One of the two contingents was led by Ernesto Che Guevara in the Republic of the Congo, with its capital city in Leopoldville, later named Kinshasa. That mission is detailed in Guevara’s Episodes of the Revolutionary War: Congo and in From the Escambray to the Congo: In the Whirlwind of the Cuban Revolution, consisting of an interview with Víctor Dreke, the column’s second-in-command. The other contingent was led by Jorge Risquet and Rolando Kindelán, based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with its capital in Brazzaville.

“The experience we gained,” says Dreke in From the Escambray to the Congo, “made it possible for us to do what we did to aid the liberation struggles in Guinea-Bissau, Angola, and other places.”

The 13-year Angolan operation, in which more than 300,000 Cuban volunteers participated in helping to defeat several South African invasions of that country, culminated in the decisive defeat of the apartheid army in the battle of Cuito Cuanavale in 1988. That defeat not only drove the apartheid army out of Angola, but played a major role in forcing the apartheid regime to grant independence to Namibia and opened the door to the final defeat of apartheid itself inside South Africa.

As Nelson Mandela stated in 1991, “The defeat of the apartheid army was an inspiration to the struggling people inside South Africa! Without the defeat of Cuito Cuanavale our organizations would not have been unbanned!… Cuito Cuanavale has been a turning point in the struggle to free the continent and our country from the scourge of apartheid!”

Translation and subheads are by the Militant.

BY RAÚL CASTRO  
As we come to the 20th anniversary of the formation of the columns of Cuban internationalist fighters that carried out missions in the Congo-Leopoldville and Congo-Brazzaville—known today as the Republic of Zaire and the People's Republic of the Congo respectively—it is my honor, on behalf of the party leadership, the Council of State, and Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, to award the Ernesto Che Guevara Order and the Internationalist Combatant Medal to the members of those detachments. These compañeros had the historical privilege of being the precursors of the joint struggle of the people of Cuba and the peoples of Black Africa against colonial and neocolonial oppression, for national independence, and for the triumph and consolidation of socialism.

Sending these contingents was an expression of the great strategic importance our party and commander in chief have placed ever since in the African revolutionary movements’ struggle against imperialism and of our identification with their just cause.

The historical dimension of that expression of solidarity by our people is greatly enlarged by the fact that one of those columns was commanded by the individual who has become a universal symbol of the purest and most legitimate sentiments of internationalism: the Heroic Guerrilla, Ernesto Che Guevara.

During an extensive tour of many African countries and through direct contact with the most outstanding progressive and revolutionary figures on the continent, Che observed with his exceptional grasp the ferment of emancipation brewing in most of the newly independent countries and even more so in those countries still under the colonial boot.

Che conceived the idea of supporting this revolutionary upsurge on the African continent. For this endeavor he chose Zaire, an enormous and rich country whose people had broken the chains of Belgian colonialism but which, under the leadership of Lumumba, would not be quietly neocolonized. The former colonialists and their NATO partners decided to assassinate the famous patriot by using puppets of the ilk of Tshombe, Mobutu, and Kasavubu, as well as white mercenaries. The Lumumbist patriots took the road of armed resistance, but they lacked experience, unity, and a developed consciousness. Che thought they needed the help they were requesting, to be supplied by a handful of seasoned Cuban revolutionary combatants.

Also in early 1965 Che met in Brazzaville with the leadership of the MPLA [Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola], headed by Agostinho Neto. Out of that historic meeting came another commitment requested by the Angolan patriots: to help that guerrilla movement in its fight against Portuguese colonialism.

The leadership of our party approved both expressions of solidarity to the brother peoples of Angola and Zaire.

But that historic decision by Che to depart for other parts of the world that were calling for his valuable efforts of assistance would nevertheless have a deeper motive rooted in time and distance, involving the destinies of the African continent and our America.  
 
The colonial plunder of Africa
The colonial plunder of Africa had begun even before the first Europeans arrived in the Americas. Long before the native inhabitants of the Antilles were exterminated by the fire and lash of the conquistadors, Portuguese and Spaniards had already introduced the notorious slave trade, appropriating not only marble, rubber, and other natural resources, but above all the richest resource of all, the African himself.

In barely three centuries, more than 50 million Africans were uprooted from their lands to be sent to the Americas, reduced to the status of slaves, with many dying in the capture or passage. More than five centuries of plunder by the European powers, joined by the United States this past century, have witnessed the building of opulent capitalist societies, developed and erected largely on the suffering, poverty, hunger, and death of the peoples of Africa.

