Battle of Cuito Cuanavale marked a turning point
THIRTY-SIX years ago, Cuito Cuanavale, a small town in the province of Cuando Cubango, 825km south-east of Luanda, Angola, was the centre of the largest military confrontation in Africa since World War II.
To understand this, context is necessary. In 1987, during the Angolan Civil War, the SADF had control over the southernmost parts of south-western Angola and intervened in the south-east. By early November, they had cornered the best Angolan units in Cuito Cuanavale and were preparing to crush them.
Meanwhile, a breathtaking offensive was being launched towards the Namibian border, where joint forces from Angola, Swapo, MK and Cuba were involved. The troops went south of Angola to attack from the southwest and, simultaneously, in the southeast, selected Cuban units advanced towards Cuito Cuanavale, where they prepared a deadly trap for the racist South African army.
After months of joint resistance, in intense combat, the Cuban-Angolan forces could repel the advances of the South Africans, who launched their last major assault against Cuito on March 23, 1988, but it was abruptly and definitively stopped. That day, the racist army bit the dust of defeat in the face of the resistance of the revolutionary forces, backing down.
The strategy of this military action was described by Commander Fidel Castro when he said: “Cuba would stop the South African onslaught in Cuito and then attack in another direction, like the boxer who keeps the opponent with the left hand and hits him with the right”. Because the main goal was not only to defend Cuito Cuanavale, but to expel the SADF once and for all from Angola.
After failing to take Cuito, the SADF withdrew from Angola and the apartheid regime was forced to sit at the negotiating table. As a result, the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola achieved victory; the ANC along with its main ally, the SACP, was unbanned in South Africa; Mandela was released from prison and Namibia regained its independence.
The victory in Cuito led to a new and definitive shift in the negotiations to seek peace in southern Africa. The important peace agreement was born and developed on the battlefield, where Angolan, Namibian, South African and Cuban fighters mixed their sweat and blood.
Cuito Cuanavale marked the turning point in the struggle to free the continent and a milestone in the fight against the apartheid regime. It also proved how much can be achieved through international solidarity.
More than 300 000 Cubans assisted one way or another in the struggle for independence in the region. But that was only a way of paying our own debt to humanity, to those thousands of African men that arrived in Cuba because of the slave trade and fought for our freedom. They marked our history forever and we are very proud of having given back just a little of what they did for our people.
The remote and disremembered town of Cuito Cuanavale managed to become a symbol of resistance and courage, not only because of the victory achieved there, but also for the iron will of those who gave everything facing an imperialist power and standing up to defend freedom, convinced that their sacrifice was not in vain.
Cuito is a reminder of how hard it was to conquer freedom and independence, how much blood was spilled, how united we had to be. Therefore, we must not forget Cuito because it reminds us how much we must defend that freedom, how much we must defend the unity and brotherhood between our countries and people, and how much we must resist the imperialist powers that try to rule us.
This past Saturday, we commemorated the victory in the battle of Cuito Cuanavale at Freedom Park.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi attended on behalf of the ANC and Thulas Nxesi, deputy national chairperson of the SACP, represented the party. They highlighted the brotherhood between our people and condemned the blockade of the US against Cuba. More than 400 people attended this commemoration, where the spirit of solidarity and unity prevailed.