The Militant - July 15, 2013 -- ‘Cuba and Africa’ in Greek presented at Athens meeting

Vol. 77/No. 27 July 15, 2013

‘Cuba and Africa’ in Greek
presented at Athens meeting

BY GEORGES MEHRABIAN
ATHENS, Greece — About 35 people participated in a panel discussing two books on Cuba’s contribution to the anti-colonial struggle in Africa. One is Cuba and Angola: Fighting for Africa’s Freedom and Our Own, published by Pathfinder Press in English and Spanish, which includes speeches and interviews by Fidel Castro, Raúl Castro, Nelson Mandela and the Cuban Five. The other is Cuba and Africa, a recently released book in Greek by Diethnes Vima that contains selections by Castro and Mandela published in Cuba and Angola.

The meeting, held at the Greek Cuban Friendship Association headquarters, was hosted by the Ghanaian Community in Greece and Diethnes Vima.

“The history of Cuba’s contribution to liberation in Africa began in 1963 with the Algerian people’s struggle against French colonialism, continues with Che’s participation in the fight in the Congo and culminates with hundreds of thousands of Cuban volunteer combatants in Angola to help beat back the attempt by white-supremacist South Africa to conquer the newly independent country,” said Nikos Karandreas, president of the Greek Cuban Friendship Association.

“Cuba’s selfless solidarity is unprecedented in the history of Africa, where another people would rise to our defense, would place all its resources in the fight with no material gain for themselves,” said Samsideen Iddrisu, of the Ghanaian Community, who chaired the event.

“Three of those Cuban volunteers who fought for our freedom in Angola are today in U.S. jails,” said Iddrisu. “I urge everyone to join in the fight to free the Cuban Five.” (See “Who are the Cuban Five?” on page 7.)

“As Fidel said in this book, if you can’t fight for the freedom of others you can’t fight for your own. We are discussing here an historic example of working-class solidarity beyond borders,” said Natasha Terlexi, representing Diethnes Vima. “The Cuban Revolution shows that there is an alternative as working people face the consequences of the worldwide capitalist crisis.”

Vaggelis Gonatas, Cuba de Corazon blogger, talked about the experience of being part of international volunteer brigades in Cuba. “You start to discover that Cuban society has in fact created a different type of person,” he said.

“This was an act of tremendous heroism for our people,” said Osvaldo Jesús Cobacho Martínez, Cuban Ambassador to Greece. “Cuba, only 90 miles from the U.S., was itself under constant threat from Washington. Yet we did not flinch in sending decisive aid to Angola.”

Eight copies of Cuba and Africa and four copies of Cuba and Angola were sold in the process of building and holding the event.

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