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: : In addition, Cuba sent troops to Namibia to defend the democratically elected Marxist government there which was under attack by its neighbor South Africa. As a result, it was Cuba which negotiated terms of peace in Namibia after inflicting a series of defeats on the South African army. This in turn increased pressures on the De Klerk government and contributed to the fall of apartheid. Nelson Mandela at an ANC conference last Fall greeted Castro as "My good friend." : Don: The Cubans defeat the South African army!?
I've always said if you live long enough, you'll live to see it all. A pro-UNITA article on Angola and Namibia. Congrats! You get the coveted 'Needle in a Haystack' award.
As far as a chronology of events for Angolan independence, the MPLA, Namibia and the South African Army... Independence in Angola was proclaimed in Nov. 1975, touching off a civil war among rival nationalist groups. By early 1976 the Marxist-Leninist Popular Liberation Movement of Angola (MPLA), supported by the USSR and aided by Cuban troops, was the elected government and controlled much of the country. However, the civil war with the then US-supported UNITA and that @ hole Jonas Savimbi (may he rot in hell) continued. From 1979 to 1988 Angola was the object of military raids by South African troops in Namibia, ostensibly striking at the bases of guerrillas seeking Namibian independence. In 1988 Cuba, South Africa, and Angola agreed to the removal of Cuban and South African troops from Angola. The South Africans left in 1988, and the Cuban withdrawal was completed in 1991.
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but generally speaking the last one to go is considered the winner, yes? I even waded through your referenced article which begrudgingly gives credit to the Cuban Expeditionary Force for attacking and inflicting damage on South African units operating in Namibia. Perhaps you are taking issue with the phrase 'inflicting a series of defeats' prefering to regard these as 'setbacks' or 'tactical withdrawals' ...I'll leave you to parse out the semantics.
What's crystal clear is that the Cuban presence was instrumental in brokering a peace in the region and the military misadventures of the SA army in Namibia and Angola led to increased pressures at home on the De Klerk government.
"And the Soviet Union, along with Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic, and Cuba, provided vital assistance to national liberation movements in countries around the world, including Nelson Mandela's African National Congress in South Africa."
--Michael Parenti
Is this not a good thing? --K
