A true champion
FIDEL Castro Ruz, the internationally loved and respected champion of the oppressed, and commander-in-chief of the Cuban revolution left the world stage on Friday evening, glorious, absolved and defiant to the very end.
His passing has released an outpouring of grief and sadness worldwide, but more specifically to the people of Cuba, the isle in the Caribbean that has been a shining example of progress, decency and the finest attributes of the global human family.
We concur with freedom fighter and human rights advocate Father Michael Lapsley who stated after Fidel’s passing that “a political and moral giant has fallen”.
He was an iconic figure, a man of the people and a humble dedicated servant who was the embodiment of the true revolutionary.
He was not motivated by personal interest, but a deep and abiding love for the people – all the people.
It was Fidel Castro and other inspiring revolutionaries that liberated Cuba from the clutches of a corrupt, US supported puppet regime in 1959, when they marched victorious in Havana on New Year’s Eve and sent the the super-power 145km across the water a message that people’s power had triumphed.
Fidel and his compatriots sent shock waves through the powerful American military industrial complex, when Cuba’s sovereignty was restored with the nationalisation of Cuban assets.
IT IS these resources that revolutionary Cuba used to wipe out illiteracy, eliminate hunger and restore dignity to the masses who rose to the occasion, never wavering in defence of the revolution and its gains.
For this, Cuba paid a heavy price, a punishing cultural and trade embargo, military attacks on the island, and hundreds of attempts on the life of their fearless comandante, Fidel.
Dedicated sons and daughters of Cuba willingly volunteered to stand up for the oppressed worldwide, to use their exceptional skills for the development of humanity and to lay their lives on the line to defend the oppressed against tyrants.
We in South Africa owe Cuba and Comandante Fidel an eternal debt, for defending Angola’s independence and for devastating the apartheid army at the battle of Cuito Cuanavale. This battle was the turning point to Namibia achieving independence and democracy.
The Cubans learned such dedicated service and sacrifice from their beloved leader who embodied true courage, integrity and grace under fire.
The world is now left bereft as the knowledge dawns that a true champion of the oppressed has left us.