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How Far We Slaves Have Come!: South Africa and Cuba in Today's World

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FROM THE BACK COVER:

On July 26, 1991, Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro spoke together at a rally of tens of thousands in Matanzas, Cuba. This book contains their speeches at that historic event. "There can be no greater cause in our era," Castro says, "than the one headed by the ANC." In Mandela's words, the role of Cuban internationalist volunteers in defeating South Africa's invasion of Angola was an "unparalleled contribution to African independence, freedom, and justice."

The struggles being waged by the people of South Africa and Cuba are today the most important examples for those everywhere seeking to rid the earth of racism and exploitation. Mandela and Castro explain why.

"We will ensure that sooner rather than later the poor and rightless will rule the land of their birth." (Nelson Mandela) "Where did injustice and inequality come from? Where did poverty and underdevelopment com from? Where did all these calamities come from if not from capitalism?" (Fidel Castro)

What facts untold and blind to the American population is that Nelson Mandela needed not to turn to the United States for aid in the battle for the spread of white supremacy because the leaders of the United States had already taken a side in this battle.
The side of inhumanity.

What is often not known is the truth in whom supported South Africa and funded South Africa in its spread of Apartheid, The United States of America. Knowingly, under the Presidency/Administration of Ronald Reagan.

There is a reason as to why Fidel Castro opposes Capitalism and United States methods:

1.Capitalism is a system unfit for humanity and is impossible to succeed globally as many people blindly and ignorantly believe. If this was truth, then why do we witness United States presence in so many countries world-wide, yet their economy and way of life has yet to improve under United States authority and rule? It is up to you to stand on the side of human beings, analyze communism, and stay on a base of neutrality until you begin to find out the truth of how this world has been functioning in all time leading to now.

2.The support for Apartheid is among the many inhumane acts the United States has participated in, in the last 200 years, both within the nation and outside the nation.

3.It was under United States aid to former dictator of Cuba Fulgencio Batista that all of Cuba was run by a corrupt mob-authority that constantly brutalized the Cuban population. All wealth from Cuba was directed to the United States and not enough to the people of Cuba whom it belonged to. Cuba was a third world nation before the start of the Cuban Revolution and is still one today, but the improvements and continued improvements are remarkable. Cuba would be ever more successful...well tremendously more succesful if the United States dropped its 40[I believe] year illegal economic blockade on Cuba which is against the Geneva conventions and which has been voted several times in the United Nations as a cruel policy which is genocidal. Most recently, in the U.N., 173 countries voted against it while 3 voted for it. This economic blockade is no way to bring THE PRESIDENT OF CUBA to his knees. It affects entirely the citizens of Cuba. The United States does this so that in hopes to crush the Cuban Revolution because it inspires other third world nations to rid themselves of cruel rule and imperial control and because it wants Cuba to become once again, a slave to the interest of the United States.

Here are the results of whom voted opposing the economic blockade: Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde Islands, Cameroon, Chad, Comoro Islands, Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Equatorial, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Central African Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, the Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Dominica, Ecuador, Granada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, The Grenadines, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Fiji, the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, PDR Korea, South Korea, Samoa, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, East Timor, Tonga, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Viet Nam, Kiribati, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakstan, Kyrgystan, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Macedonia, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Poland, United Kingdom, San Marino, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Moldavia, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and Ukraine.

And countries that voted for the economic blockade: The United States, Israel, and the Marshall Islands.

If you do not believe all that I have said, look it up for yourself. I urge you to do so.

I myself choose the side of truth. And a system that promotes humanity. The immense majority of the world, not the few.

Did you know that Cuba played a crucial role in the successful battle to end racist apartheid in South Africa? Probably not. In the United States, this is a non-fact. "How Far We Slaves Have Come" breaks the curtain of silence about these dramatic events. And it does so in the words of two of the principal figures involved -- Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro. They describe how combined Cuban and Angolan military forces defeated the South African army, which had invaded Angola, at the battle of Cuito Cuanavale. An army of Blacks and mestizos crushing the army of South Africa -- the supposed all-powerful bastion of white supremacy? This was not supposed to happen!

