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How Far We Slaves Have Come!: South Africa and Cuba in Today's World
Speaking together in Cuba in 1991, Mandela and Castro discuss the unique relationship and example of the struggles of the South African and Cuban peoples.
83 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
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363 people want to read
About the author
Nelson Mandela
255 books2,295 followersNelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a former President of South Africa, the first to be elected in a fully representative democratic election, who held office from 1994–99.
Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of the African National Congress's armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe. The South African courts convicted him on charges of sabotage, as well as other crimes committed while he led the movement against apartheid. In accordance with his conviction, Mandela served 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island.
In South Africa he is often known as Madiba, an honorary title adopted by elders of Mandela's clan. The title has come to be synonymous with Nelson Mandela.
Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela supported reconciliation and negotiation, and helped lead the transition towards multi-racial democracy in South Africa. Since the end of apartheid, many have frequently praised Mandela, including former opponents. Mandela has received more than one hundred awards over four decades, most notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/nelson...
Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of the African National Congress's armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe. The South African courts convicted him on charges of sabotage, as well as other crimes committed while he led the movement against apartheid. In accordance with his conviction, Mandela served 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island.
In South Africa he is often known as Madiba, an honorary title adopted by elders of Mandela's clan. The title has come to be synonymous with Nelson Mandela.
Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela supported reconciliation and negotiation, and helped lead the transition towards multi-racial democracy in South Africa. Since the end of apartheid, many have frequently praised Mandela, including former opponents. Mandela has received more than one hundred awards over four decades, most notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/nelson...
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 26, 2019
ثبتی از یک تاریخ طلایی که ظاهرا رو به افول است
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امروز در سومین سالگرد درگذشت کاسترو یک یادداشت درمورد این کتاب نوشتم: اینجا
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امروز در سومین سالگرد درگذشت کاسترو یک یادداشت درمورد این کتاب نوشتم: اینجا
July 2, 2015
My country sends aid to prop up Saudi Arabia an oligarchical, sexist nation with huge levels of imprisonment; my country also sends troops to secure oil reserves. And what is more, my country invests a lot of money and effort into offing foreign heads of state too conscientious for their own good. You can thus understand my cynicism for the United States.
Simultaneously you have Cuba sending troops for the express purpose of halting the expansion of apartheid, investing huge amounts of money into healthcare, education, plus the elimination of sexism, racism, and poverty.
Read this book and you'll find out why I'm a socialist.
Simultaneously you have Cuba sending troops for the express purpose of halting the expansion of apartheid, investing huge amounts of money into healthcare, education, plus the elimination of sexism, racism, and poverty.
Read this book and you'll find out why I'm a socialist.
December 23, 2024
Fidel and Nelson going m for m and band for band. Two truly great men wow, what they say here is still so prescient today. Also fidel has a whole but about how cañones (Spanish for gun) rhymes with cajones (testicles)
October 19, 2023
I wanted to read this in relation to the ongoing struggle, oppression, and reality of apartheid experienced by the people of Palestine. The open air prison of Gaza and the occupied West Bank continue to suffer at the hand of imperialism, and it was an eye opening read to see Fidel Castro correctly proclaim that is not just a country that enables and supports, but in fact the West. The West, being the United States.
While eye opening and providing me with new perspectives, this was also frustrating and left me empty. As late stage capitalism evolves from crisis to crisis, depriving citizens of the world happiness and peace, apartheid ended in South Africa [despite South Africa still being segregated to this day], but apartheid exists today in Palestine, a reality that people refuse to realize due factors consisting of denial, ignorance and propaganda. Everything is more clear putting what is going on in Palestine, in the context of anti-Muslim bigotry, policy and oppression that Palestinians have experienced for the last 75 years, but even more than 75 years, in fact over 100 years ago with the British through the Balfour Declaration.
