What connotation does Cuba attach to the commemoration of the anniversary of the genocide perpetrated by South African apartheid forces in the Namibian camp of Cassinga?
The commemoration of this 55th Anniversary of Cassinga Massacre has a highly patriotic significance for the Cuban people and our African brothers.
Around 600 people, mostly children, women, and senior citizens, were massacred on that fateful 4 May 1978 on the pretext that they were SWAPO combatants. It was a huge crime, a genocide by the South African racist forces, and a shameful page on the history of international media which remained almost completely in silence after such a genocide.
Cassinga is a town in southern Angola, in Jamba municipality, Huila province, where a Namibian refugee camp was settled at that time. Angola must get the recognition it deserves for all the help it offered to the countries of the region in the fight against colonialism, racism, and apartheid. Their territory was devastated by actions like Cassinga’s attack, during which the land was ravaged, a high number of civilians were killed, and all its infrastructure was destroyed.
We should not forget either that a Cuban unit based in Tchamutete immediately traveled to assist the Namibians under the enemy air strike. The tombs where our brothers killed in Cassinga were once buried are still there in Tchamutete.
This in just one of the many pages written by Cuban internationalist brigades in Africa. I really think that the history of Cuba’s heroic solidarity with Africa is not well known yet. As Fidel once said, “that glorious page of our revolutionary history deserved to be known, even if it is just to show appreciation to the hundreds of thousands of men and women, internationalist combatants, who wrote it to set an example for the present and future generations.” That is the why we are so pleased by the decision of the Cuban government to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the massacre with a solemn ceremony and a national day.
You referred to internationalism as a principle of Cuban foreign policy in the African continent. What were the main elements of this internationalist policy?
Internationalism, anti-imperialism, and solidarity among peoples are principles that have certainly guided our foreign policy since the triumph of the revolution in 1959. They are the basis of the deeply humanist feeling of our revolutionary process and our vision of the world we want to live in.
And while Cuba made an important contribution by supporting the independence struggles, the defense of the sovereignty of third world nations, particularly in Africa, and the end of apartheid, that support was not limited only to military assistance. This year we will celebrate the55th anniversary of the beginning of Cuban medical internationalist cooperation in the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria(1) . In 1965, there were doctors together with Cuban guerrilla men in Congo Brazzaville. The first combatants that went to Angola in 1975 were also joined by health personnel. And afterwards, full armies of doctors, constructors, and teachers have been there under the most difficult circumstances, in the middle of wars, of epidemics like Ebola, and under conditions of natural disasters. The heroes of the battle of Sumbe(3) were civilian cooperators, and this year we will also commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Che Guevara pedagogical brigade(3) .
But perhaps, what happened in Cassinga is one of the most beautiful and touching moments that highlight the humanist nature of the Cuban Revolution. Hundreds of surviving or injured children were sent to Cuba to recover and later to attend schools where they had access to primary and secondary education. Afterwards, some of them graduated from Cuban universities.
There is a very encouraging case for Cuba, the designation of Claudia Grace Uushona as ambassador of Namiba to Cuba in 2006. Claudia Grace Uushona, who is currently the Namibian ambassador to Angola, considers herself a product of the Cuban Revolution. When Minister Bruno Rodríguez conferred to her the Order of Solidarity, she said that the she owned her life to the Cuban Revolution and recalled that being a child she was rescued by the Cuban internationalist combatants on 4 May 1978. She noted that thanks to Fidel’s generosity she was brought to Cuba, where she received medical treatment, grew up and was educated.
These children joined thousand of children and youngsters from the “darkest corners” of the world who had and still have a second homeland in Cuba, a country that sheltered and educated them before they returned home as men and women of good. Today we see that many of them have become prime ministers, ministers, renown artists, and outstanding professionals. It is very weird to have ministerial cabinets in African countries without someone who has studied in Cuba. That is the legacy of the Commander in Chief.
How are the relations of Cuba with Namibia and Angola in the present? What are the perspectives for future years?
We have excellent relations with Namibia. They are based on friendship, solidarity, and cooperation. These are the relations of sister nations. Namibia does not forget Cuba’s internationalist support to their independence. A Namibian leader and friend told us that the relation with Cuba is an issue of national consensus in her country, which goes beyond anything else. Every year, Namibia is the country that presents to the African Union the resolution against the United States blockade on Cuba. Last year, Namibia hosted the 5th Continental Africa Conference in Solidarity with Cuba in Windhoek, under the slogan: “Intensifying solidarity with Cuba and preserving the legacy of Fidel and Che.”
Likewise, with Angola. We are linked by indestructible bonds based on the blood shed and the sacrifices made. This year we will also celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the battle of Cuito Cuanavale. Refering to this battle, the Angolan president João Lourenço said: “the blood shed by Cuban combatants in Angola continues to irrigate the increasingly leafy tree of the eternal friendship between our peoples, our Armed Forces, our countries.”
We maintain a wide and diverse cooperation with both countries. With Angola, we have bilateral projects in 13 sectors (health, education, higher education, water, energy, defense and security, construction, social communication, agriculture, fishing, culture, mining, and oil). There are more than 2000 Cuban cooperators distributed all over Angola's territory. In Namibia we have 111 cooperators from six sectors, the majority of them from the health sector. Our governments keep a strong political will to continue to strengthen and deepen our bilateral bonds.
On this 40th anniversary of Cassinga massacre and while we all prepare to celebrate together the Africa Day, I would like to conclude with a recent quote from the Vice-president of the Council of State Salvador Valdés Mesa in his meeting with the Vice-president of the African Union, His Excellency Thomas Kwesi Quartey; a phrase that, in my opinion, shows in a very simple manner the consistency and perspectives of our foreign policy with the African continent: “Amidst all difficulties, we will not stop expressing our solidarity, particularly with Africa(4).”
Gisela García Rivera
Ambassador
(1)24 May 1963.
(2)Sumbe, Cuanza Sul, Angola, 25 March 1984
(3)Brigade of Cuban teachers that provided internationalist assistance in Angola from 1978 to 1986
(4) Meeting of the Vice-president of the Council of State Salvador Valdés Mesa and the Vice-president of the African Union Thomas Kwesi Quartey, Palace of the Revolution, 13 April 2018.