What could be more eloquent, as an illustration of the colonizers’ absolute scorn for the personality and future of these peoples, than the repugnant Berlin Conference of 1885, exactly one century ago this year, where representatives of the leading capitalist powers, with a sharp sense of geometry but without the slightest respect for human dignity and rights, distributed the entire continent among themselves, dividing up as they pleased nations, peoples, ethnic groups, and families.

This process of colonization and plunder, which bled the African continent dry and snatched away millions of its sons and daughters, was not without a fierce, tenacious, and heroic resistance that laid the basis for the rich patriotic and combative traditions of the African peoples. These traditions enriched our own history of struggle when those very men whose ancestors had been uprooted from their lands took up machetes, joined the mambí army to fight for Cuba's freedom, and helped forge the Cuban nation.*

Toward the middle of this century, the exploitation of the African continent came under a new guise. The end of World War I signified the transfer of African colonial possessions from the vanquished to the victors, like luscious spoils of war.

Following the Second World War, however, the situation became qualitatively different: the emergence of the socialist community as a result of the glorious Red Army’s decisive victory over German fascism, as well as the collapse of Japanese militarism, created an international relationship of forces favorable to struggles for national independence and social progress. This situation was expressed historically by the triumph of the revolutions in China, Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, and Algeria, and was manifested in the breakup of the colonial system, with the vast majority of countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean obtaining formal independence.  
 
Context of ferment in Africa
It was precisely in this context of political ferment and the African peoples' active projection onto the world stage that Che Guevara saw the need to lend his solidarity to prevent Zaire’s recolonization and contribute to the armed struggle of the peoples of the Portuguese colonies. For him this was a starting point for the great final battle: the liberation of the South African people from the ignominious boot of apartheid and the independence of Namibia, occupied by the white racists of Pretoria.

Each of us still remembers the emotion of those defining moments of our internationalist calling, when a battle-tested contingent of Cuban combatants was first preparing to leave for Black Africa to fulfill not only a duty of solidarity but a historical imperative of gratitude toward one of the continents from which our ancestors came. Just as three decades earlier Cubans fought for the freedom of Spain, also a cradle of our forefathers.

That conviction prevailed throughout the arduous training period. Not only did this training provide each of you with the military training necessary to carry out fully such an honorable assignment. It also forged a deep sense of brotherhood and collectivity, which was deepened in the difficult subsistence conditions of the mission and in the rigors of battle, and was further developed through all these years of dedication to the tasks of building socialism.

Faithful to the confidence placed in them by the party and by Fidel, in the course of a mere few months both columns waged, in their respective areas, intense combat actions characterized by the commitment and discipline of their members.

The column that went to the Congo under the name Patrice Lumumba Battalion had a number of missions. It was, first of all, a reserve force for Che’s column, and was to join them if necessary and at the appropriate time.

It also had the task of helping the progressive government of the Congo, threatened with attack by the regime in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa). For this task the battalion was not only ready to fight alongside the Congolese army against a foreign attack from the other side of the Congo River, but its assignment included forming several militia battalions.

No less important was the mission of participating with a group of Angolan adviser-combatants in the MPLA’s Second Front in Cabinda, training Angolan combatants, equipping them, and helping them head toward the interior of Angola, toward the First Front north of Luanda.

Compañeros [Jorge] Risquet and [Rolando] Kindelán were in charge of this many-sided mission.

The heroic actions by Che’s Column 1 continued for a number of months. They overcame dangerous obstacles to get to the interior of Zaire, where they took part in many clashes in which they were outnumbered.

The service record of Che’s column counts more than 50 combat actions. Using the pseudonym “Tatu,” Che carried these out with the mastery of tactics and strategy that made him a true artist of guerrilla warfare.

But it was not possible to unite and consolidate the Lumumbist forces. There came a time when the internationalist column fought alone, in an unknown land. Faced with these adverse circumstances, the column was forced to leave the country. It was not defeated in battle by the enemy, but the objective of its mission became impossible to accomplish given the absence of a structured patriotic movement with which to collaborate.

The Patrice Lumumba Battalion had more favorable conditions. Its support to the progressive Congolese government against foreign threats was firm, and at a certain point decisive.

The Congolese youth militia battalions were organized, trained, and armed, strengthening popular support for the democratic regime. This consolidated the MPLA’s rear guard, enabling it to increase guerrilla actions in the Second Front in Cabinda. Two columns, trained and equipped by Cubans, marched toward the First Front, toward the far-off region of Luanda. One of these columns bore the glorious title, Camilo Cienfuegos Squadron.

This history of internationalist collaboration with the peoples of the Congo and Angola formed a solid base for a new and greater Cuban solidarity act toward the peoples of southern Africa in their fight for liberation.