While I'd quickly label myself a pacifist, I can understand why war would need to happen, rare justifications, such as the elimination of German fascists in World War II. The war going on today, the conflict, whatever you want to call it, in the future will likely not be looked at as much a war in the future, but a genocide. The elimination of the terrorist organization, Hamas, is likely inevitable, no matter the timetable. Outside of that, why is Gaza city being bombed and reduced to rubble? Why is Al-Ahli hospital that killed over 500 civilians on 17/10/2023 being bombed? There is no justification for this. I have seen the video of the former Israeli PM, whatever his name is, [prior to the bombing of Al-Ahli] justifying the bombing of Gaza by stating {paraphrasing} "While London was being bombed, you were bombing Dresden". We must learn from our history and not repeat it. Why does it need to be said that the bombing of citizens in London by German fascists was not OK? Why does it need to be said that the bombing of the citizens of Dresden by the Allies was not OK? War is cruel, but instead of finding solutions, we yet again resort to destruction of our fellow citizens. We are all correctly saying that the bombing of Israeli citizens by the terrorist organization Hamas is unjustifiable. So why are we not saying that the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza and the Al-Ahli hospital is not OK? Why are we not dismantling the system of Israeli apartheid and freeing 2 million Palestinians in the open air prison of Gaza and providing equal rights not just to Gaza, but to the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank?
Denial, ignorance, and propaganda allow Israeli apartheid to continue. Denial, ignorance, and propaganda allows us to not look at a map of Palestine in 1948 and a map of Palestine in 2023.
Industrialization and technological innovations have made life easier than ever, as long as we are born in a certain part of the world, the United States. We are free to go about being propaganda-fed debt-ridden wage slaves as long as we don't question the status quo. Unless power transitions away from the U.S. imperialists, we will continue to see the desecration of innocent civilians and the divide of all the citizens of the world.
When we begin to question why in the "richest country on Earth" there are over 500,000
homeless people in America, why American children go hungry, why we have the highest wealth inequality of developed nations, the answer is always capitalism. Capitalism and imperialism must end. Palestine must be free. The apartheid, oppression, and violence must end.
nelson mandela:
- "There can be no surrender! It is a case of freedom or death!"
- "We are in a phase of our struggle where victory is in sight. But we have to ensure that this victory is not snatched from us. We have to ensure that the racist regime feels maximum pressure right till the end and that it understands that it must give way, that the road to peace, freedom, and democracy is irresistible."
- "We in the ANC will always stand with the poor and rightless. Not only do we stand with them. We will ensure sooner rather than later that they rule the land of their birth, that in the words of the Freedom Charter, "the people shall govern."
fidel castro:
- "If there is anything odious and repugnant in this world, where there are so many odious and repugnant things, it is apartheid. Who invented it? Communists, socialists, socialism? No! This invention expresses the essence of capitalism; it was invented by colonialism, neocolonialism, fascism."
- "Apartheid is capitalism and imperialism in its fascist form and involves the idea of superior and inferior races."
- "The real truth is that the West supported apartheid; they supplied it with technology, countless billions in investments, and vast quantities of arms; and they also gave it political support. No, imperialism did not break ties with apartheid, it did not blockade apartheid; imperialism maintained and continues to maintain excellent relations with apartheid."
- "No group of apostles came here to teach us Marxism-Leninism. We learned it here, following universal cur-rents, socialist thought, and the thinking of the great revolutionaries of the last century and the present one. Because the more we know imperialism and its miseries the more socialist we feel, the more communist we feel."
- "Whatever error Communists can be accused of, they cannot be accused of the exploitation of man by man, or of having supported the exploitation of man by man."