Coming after years of resistance and struggle by Blacks in South Africa, their defeat at Cuito Cuanavale demoralized the apartheid regime. As Nelson Mandela says in the book, "The defeat of the apartheid army was an inspiration to the struggling people inside South Africa! Without 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!"

If you're interested in South Africa, Cuba, or just in history you're not supposed to know, you should read this book.

Fidel Castro and Nelson Mandela together in Cuba, not simply celebrating the victory of the South African Freedom struggle, not simply celebrating the continued life of the Cuban revolution, but speaking the truth about how the oppressed of the world can fight,can struggle, can win.

Just the idea that this little book exists, let alone its stirring, intelligent words, reminds me that though the battles have been tough, working people fighting like these two fighters can win.


While this book may not be directly available from Amazon at times, they are available from the booksfrompathfinder on Amazon that you can find by clicking on the new and used books on this page.

The transcript of a day's worth of speeches, this book chronicles the official word from Cuba and the new South Africa after the conclusion of a drawn out conflict in southern Africa. This is a good starting point for anyone who wishes to explore the brief history of power balances in post-colonial southern Africa. However, further reading by more objective sources is recommended to get a more balanced picture of what really did happen and how the outcomes came about.

Speeches by Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro, given in Cuba in 1991, discuss the role that Cuba played in the movement against apartheid. Mandela gives tribute, not only to Cuba?s military action, in defending Angola from South African invasion, but also its example of successful resistance to the oppressors. Castro, for his part, hails the contribution the South African people mad to the worldwide fight for justice, and his growing confidence in the capacities of the exploited.

I am giving this book a 5-star rating, but this is not an easy choice for me to make. I am providing such rating, in view of the great and crucial subject the book is approaching, and how well it does so. It is (sadly) a contemporary subject, which needs to be studied by anyone interested in world politics - or in fact, by anyone wishing to stand for just causes. I am of course referring to the abhorrent issue of racial discrimination in South Africa, and elsewhere in the world. In this book Nelson Mandela - a personality whom I greatly esteem and admire, like most of us surely do - addresses the tragic issue of racial discrimination in his country, the "conspiracy of silence" by the West which, for half a century, let things be as they were. He also comments on some aspects of world capitalism which he believes contributed to such a situation in South Africa (views which I share only partially and with great reservations, yet which deserve our closest attention). Nelson Mandela has uncovered some evils of Western society, proposing views we may or may not agree with, but which are well substantiated and not mere 'propaganda'. However, I am deeply saddened to see a great freedom fighten like Nelson Mandela co-write this book, even if only in the form of a foreword, with communist dictator Fidel Castro. The circumstances are clear, and ultimately depend on us Westerners: it is entirely our fault, if Nelson Mandela had no other choice than recurr to aid from the socialist block, in order to fight for his country's long-overdue freedom. I can therefore reproach nothing to Mr. Mandela, and can only congratulate him for this book. Yet, I remain saddened by the presence in this same book of writings by one of the world's worst dictators, namely Fidel Castro of Cuba. What on Earth do these two authors have in common ? The first was the ultimate liberator of his Land. The latter is a bloody dictator who keeps millions of people in political prisons under inhuman conditions. In the book, I trust that any democratically-minded person will see a lot more sense in the writings of Mr. Mandela than those of his co-author. The latter, indeed, are likely to nauseate. All in all it is a great book, excellently written and edited, full of contens and analysis. By all means, it is a book to be read and you will enjoy it. But you would enjoy it even more, were Fidel Castro out of the way.

Interesting pamphlet from a joint appearance of Nelson mandela and Fidel Castro in Cuba in 1991. Mandela's purpose is clear, to thank the Cubans for their support in African freedom struggles and this he does, educating people of the Cuban role in support of the ANC, Angola, and the Congo (via Che Guevara, all sides conveniently forgetting how Castro double-crossed Che).

Then we hear from Fidel. Same old stuff about US Imperialism, Cuba will never surrender to capitalism, etc. etc. If you hear/read one Fidel speech, you've heard 'em all. Read that aspect of it just to see for yourself.