuba from the 1960s to the present day. During the interview, he highlighted some of the most important moments of those ties.
In this sense, he recalled the arrival of Cuban internationalist troops to Angola in 1975, in response to the request made by the president of that nation, Agostinho Neto, to Commandant in Chief Fidel Castro, to fight against the invading South African troops. He standed out the cooperation established between SWAPO fighters, under the leadership of the Founding Father of Namibia Sam Nujoma, and the Cuban forces, from that moment on.
He also referred to schools open to young Namibians on the Isle of Youth since 1978. He recalled that many of those early students were survivors of the Cassinga Massacre. This horrendous genocide was perpetrated by the forces of the South African apartheid regime, against the Namibian refugee camp, located in that town in southern Angola. The massacre represented the murder of around 700 civilians.
On that particular event, he underlined the decisive role of the Cuban forces located in Chamutete, a few kilometers from Cassinga, who put their lives at risk to save the Namibian civilians. Cuban troops lost 16 lives in that combative action.
At another point in the interview, former President Pohamba assessed the significance of the battle of Cuito Cuanavale for Angola, Namibia, South Africa and the rest of the African continent. He claimed that without that defeat suffered by apartheid, the negotiations that ensured the independence of Angola and the liberation of Namibia would not have been promoted, as well as the subsequent fall of the racist regime of Pretoria in 1994.
The Namibian leader noted the excellent state of bilateral relations between Cuba and his country, officially started on March 21st, 1990, the same day of the declaration of Namibian independence. He recalled his countless visits to Cuba and his encounters with Fidel and Raúl. For the former president, the ties that unite both nations and their leaders are special and endearing.
Pohamba deeply appreciated the decisive contribution of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro and Cuba to the liberation of his country. In relation to this, he stated that without Cuban support, it would be very likely that Namibia was still under the South African yoke.
Similarly, he condemned the United States' economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on the Island and demanded its unconditional lifting. Pohamba assured that Namibia will continue its solidarity support to Cuba.
The Cuban Ambassador to Namibia, Sidenio Acosta, and the Namibian Ambassador to Cuba, Samuel Goagoseb, also participated on the interview.