- "There is no doubt that all the political leaders are talking about social justice and the redistribution of wealth; that is not lacking. But I asked myself: Where did injustice come from? Where did inequality come from? Where did poverty come from? Where did underdevelopment come from? Where did all these calamities come from, if not from capitalism? Where did colonialism come from, if not from capitalism? Where did neocolonialism and imperialism come from, if not from capitalism? It would seem that the creators of heaven and earth are to be blamed for the existence of poor people and that the social system has nothing to do with it, that capitalism has nothing to do with it. It's incredible! This is the language, this is the mentality, this is the doctrine. To want to resolve these problems through capitalism, in a world that has been divided between extremely rich capitalist countries and the majority of extremely poor countries precisely as a consequence of capitalism, colonialism, neocolonialism, and imperialism—is an incredible illusion. To think that neoliberal formulas are going to promote the miracle of economic development in our countries is an incredible illusion. It's like trying to put out a fire with gasoline."
- "We should not create illusions; we should not raise false hopes. This is a very long and difficult process. But the world does not face a very flourishing situation economically. The United States is suffering from the problems I mentioned and more of them; imperialism should not sing victory songs. Militarily the United States is more powerful than ever, and politically it has enormous influence; but economically it is weaker than ever and has very serious problems."
- "We love our flag a great deal, but if one day it becomes necessary to renounce it in order to form a common nation we will do so. And if one day the world acquires an extraordinary and ideal level of consciousness so that it is able to constitute itself as one great family, we would also be willing to renounce our flag. But we would never do so for the sake of a unipolar world under U.S. imperialist hegemony-this we will never do! We will never renounce a single one of our prerogatives!"
- "Our ideas go beyond chauvinism or narrow nationalism. Our ideas extend beyond all borders. We live in the world that was given to us and we are fighting for a better world. Our minds, our intelligence, and our hearts are prepared for a much better world, for a superior world, for a world such as that desired by Marx and Engels, where men act as brothers to each other rather than preying on each other like wolves. Capitalism is the greatest creator of wolves in human history, and imperialism has not only been the greatest creator of wolves but also the greatest wolf that has ever existed."
While eye opening and providing me with new perspectives, this was also frustrating and left me empty. As late stage capitalism evolves from crisis to crisis, depriving citizens of the world happiness and peace, apartheid ended in South Africa [despite South Africa still being segregated to this day], but apartheid exists today in Palestine, a reality that people refuse to realize due factors consisting of denial, ignorance and propaganda. Everything is more clear putting what is going on in Palestine, in the context of anti-Muslim bigotry, policy and oppression that Palestinians have experienced for the last 75 years, but even more than 75 years, in fact over 100 years ago with the British through the Balfour Declaration.
While I'd quickly label myself a pacifist, I can understand why war would need to happen, rare justifications, such as the elimination of German fascists in World War II. The war going on today, the conflict, whatever you want to call it, in the future will likely not be looked at as much a war in the future, but a genocide. The elimination of the terrorist organization, Hamas, is likely inevitable, no matter the timetable. Outside of that, why is Gaza city being bombed and reduced to rubble? Why is Al-Ahli hospital that killed over 500 civilians on 17/10/2023 being bombed? There is no justification for this. I have seen the video of the former Israeli PM, whatever his name is, [prior to the bombing of Al-Ahli] justifying the bombing of Gaza by stating {paraphrasing} "While London was being bombed, you were bombing Dresden". We must learn from our history and not repeat it. Why does it need to be said that the bombing of citizens in London by German fascists was not OK? Why does it need to be said that the bombing of the citizens of Dresden by the Allies was not OK? War is cruel, but instead of finding solutions, we yet again resort to destruction of our fellow citizens. We are all correctly saying that the bombing of Israeli citizens by the terrorist organization Hamas is unjustifiable. So why are we not saying that the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza and the Al-Ahli hospital is not OK? Why are we not dismantling the system of Israeli apartheid and freeing 2 million Palestinians in the open air prison of Gaza and providing equal rights not just to Gaza, but to the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank?
Denial, ignorance, and propaganda allow Israeli apartheid to continue. Denial, ignorance, and propaganda allows us to not look at a map of Palestine in 1948 and a map of Palestine in 2023.
