Africa-Press – Eswatini. On August 13th, we grateful people around the world, celebrate the 99th birthday of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro. A man who was born in Cuba but does not belong to us, Fidel has dedicated his life to the struggle for a better world. His profound humanist spirit in favour of the poor of the earth and his boundless solidarity are admired by peoples and governments of the entire continent.
Fidel has a very clear understanding of the historical and cultural ties that unite Cuba with Africa. We Cubans always say that we carry African blood in our veins because of the history of slavery, when thousands of black men and women were removed from their land and brought to Cuba as slave labour. It is estimated that nearly 400,000 Africans work on the sugarcane plantations.
Cuban nationality is forged from the combination of elements of Spanish and African culture, we share a lot of things in common music, food, and religion. The role of slaves and their descendants in our war for independence from Spanish colonialism was decisive.
From the early years of the revolution, Cuba’s commitment to solidarity with Africa was evident. There are many examples of Cuba’s participation in African independence struggles in Algeria, Congo, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, and Ethiopia. But the relations didn’t finish with independences.
Fidel knew that the success of the independence process in the 1960s also required the training of professionals to promote the later economic and social development. He was therefore personally involved in creating conditions to support the vocational training of young Africans, even though their countries had not yet achieved independence. That was the initiative of the educational project of the Island of Youth, where kids study from Namibia, Angola, Congo, Ethiopia.
More than 30,000 African students have graduated from Cuban universities, including Gambian students, in various fields, especially medicine. During his stay in power he visited many African countries, where he said “in Africa I feel at home”.
With Gambia we have developed special relationship, In 1996 the first 39 Cuban health specialists arrived in The Gambia. Currently, 130 collaborators are serving in the country, including professors from the School of Medicine, the most appreciated jewels of cooperation between our countries.
Upon learning of Gambia’s need for doctors, the leader of the Revolution deemed it appropriate to support the creation of the Banjul School of Medicine with the participation of Cuban professors in 1999.
Fidel Castro Ruz is known throughout Africa as a friend, a paradigm of resistance, as the David who fearlessly faced Goliath with faith in victory.
I want to conclude with a quote from Nelson Mandela, which he said in 1991, on his first visit to Cuba: “…we value our friendship with Cuba very, very much. When you, Comrade Fidel, said yesterday that our cause is your cause, I know that sentiment came from the bottom of your heart and that is the feeling of all the people of revolutionary Cuba.”
Today we are starting a journey for Fidel`s Centenary on August 13th 2026 we will be holding various social and cultural events in memory of this great man, whose humanism made him universally recognised.
Source: The Standard Newspaper | Gambia
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