FIDEL CASTRO is no more. Many within this grieving side of the world would have been upset at Trump’s remarks about the passing on of a ‘brutal dictator’.
I was not.
True revolutionaries are brutal; brutally frank, forthright and unwavering in pursuit of societal good. Fidel was.
When news filtered that Castro was no more, I was reading the late Ambassador John George Mayowe’s (Comrade Robert Mandebvu) war recollections, Rega Zvipore, published by MSU Press, 2015.
Written in very rich Chikaranga, it’s a very good but slow read for me whose ancestry morphed into Zezuru with the coming of missionaries.
I immediately fast forwarded to the small section on a 1978 visit to Havana by a ZANU delegation led by its President, Robert Mugabe.
The event was the International Youth Festival and other delegates were Mayowe and youths Munetsi and Ignatius.
The delegation had experienced hostile transit treatment in Moscow. Cuba was in the Soviet bloc that only recognised the “Authentic 6” liberation movements, which excluded ZANU.
Below is my rough translation of the passage on Mayowe’s recollections on pp 224-227.
Arrival in Havana
We were warmly received in Havana. Our accommodation was at Havana Libre Hotel on the 11th floor, for security reasons. We were on the same floor with ZAPU delegates. After the official opening of the Youths Festival we left the event to seek an opportunity to meet with the Cuban leader. It had been arranged in advance for each country delegation to have opportunity to meet with President Castro. All afternoon the ZANU delegation waited patiently for this opportunity. Patience was an attribute I had leant during my Libyan stint. It was well after midnight when we were eventually taken to President Castro’s offices.
Castro was a sports enthusiast. When we met him he was palpably excited as he had just come from watching a boxing match. He was still in his military fatigues that he had worn for the boxing event. After a few greeting formalities Castro immediately plunged into serious business with aid of an interpreter. He did not wait for our briefing; he was already well informed about the Rhodesian situation from his advisors. He spoke impressively from the head.
Castro addressed President Mugabe, “You Mugabe, I know ZANU is the one doing most of the fighting in Rhodesia. I also know that you are desperate for weapons to secure your liberated zones. But let me be frank with you so that we build our friendship based on honesty. Cuba does not manufacture weapons. If we did I would have long assisted ZANU with them because I know of your fighting capability. All the weapons I have I get them from the Soviet bloc. We have an agreement within that bloc that regulates how we use the weapons and I cannot be seen deviating from the agreement. Some of my colleagues are yet to be enlightened of the reality of your contribution to the struggle in your country. What I can do as my commitment to your cause is that shortly I will open an office of Cuban Ambassador to ZANU in Maputo. My Ambassador’s sole task will be to be my eyes and ears on your matters. Please feel very free to air all your issues and concerns through that Ambassador”
Castro also explained that he had had to fend off protestations about the coming of the ZANU delegation. ZAPU, which was in the ‘Authentic 6’, had lodged an official complaint but Castro had reminded them that ZANU, like ZAPU, was part of the Patriotic Front fighting to liberate Zimbabwe, so they should be accorded respect of fellow comrades.
At the end of the meeting we went back to our hotel with President Mugabe sounding very satisfied with the encounter. We marveled at Castro’s frankness and we looked excitedly into the future. The invitation to ZANU was ominous. Many countries were starting to wake up to the realities of the Zimbabwean liberation war. ZANU had arrived and could no longer be ignored in the geopolitics of Southern Africa.
When we eventually left Havana, Castro assigned an aide to accompany President Mugabe to Mexico City for a connecting flight to London. We left with great expectations. Within two weeks of our arrival in Maputo, Castro appointed a Estrada as his representative to ZANU. Estrada was a knowledgeable and dedicated liberation cadre.
Besides the frankness we see in Mayowe’s reminiscences above, Castro was also brutally principled. He believed corrupt leaders and drug dealers were legitimate firing squad targets. On that he would not waver. That resoluteness has previously left me upset and confused, as I previously confessed.
On July 14 1989 the world woke up to the news that a hero of the Cuban Revolution, General Ochoa, had been executed by firing squad for treason and drug dealing. The arrest and execution shocked the progressive world. Ordinary Cubans were devastated.
Cuban President Raul Castro, then Defence Minister, and a close friend of Ochoa, was equally devastated.
I had first come across General Ochoa’s name in Socialist International inspired conversations at university a few years earlier. It could have been at the Film of the Month Club or within the UZ ZANU PF branch, my memory fails me now.
Ochoa’s name was mentioned alongside other internationalists like the iconic Che Guevara and General Petrov who had sacrificed beyond measure in fighting against Western imperialism in Africa. In 1984 Fidel Castro had decorated General Ochoa as a Hero of the Cuban Revolution. I was saddened by the execution. I felt anger against Castro.
Today, 27 years later, I am wiser. There is everlasting good in Castro’s brutal frankness and unwavering principles. My tribute to Fidel: Yes the corrupt are legitimate firing squad targets!