Industrialization and technological innovations have made life easier than ever, as long as we are born in a certain part of the world, the United States. We are free to go about being propaganda-fed debt-ridden wage slaves as long as we don't question the status quo. Unless power transitions away from the U.S. imperialists, we will continue to see the desecration of innocent civilians and the divide of all the citizens of the world.
When we begin to question why in the "richest country on Earth" there are over 500,000
homeless people in America, why American children go hungry, why we have the highest wealth inequality of developed nations, the answer is always capitalism. Capitalism and imperialism must end. Palestine must be free. The apartheid, oppression, and violence must end.
nelson mandela:
- "There can be no surrender! It is a case of freedom or death!"
- "We are in a phase of our struggle where victory is in sight. But we have to ensure that this victory is not snatched from us. We have to ensure that the racist regime feels maximum pressure right till the end and that it understands that it must give way, that the road to peace, freedom, and democracy is irresistible."
- "We in the ANC will always stand with the poor and rightless. Not only do we stand with them. We will ensure sooner rather than later that they rule the land of their birth, that in the words of the Freedom Charter, "the people shall govern."
fidel castro:
- "If there is anything odious and repugnant in this world, where there are so many odious and repugnant things, it is apartheid. Who invented it? Communists, socialists, socialism? No! This invention expresses the essence of capitalism; it was invented by colonialism, neocolonialism, fascism."
- "Apartheid is capitalism and imperialism in its fascist form and involves the idea of superior and inferior races."
- "The real truth is that the West supported apartheid; they supplied it with technology, countless billions in investments, and vast quantities of arms; and they also gave it political support. No, imperialism did not break ties with apartheid, it did not blockade apartheid; imperialism maintained and continues to maintain excellent relations with apartheid."
- "No group of apostles came here to teach us Marxism-Leninism. We learned it here, following universal cur-rents, socialist thought, and the thinking of the great revolutionaries of the last century and the present one. Because the more we know imperialism and its miseries the more socialist we feel, the more communist we feel."
- "Whatever error Communists can be accused of, they cannot be accused of the exploitation of man by man, or of having supported the exploitation of man by man."
- "There is no doubt that all the political leaders are talking about social justice and the redistribution of wealth; that is not lacking. But I asked myself: Where did injustice come from? Where did inequality come from? Where did poverty come from? Where did underdevelopment come from? Where did all these calamities come from, if not from capitalism? Where did colonialism come from, if not from capitalism? Where did neocolonialism and imperialism come from, if not from capitalism? It would seem that the creators of heaven and earth are to be blamed for the existence of poor people and that the social system has nothing to do with it, that capitalism has nothing to do with it. It's incredible! This is the language, this is the mentality, this is the doctrine. To want to resolve these problems through capitalism, in a world that has been divided between extremely rich capitalist countries and the majority of extremely poor countries precisely as a consequence of capitalism, colonialism, neocolonialism, and imperialism—is an incredible illusion. To think that neoliberal formulas are going to promote the miracle of economic development in our countries is an incredible illusion. It's like trying to put out a fire with gasoline."
- "We should not create illusions; we should not raise false hopes. This is a very long and difficult process. But the world does not face a very flourishing situation economically. The United States is suffering from the problems I mentioned and more of them; imperialism should not sing victory songs. Militarily the United States is more powerful than ever, and politically it has enormous influence; but economically it is weaker than ever and has very serious problems."
- "We love our flag a great deal, but if one day it becomes necessary to renounce it in order to form a common nation we will do so. And if one day the world acquires an extraordinary and ideal level of consciousness so that it is able to constitute itself as one great family, we would also be willing to renounce our flag. But we would never do so for the sake of a unipolar world under U.S. imperialist hegemony-this we will never do! We will never renounce a single one of our prerogatives!"
