Re: [A-List] Cuba and Africa

["Nestor Gorojovsky" <nestorgoro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In fact, not only the Cubans, also the Brazilians had decided by 
those times on an Afro-[Cuban/Brazilian]  deployment of their own.  

The Cubans put it in terms of military solidarity, the Brazilians in 
terms of political and economic support to the newly independent 
Portuguese colonies.  

Please keep in mind that by 1975 it was difficult to find a Latin 
American government more subservient to multinational will than the 
Brazilian one.

In fact, just in the same way that it would be deceiving and farcical 
to suppose (as most in the American intelligence community did for a 
whole decade after 1949) that "Red China" was a satellite of the 
USSR, it would be mistaken to suppose that other Third World 
countries cannot devise policies of their own, and attempt to take 
them to realization.

The Mercosur, for example, was an independent move by Br and Ar 
foreign relations teams which caught American strategists off mark.

Respuesta a:"Re: [A-List] Cuba and Africa"
Enviado por:tony black
Con fecha:19 Feb 2006, a las 14:18

> ...I dunno Henry....If you look at US official cold war documents and
> think tank policy appraisals (many of which you can access now
> on-line) ..they repeatedly emphasize that the Soviets were not happy
> with the Cuban involvement in Angola, that the Cuban's were screwing
> up their own policy intent vis a vis Washington, and that the Cubans
> were, essentially, a 'loose cannon', i.e. acting independently. No
> doubt the relationship was a complex one, but from my reading of this
> material, the emphasis must be placed on Castro's ideological (as
> opposed to realpolitik) commitment.
> 
> Tony
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Henry C.K. Liu" <hliu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "The A-List" <a-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2006 2:01 PM
> Subject: Re: [A-List] Cuba and Africa
> 
> 
> > The facts remain that without Soviet support, Cuban soldiers would
> > not be able to arrive in Africa, would not have weapons to fight
> > with and the economic wherewithal to support an expeditionary force
> > half way around the globe.  There were also disputes about British
> > independence from the US agenda during WWII, but the fact remained
> > that the US ran the show.
> >
> > I am not belittling what Cuba did. I have great admiration for
> > Castro, but it is a historical fact that no leader is always free to
> > act on ideological grounds alone. There are times to withdraw and
> > times to attack, always placing top priority on survival to fight
> > another day.  For the period 1959-76, the USSR was not yet a total
> > lost cause ideologically. And to send Cuba into Africa did make some
> > sense in that it avoided criticism of Soviet imperialist expansion.
> > It would be a small socialist country helping a national liberation
> > movement. but all through the Cold War, Soviet opposition to SA
> > apartheid was no more genuine than that of the US, highly influenced
> > by geopolitical considerations. One reason Cubans today do not talk
> > much about that period is that most Cubans do not have fond memories
> > of it. Unoffical Cuban recentment of Soviet policies remain strong. 
> > On the top of the list is the way the Kremin behaved in the Cuban
> > Missile Crisis in which Cuba was treated by the Soviets as merely a
> > stage set and given no right of policy input.  Kruscheve behaved
> > very badly. Either do not put the missiles in, or not take them out
> > once they are in. In a way, Moscow did the same to Cuba in Africa,
> > having pushed Cuba in, did not give the Cubans enough to win.
> >
> > Henry C.K. Liu
> >
> > Erik Freye wrote:
> >
> >>Here are two reviews of a fairly recent book entitled
> >>"Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, and Africa,
> >>1959-1976." If I recall correctly, the author had
> >>access to previously classified diplomatic documents.
> >>
> >>Maybe they will be helpful to this discussion:
> >>
> >>http://www.monthlyreview.org/0603parenti.htm
> >>
> >>http://auto_sol.tao.ca/node/view/1642?PHPSESSID=b854d3619e5c55e2b684
> >>f8c4247ed473
> >>
> >>--- bar@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>Having met some of the Cuban soldiers who fought in
> >>>Southern Africa I
> >>>cannot agree that Cuba was coerced. Then you would
> >>>have to argue that Che
> >>>Guevara's adventure in Tanzania-Congo was coerced
> >>>when it was clearly
> >>>idealistic.
> >>>
> >>>Chris
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>The complexity of geopolitics interwined with
> >>>>
> >>>ideological conflict. Mao
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>__________________________________________________
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> >>Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> >>http://mail.yahoo.com
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > 
> 
> 
> 



Este correo lo ha enviado
Néstor Miguel Gorojovsky
nestorgoro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[No necesariamente es su autor]
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"La patria tiene que ser la dignidad arriba y el regocijo abajo".
Aparicio Saravia
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