DIPLOMACY

Cuba and South Africa: two countries united by history

By Enrique Orta González - Ambassador of Cuba to South Africa

11 May 2023

Twenty-nine years ago, on 11 May 1994, diplomatic relations were established between Cuba and South Africa. This was during Fidel Castro's visit to Pretoria to attend the inauguration of anti-apartheid and African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela. The formalisation of bilateral relations with Cuba was considered one of the first foreign policy acts of the democratic South African government, and Cuba was the first country to receive diplomatic recognition from the ANC government led by Nelson Mandela.

However, our strong and unbreakable friendship goes beyond establishing diplomatic relations. Our ties go back to the 60s, when the first anti-apartheid fighters went to Cuba to study, receive medical care and military training. Our relations were even more strengthened during the struggles against the apartheid regime, when both countries shared blood and sweat on the battlefield, fighting together for racial equality, freedom and justice.

One of the elements that have most marked our relations with South Africa has been the close friendship between Fidel and Mandela, which was sealed in the common struggle and which remained unshakable because the admiration between the two leaders was always mutual. As Fidel wrote in one of his reflections dedicated to Mandela, to Madiba, as he is widely known:

“Old and respected friend, how happy I am to see you converted and recognised by all the world's political institutions as a symbol of freedom, justice and human dignity.”

The formal establishment of relations between the two sister nations gave a new impetus to our bilateral cooperation. We have cooperated in the fields of housing, science and technology, agriculture, infrastructure development, human settlements, information and communication technologies, culture and we are proud to continue cooperating up until today in education, water and sanitation, public works and health.

Over the last year, our collaborators have participated in different projects and contributed to the development of the South African communities. Our engineers have conducted technical assessments in hospitals, houses, schools, museums, proposing solutions and transferring skills to South African personnel; our hydraulic technicians have worked in the maintenance and operation of large pumping stations and the supervision of construction sites as part of the management process in the rational and productive use of water in South Africa; our teachers have developed materials to train South African teachers and easier methods for teaching Mathematics and Science.

Throughout these 29 years, more than 600 Cuban doctors have treated millions of South African people, especially in the rural areas. Actually, our international cooperation in health is about to turn 60 years next May 23, with more than 600,000 internationalist missions in 164 nations, in which more than 400,000 health workers have participated, spreading the seed of international solidarity to those who need it the most and South Africa has been one of the major milestones in our international medical cooperation.

Cuba has also trained more than 2500 South African students, who have graduated from different specialties, most of them through the Nelson Mandela-Fidel Castro Intergovernmental scholarship program, which specializes in medicine.

The excellent level of our relations has been confirmed over the last few years. Despite the difficult scenario created by the COVID19 pandemic, there have been several exchanges of visits between the two countries, with the aim of increasing bilateral collaboration. Significant progress has also been made in negotiating and signing new cooperation agreements.

Cuba will always appreciate the firm position of solidarity that the people and government of South Africa have maintained in support of the struggle against the criminal economic, commercial and financial blockade that the government of the United States has imposed on our country for more than 60 years. Following Nelson Mandela´s words: “The sanctions that punish Cubans for having chosen self-determination are contrary to the world order we want to establish”, South Africa has always stood by the side of Cuba in this, our hardest fight.

Everything we have achieved in these 29 years of bilateral relations has been possible because of the will of both States to keep working together, strengthening our ties, in a context of a broad and multifaceted cooperation of mutual benefit that, without a doubt, still has huge potential to incorporate new forms of interaction, as is the case of the strengthening of commercial and investment relations.

As we celebrate the 29th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and South Africa, we cannot forget the upcoming Africa Day on May 25, and that as “the Cuban people have a special place in the hearts of the peoples of Africa” (Nelson Mandela), Africa is part of the very essence of our nation and we Cubans feel extremely proud of our African roots.

Cuba and South Africa are two countries geographically separated but united by history, common struggle, brotherhood, solidarity and the will to continue to be the nightmare of those who try to steal our dreams.