- "Our ideas go beyond chauvinism or narrow nationalism. Our ideas extend beyond all borders. We live in the world that was given to us and we are fighting for a better world. Our minds, our intelligence, and our hearts are prepared for a much better world, for a superior world, for a world such as that desired by Marx and Engels, where men act as brothers to each other rather than preying on each other like wolves. Capitalism is the greatest creator of wolves in human history, and imperialism has not only been the greatest creator of wolves but also the greatest wolf that has ever existed."
September 7, 2014
Speeches by Mandela and Fidel Castro given in Cuba 1991. Emphasis on the battle of Cuito Cuinavale in Angola!
September 17, 2023
Two of the GOATs going shot for shot, bar for bar.
Two inspiring, analytical speeches given at a critical historical juncture for both of these men and their countries. This is late July 1991, as the socialist bloc is in the process of dissolving, although the USSR itself still has about 6 months left to leave. Cuba has entered the special period about a year ago, where they have been unable to expect the same amount of trade from their trading partners and have been forced to ration food and begin to restructure their economy. Mandela was let out of prison a year ago, and the ANC was made legal, with an anticipated restructuring of the constitution on the way, but the ANC is not yet in power. Mandela is facing the prospect of a victory he and his people have worked their whole lives for, while Castro trying to prevent total economic collapse in Cuba and the loss of 30 years of a successful revolution. The solidarity expressed between these two, and the 15 year history of Cuba's support with troops and weaponry to fight the racist South African army in Angola (which Mandela expresses a great deal of gratitude for), is very inspiring.
So nice to read speeches where they start crunching the numbers and bringing actual insight to a political situation, instead of just meaningless platitudes that don't address anything. Very interesting to read the perspective of competing imperialist blocs (US, European economic zone, Japan) at a time when this was really just emerging, with the end of the cold war. Very prescient analysis done from the middle of a hurricane.
Also illuminating to hear of the strategies of alignment with Latin America, which was of course absolutely necessary but came with it certain limitations and restrictions on how Cuba could build socialism, and certain tradeoffs it was forced to make. The references to ensuring that Latin American countries are not just exporting raw materials but actually manufacturing and processing in their own country is also still very relevant, particularly in the context of Venezuela, which despite its wealth of oil reserves was still sending so much of its oil to be refined in the US 30 years later. And this speech is pre-Bolivarian revolution!
The references to popular political language which was starting to play a role at the time (inequality, injustice, wealth redistribution, social justice) and how perhaps they notice the problem, but neglect to name capitalism and imperialism as the cause is even more common today.
Also, obviously very inspiring speeches written by two inspiring men.
Two inspiring, analytical speeches given at a critical historical juncture for both of these men and their countries. This is late July 1991, as the socialist bloc is in the process of dissolving, although the USSR itself still has about 6 months left to leave. Cuba has entered the special period about a year ago, where they have been unable to expect the same amount of trade from their trading partners and have been forced to ration food and begin to restructure their economy. Mandela was let out of prison a year ago, and the ANC was made legal, with an anticipated restructuring of the constitution on the way, but the ANC is not yet in power. Mandela is facing the prospect of a victory he and his people have worked their whole lives for, while Castro trying to prevent total economic collapse in Cuba and the loss of 30 years of a successful revolution. The solidarity expressed between these two, and the 15 year history of Cuba's support with troops and weaponry to fight the racist South African army in Angola (which Mandela expresses a great deal of gratitude for), is very inspiring.
So nice to read speeches where they start crunching the numbers and bringing actual insight to a political situation, instead of just meaningless platitudes that don't address anything. Very interesting to read the perspective of competing imperialist blocs (US, European economic zone, Japan) at a time when this was really just emerging, with the end of the cold war. Very prescient analysis done from the middle of a hurricane.
Also illuminating to hear of the strategies of alignment with Latin America, which was of course absolutely necessary but came with it certain limitations and restrictions on how Cuba could build socialism, and certain tradeoffs it was forced to make. The references to ensuring that Latin American countries are not just exporting raw materials but actually manufacturing and processing in their own country is also still very relevant, particularly in the context of Venezuela, which despite its wealth of oil reserves was still sending so much of its oil to be refined in the US 30 years later. And this speech is pre-Bolivarian revolution!
