Cuba, SA bound forever by ties of brotherhood
A FEW hours after being inaugurated as the first democratically elected president of South Africa, anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela would perform one of his first foreign policy acts: the establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba, a tiny island in the Caribbean Sea, linked to Africa by deep historical and cultural ties.
It was May 11, 1994 and Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, was visiting South Africa to see his dear friend make history. Precisely, the friendship between both leaders is one of the key aspects that has marked our bilateral relations during the last 30 years. Sealed in the common Struggle, their brotherhood was not accidental, but an inevitable consequence of their stature as fighters for a better world.
Even though bilateral ties were formalised in 1994, friendship and admiration between the Cuban and South African peoples had existed long before that. Mandela reflected about it in his autobiography, ‘The Long Walk to Freedom’, when he explained that while in prison, he found inspiration in Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and the Cuban Revolution.
The government of Cuba maintained historic relations with the South African liberation movement since the first years of the Struggle against apartheid. From the 1960s, young South Africans started to arrive in our country to receive medical care or professional training in medicine and science. They were the first group of many who in the following decades, were trained in Cuba.
Our relations were even more strengthened during the final stages of the Struggle for liberation in the continent, when people of both countries fought side by side and shared their blood on the battlefield, to conquer freedom, to achieve racial equality, independence and justice.
After the establishment of diplomatic ties, the governments of both nations showed a marked interest in the development of bilateral relations in different fields. The first signed agreement was on co-operation in the sectors of Public Health and Medical Sciences, endorsed by our two leaders, Fidel and Mandela.
From 1997 to the present, thousands of Cuban doctors have provided assistance to the South African people, especially in the rural areas and more than 3 000 young South Africans have been trained in our country, especially in medicine, mining and engineering.
Health co-operation has always been the flagship of our partnership. However, throughout 30 years of relations, our bilateral ties have expanded, covering many other fields like arts and culture, human settlements, housing, water resources, basic education, public works and agriculture.
Recent years have confirmed the excellent level of our relationship. There have been several exchanges of visits between the two countries.
Cuba and South Africa also maintain fruitful collaboration at the multilateral level, through mechanisms such as the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77 and China and the United Nations.
We will always appreciate the strong and historic position of our South African brothers and sisters in support of Cuba against the economic, commercial and financial blockade by the US government.
As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries, we remember what Fidel said while in South Africa in 1998: “Without Africa, without its sons and daughters, without its culture and customs, without its languages and its gods, Cuba would not be what it is today, because Africa is in our identity, our rhythms, traditions, music, in our way of being for everything, even in the way we walk. Africa is part of the very essence of Cuba, and we feel extremely proud of our African roots.
“The footprints of people who have walked together can never be erased”. Our relations, cemented with blood on the battlefield against apartheid, continue to expand today, 30 years later, in the most diverse spheres, as a well-deserved tribute to Mandela and Castro, tireless fighters for social justice, peace and equity in a better world, which we know can be possible.