Joseph Kabila
Unveiling the bust of his father in Havana, Cuba
“Jamás traicionaré al Congo!” (Never betray Congo)
After his appearance at the UN General Assembly in New York, Kabila flew directly on official visit to Havana, Cuba, where he unveiled on Monday the bust of his father at the Parque de los Próceres Africanos [Park of African Heroes]. The other Congolese hero at the park is Patrice Emery Lumumba, whom Kabila also visited.
The bust bears a plaque on which are chiseled these words often repeated by Mzee Kabila: “Ne Jamais trahir le Congo!,” translated into the Spanish as “Jamás traicionaré al Congo.”
Quoting Granma, the organ of the Cuban Communist Party:
“Victor Dreke, president of the Cuban-African Friendship Association, recalled that on April 24, 1965 Cubans entered the Congo under the command of Che, thus marking the beginning of the participation of the young revolutionary Cuba in the process of decolonizing Africa and consolidating its independence from European powers.”Kabila also laid a wreath at the Pantheon of the Internationalists at Havana Colon Cemetery where are encased the niches of the remains of Cuban soldiers who died in African campaigns.
Said Kabila:
“Here rest the mortal remains of those who took part in combats for the freedom of Africa… We have shared something more than our struggle, we have also shared our blood.”
Africa is most definitely a very ungrateful place: without the Cuban expeditionary contingent in Angola that defeated the South African Defence Force, the independence of Namibia would have dragged on for several more bloody years and Angola might not be enjoying its economic boom today. And yet, nothing is given back to the country that had its soldiers killed on African soil. On the contrary, Cuba continues to give to Africa!
The DRC should have taken its cue from Cuba. Though choking in the stranglehold of a crippling embargo, Cuba stands out as a model of sustainable small-plot agriculture, pilots’ training, education, and affordable health-care system—training each year thousands of physicians. About a hundred or so of these doctors are deployed in the Congo.
Dr. Ernesto “Che” Guevara de la Serna aka “Commandante Tatu”
Hewa-Bora guerilla Camp, Eastern DRC
1965
2) More dangerous to fly in Russia than in the Congo
Mangled wreckage of the Yak-42 jet that carried Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Near Yaroslavl airport, Russia
Photo: AFP/Russia Emergency Ministry
Though I heard about this crash when it occurred early this month, I was only directed to the following uncanny detail given by The Moscow Times late last night during a phone conversation with a friend:
“In the worst sports-related disaster in decades, one of Russia's best ice hockey teams, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, was decimated Wednesday in a plane crash that killed at least 43 people.
The crash also sealed Russia's position as the most dangerous place to travel by plane in 2011, with the country surpassing even the Democratic Republic of Congo in the number of aircraft-related fatalities.”Wow!!!
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