The references to popular political language which was starting to play a role at the time (inequality, injustice, wealth redistribution, social justice) and how perhaps they notice the problem, but neglect to name capitalism and imperialism as the cause is even more common today.
Also, obviously very inspiring speeches written by two inspiring men.
July 18, 2023
در زادروز نلسون ماندلا بخوانید:
این کتاب حاوی دو سخنرانی از ماندلا و کاسترو است. در روزی که قرار است ملت کوبا با اهدای بالاترین نشان خود به ماندلا از مقاومت سرسختانه او ستایش کند.
ماندلا در سخنرانی کوتاهش از انترناسیونالیسم کوبا که باعث شده آنها نیروهای مبارزشان را چند هزار کیلومتر آن طرف تر به قاره آفریقا بفرستند تا با رژیم اشغالگر آپارتاید در خاک آنگولا بجنگند سپاسگزاری میکند و اذعان میکند این شکست سرنوشت ساز مقدمه شکست رژیم آپارتاید بوده است. اینجا او تازه پس از 27 سال از زندان رژیم آپارتاید آزاد شده!
کاسترو در سخنرانی مفصل و پرشورش بارها به ریشه های مردم ماتانزاس کوبا که عمدتا برده بوده اند اشاره میکند و پس از برشمردن پیشرفت های کوبای سوسیالیستی تکرار میکند "ما بردگان تا به کجا آمده ایم!" وضع کشورهای امریکای لاتین را بیان میکند و میگوید آمارها نشان میدهد کوبا در بهداشت و آموزش و رفاه از خیلی از آنها بهتر است. نباید فراموش کرد این رویداد در سال 1991 برگزار شده که رژیم آپارتاید هنوز کاملا سقوط نکرده بوده ولی شوروی کمونیستی فروپاشیده بوده و موجی از نئولبرالیسم از شیلی تا اندونزی کشورهای جهان (حتی ایران) را درمینوردیده. با توجه به این وضعیت معلوم میشود این دو رهبر چه جراتی داشته اند که در کنار هم بایستند و به نظام سرمایه داری جهانی که از آپارتاید حمایت میکرده دهن کجی کنند.
این کتاب حاوی دو سخنرانی از ماندلا و کاسترو است. در روزی که قرار است ملت کوبا با اهدای بالاترین نشان خود به ماندلا از مقاومت سرسختانه او ستایش کند.
ماندلا در سخنرانی کوتاهش از انترناسیونالیسم کوبا که باعث شده آنها نیروهای مبارزشان را چند هزار کیلومتر آن طرف تر به قاره آفریقا بفرستند تا با رژیم اشغالگر آپارتاید در خاک آنگولا بجنگند سپاسگزاری میکند و اذعان میکند این شکست سرنوشت ساز مقدمه شکست رژیم آپارتاید بوده است. اینجا او تازه پس از 27 سال از زندان رژیم آپارتاید آزاد شده!
کاسترو در سخنرانی مفصل و پرشورش بارها به ریشه های مردم ماتانزاس کوبا که عمدتا برده بوده اند اشاره میکند و پس از برشمردن پیشرفت های کوبای سوسیالیستی تکرار میکند "ما بردگان تا به کجا آمده ایم!" وضع کشورهای امریکای لاتین را بیان میکند و میگوید آمارها نشان میدهد کوبا در بهداشت و آموزش و رفاه از خیلی از آنها بهتر است. نباید فراموش کرد این رویداد در سال 1991 برگزار شده که رژیم آپارتاید هنوز کاملا سقوط نکرده بوده ولی شوروی کمونیستی فروپاشیده بوده و موجی از نئولبرالیسم از شیلی تا اندونزی کشورهای جهان (حتی ایران) را درمینوردیده. با توجه به این وضعیت معلوم میشود این دو رهبر چه جراتی داشته اند که در کنار هم بایستند و به نظام سرمایه داری جهانی که از آپارتاید حمایت میکرده دهن کجی کنند.
