Vol. 72/No. 50      December 22, 2008

Omari Musa, a leader of the Socialist Workers Party here, was invited as a guest speaker by Prof. Edmund Abaka, who teaches the class on “Africa Since 1800.”

“In April 1974 a tremendous upsurge of workers and farmers and revolt against the government occurred in Portugal,” explained Musa. “The liberation forces pressed their struggle for independence and the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) took power. In November 1975 the South African government invaded Angola to keep it weak and subject the country to its political pressure.

“From 1975 to 1991 Cuba sent over 375,000 volunteers to Angola to fight against the invasion by the South African apartheid forces. These volunteers were essential to the maintenance of Angola’s independence.” South Africa’s defeat in Angola led to the independence of Namibia, a former colony of the apartheid regime.

“Cuba serves as an example to fighters not just in Africa and Latin America but right here in the United States,” Musa said.

One student said Che Guevara was more interested in national liberation, and Fidel Castro in the anticapitalist fight. “Can you contrast the two?” he asked during the discussion.

“There is no political difference between Fidel and Che,” Musa responded. “The First and Second Declarations of Havana explained the character of the Cuban Revolution in the early 1960s. Both Che and Fidel wanted socialist revolution all over the world. Both wanted workers in the country and city to exercise power in the political and economic arena.”

“When I think of Angola I think of diamonds. Were the Cubans really volunteers? Were there any economic incentives?” asked another student.

“As Nelson Mandela explained, Cuba was the only country to come to Africa and not steal its resources,” Musa replied. “They only took the bodies of their dead.” Musa described his recent trip to Equatorial Guinea in Central Africa where 160 Cuban doctors helped set up a medical school as well as a national public health system, the first that country has known.

“I’m working on a project to interview veterans of Cuba’s participation in Africa. So far those that I’ve talked to have confirmed these findings,” said Abaka. He recommended books on Cuba’s role in Africa published by Pathfinder Press such as Our History Is Still Being Written: The Story of Three Chinese-Cuban Generals in the Cuban Revolution and How Far We Slaves Have Come by Castro and Mandela.
 
 
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