Thus, in the difficult opening moments of the second Angolan war of liberation, Brazzaville served as a secure rear area for some of our troops, whose brotherhood-in-arms with the MPLA—which began precisely in 1965—has become a factor of considerable importance in preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the People’s Republic of Angola.

Stated more clearly, the history of the last 20 years has demonstrated the validity of that mission. It became one of the models for our internationalist calling—which we will never give up—and was a contribution in helping to clear the road of struggle for the peoples of Africa. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba have made their own resolute contribution to this struggle.

In the next few days we will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Angola's independence and the victory over the mercenary bands and invaders from Zaire and South Africa, who tried, without success, to forestall the triumph of the FAPLA and the MPLA. Since that time, we have contributed all we could to strengthening the Popular Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola to the process of national reconstruction in that sister country. Since its liberation, Angola has enjoyed not one single day of peace due to the attacks from the racist regime of South Africa and the armed bands organized, armed, and financed by them and their allies, the U.S. imperialists.

More than 200,000 Cubans have served on internationalist missions in the sister nation of Angola over the past 10 years. That fact alone tells us a lot, not only about the historical significance of the mission entrusted to you 20 years ago, but also about how much the relationship of forces on a world scale has evolved in favor of the causes of liberation and social progress, and how much our internationalist consciousness has matured.

Twenty years ago more than 300 men made up the two columns we are honoring. The highest praise we can pay to that campaign, which was a precursor, is to say that every one of you has been multiplied a thousandfold in your pledge to pay back with one’s very life, if necessary, our debt of gratitude to humanity.

There are still two colonies in Africa: the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic and Namibia. The Saharan people are carrying on, under the most difficult conditions, an exemplary struggle against the Moroccan occupation supported by the U.S. government. We are completely confident in the victory of their just cause.  
 
Anti-apartheid struggle
In Namibia, illegally occupied by the South African racists, the people's rebellion is growing under the leadership of its sole and legitimate representative, SWAPO [Southwest African People’s Organization]. Today, Namibian territory is used by Pretoria as a jumping-off point in its war against Angola. The day is not far off when Namibia’s heroic and long-suffering people, arms in hand, will settle accounts with their oppressors. The battle will be long and hard, closely tied historically to the selfless struggle of the popular masses of South Africa, above all, the Black people led by the ANC [African National Congress].

But the possibility of putting an end to the shameful apartheid regime has never been more certain. Its elimination would definitively guarantee the independence of Namibia, the security of the Front Line states, and peace and progress for southern Africa. Our internationalist contingent in Angola is part of this process through the sovereign will of our two sovereign governments. This is a role that has fallen to Cuba because of what our internationalist support will continue to mean, in the next years, for the consolidation and strengthening of the People's Republic of Angola, bastion of the revolutionary cause in Africa's southern cone.

Compañeros:

Several members of Che’s column died gloriously like Che himself did in Bolivia, giving his life as did his compañeros who left their heroic bones in Zairian soil. One, of Haitian origin, died later at the hands of the thugs of the tyranny that has soaked Haiti in blood. Combatants from one or another column died fighting alongside the people of Guinea-Bissau against the Portuguese yoke, alongside the Angolan people confronting the South African invasion, and alongside the Ethiopian people fighting Somali expansionism. More than 30 compañeros from your columns selflessly gave their lives fighting in Africa and the Americas.

In their memory, we lower our flags in admiration and respect.

And before all of you, we offer the tribute of our people and our party, not only for your participation 20 years ago in the missions to Zaire and the Congo, but also for the exemplary stance with which you have honored that great action. This stance finds expression in the more than 120 of you who have carried out at least one other internationalist mission. Dozens of you have carried out three, four, even five in the course of these 20 years.

Right now 10 compañeros are not here at this event because they are far away from our homeland, keeping aloft the beautiful banner of proletarian internationalism. And there is another fact no less eloquent: more than 90 percent of the members of both columns are militants of our glorious party and the rest are also revolutionaries, patriots, and internationalists.

The example all of you have set constantly renews our certainty in the justice of our ideas and our confidence in the capacity of human beings to grow in the face of adversity, and to give the best of themselves for the sake of their people and humanity.

Allow me then, on behalf of the party leadership and Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and to give you a fraternal embrace.

* Mambí refers to fighters in Cuba’s wars of independence from Spain, many of them freed slaves or agricultural workers. These wars took place during 1868-78 and 1895-98. The term “mambí” originated in the 1840s during the fight for independence from Spain in the nearby island of Santo Domingo. After a Black Spanish officer named Juan Ethninius Mamby joined the Dominican independence fighters, Spanish forces began referring to the guerrillas by the derogatory term “mambies.” Later the related term “mambises” was applied to the freedom fighters in Cuba, who adopted it as a badge of honor.  
 
 
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