October 18, 2023
4 Stars.
Two small speeches, from Mandela and Castro. The small contextual information either side was quite interesting, around Cuba's intervention in Angola against the Pretorian South African army in 1975.
Both speeches were very interesting and compelling, with moving histories of personal and national struggle. Ultimately I found Castro's to be more rousing/ moving and whilst both were politically motivated, Castro's turned into a general oratory on the strengths of socialism.
"We will never renounce a single one of our prerogatives! ...
the blood of South Africans is our blood! Humanity's blood is our blood! ...
We who come from way back, who were conquered, who were exploited, and who were enslaved throughout history, what marvelous ideas we can defend today; what just ideas we can uphold! And we can think in Latin American and even world terms!
How far we slaves have come!"
Two small speeches, from Mandela and Castro. The small contextual information either side was quite interesting, around Cuba's intervention in Angola against the Pretorian South African army in 1975.
Both speeches were very interesting and compelling, with moving histories of personal and national struggle. Ultimately I found Castro's to be more rousing/ moving and whilst both were politically motivated, Castro's turned into a general oratory on the strengths of socialism.
"We will never renounce a single one of our prerogatives! ...
the blood of South Africans is our blood! Humanity's blood is our blood! ...
We who come from way back, who were conquered, who were exploited, and who were enslaved throughout history, what marvelous ideas we can defend today; what just ideas we can uphold! And we can think in Latin American and even world terms!
How far we slaves have come!"
December 22, 2025
I have to finally admit I'm not gonna finish this book. It's pretty interesting and I think Nelson Mandela is a little more eloquent than Castro. It's very interesting to hear Mandela express his (well reasoned) gratitude to Cuba for their sacrifices in blood to end Apartheid. It's important to history that we all know that while the West debated over wether or not to sanction South Africa, Cuba actually sent 15,000 soldiers to go to war against Apartheid South Africa in Angola. It's important history but you don't have to read this book to know. Interesting but not interesting enough for me to finish, unfortunately.
September 7, 2020
Always interesting to revisit this perspective on human rights and the parallels in South Africa and Cuba.
June 28, 2025
This came out in 1991, before Mandela was elected president, and it's still a big seller for Pathfinder Press today. On July 26th, 1991, Nelson Mandela, then president of the African National Congress, and Fidel Castro, then president of Cuba, then spoke together for the first, but not the last time. This book contains the full speeches of both of them.
In part, Mandela said: "The decisive defeat of the aggressive apartheid forces destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the white oppressor. The defeat of the apartheid army served as an inspiration to the struggling people of South Africa. Without the defeat [of the South African Army in Angola] of Cuito Cuanavale our organizations would not have been legalized. The defeat of the racist army in Cuito Cuanavale made it possible for me to be here with you today. Cuito Cuanavale marks the divide in the struggle for the liberation of southern Africa. Cuito Cuanavale marks an important step in the
struggle to free the continent and our country of the scourge of apartheid."
In part, Mandela said: "The decisive defeat of the aggressive apartheid forces destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the white oppressor. The defeat of the apartheid army served as an inspiration to the struggling people of South Africa. Without the defeat [of the South African Army in Angola] of Cuito Cuanavale our organizations would not have been legalized. The defeat of the racist army in Cuito Cuanavale made it possible for me to be here with you today. Cuito Cuanavale marks the divide in the struggle for the liberation of southern Africa. Cuito Cuanavale marks an important step in the
struggle to free the continent and our country of the scourge of apartheid."
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January 8, 2014 “The speeches are both tributes to the Cuban people for their internationalist aid to the anti-apartheid struggle and to the vanguard role of the African National Congress and, at the distance of almost two decades, Mandela’s speech has shown great staying power.” [Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland, OR] — Book News
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