Farewell, El Comandante Geingob, Nujoma to attend funeral Credited with aiding the freedom of the southern African people, Fidel Castro will leave a legacy of mettle and commitment to a singular cause. He has been hailed globally as an ''apostle of revolution'' and in Namibia the sentiments towards Fidel Castro are no different. News of his death on 25 November at the age of 90 spread fast around the globe and while it garnered mixed reactions, Namibians by and large hailed Castro as a friend to Namibia and a leader who stood his ground and lived and died on his own terms.The Cuban ambassador to Namibia Giraldo Mazola yesterday described the decades-old relations between Cuba and Namibia as a “peculiar bond that started on the battlefield”.
He further described the friendship between the two countries as an “irreversible” relationship that has continued and strengthened after Namibia gained her hard-won independence.
Cuba provided military, political and diplomatic support to the fight for Namibia''s freedom during the liberation struggle. It is reported that the country deployed more than 350 000 troops to Africa to the aid the MPLA in Angola and Swapo in Namibia, among other causes. Approximately 2000 Cubans died fighting in the region.
Since independence, relations have remained very strong and Namibia and Cuba have held joint meetings every two years for economic, scientific-technical and commercial cooperation. Thousands of Namibian students have graduated from Cuban universities and many more Cubans work in Namibia in professional fields.
“In April, speaking about his upcoming 90th birthday he told us that there will be a time that he will no longer be here. Some people did not like him speaking of this – they were sad, but he made us understand that his death is not important but that the ideas of the Cuban Communist Party and how it consolidated the Cuban nation are what is important,” said Mazola.
The remains of Castro, who died on Friday morning aged 90, will lay in state at the Havana Plaza of the Revolution, where Cubans will be able to pay tribute to their iconic leader.
According to Mazola, both President Hage Geingob and the founding president Sam Nujoma have been invited to deliver a message at a mass gathering or funeral at the plaza in Cuba, after which Castro''s body will be carried to Santiago de Cuba, at the south-eastern end of the island, reversing the journey that he and his comrades made in January 1959 when they seized power.
“Castro will be laid to rest at the Santa Ifigenia cemetery in Santiago where Cuban national hero José Martí and other youth who died in 1953 are buried,” said Mazola.
Cuba has announced a nine-day national period of mourning.
President Hage Geingob this weekend in an emotive statement described Castro''s death as a devastating loss.
“He taught us that, one can compromise on anything, except on one''s principles. Our own victories and losses in the struggle for our independence against apartheid South Africa are inextricably linked to the international solidarity of the Cuban people through diplomatic, military, and people to people interface,” said Geingob.
Geingob hailed Castro as a true revolutionary who had no interest in the natural resources of a free Namibia as his view was that Cubans did not come to collect gold or diamonds, all they had to do was return the remains of their fallen comrades.
The Swapo party in a statement issued by spokesperson Helmut Angula praised Castro as an international leader who stood firm during the harshest times.
“During the difficult times of our struggle for independence El Comandante Fidel Castro provided our people with hope, inspiration and impeccable leadership. To millions of peoples, he was more than just a man. He was a symbol of the struggle for freedom, justice, equality, and human dignity not only for Cubans, but for humankind,” said Angula.
Founding president Sam Nujoma also offered his condolences. He had visited Castro in September this year.
“I join the entire world to pay my tribute to a fallen hero, the charismatic and visionary revolutionary leader of our time, Fidel Castro, who has earned his place in modern history by his strong stance against imperialism and exceptional resilience against colonialism and oppression all over the world,” Nujoma said.
Dictator
While others hail him as a visionary, hero and liberator, others blatantly called him an oppressor.
According to international media US president-elect Donald Trump condemned Castro as a “brutal dictator”.
The Independent newspaper quotes Trump as saying: “Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty.”
What is undeniable is that Fidel Castro, who survived more than 600 assassination attempts, lived and died on his own terms.
He was, by all accounts, a charismatic personality. In November 1940, at the age of 12, he penned a letter to then American president Franklin D. Roosevelt which was discovered in 1977.
“I am twelve years old. I am a boy but I think very much, but I do not think that I am writing to the President of the United States. If you like, give me a ten dollar bill green American, in the letter, because never, I have not seen a ten dollar bill green American and I would like to have one of them.”(sic)
He continued, “If you want iron to make your sheaps [ships] I will show to you the biggest (minas) of iron of the land. They are in Mayari Oriente Cuba.” (sic)
In April of this year, Castro addressed the Cuban nation in a rare public appearance. He acknowledged his advanced age but said Cuban communist concepts were still valid and the Cuban people “will be victorious”.
In 2008 he handed over power to his brother Raul who is expected to remain party chief until 2018.
JEMIMA BEUKES