African diplomats celebrate South Africa's Freedom Day in Havana

HAVANA, Cuba, April 28 (ACN) Members of the diplomatic corps of African countries accredited in Havana, along with officials from the Communist Party of Cuba and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gathered at the Park of African Heroes in the capital to celebrate South Africa's Freedom Day.

The South African ambassador to Cuba, Yvonne Nkwenkwezi Phosa, was accompanied by the Cuban Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anayansi Rodriguez Camejo; Luis Alberto Amoroz, head of the Sub-Saharan Africa Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Victor Dreke, president of the Cuba-Africa Friendship Association.

The representatives of both countries laid joint floral wreaths at the busts of Oliver Reginald Tambo, former president of the African National Congress, and Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president and a universal symbol of the struggle against apartheid.

The South African ambassador also celebrated the presence at the commemoration of the Ambassador of the Republic of Congo to Cuba, Rosalie Kama-Niamayoua; the Director of the Casa de Africa (House of Africa), Luis Alberto Granado; and representatives of the African diplomatic corps accredited to the island.

"Today we raise the South African flag in Havana to celebrate Freedom Day, our national holiday," Ambassador Phosa stated, adding that by laying these floral tributes, they pay homage to those courageous leaders who refused to accept inequality and fostered democracy.

On the 32nd anniversary of the movement led by Mandela and Tambo, the diplomat recalled that it was on April 27, 1994, when thousands of South Africans went to the polls in the country's first multiracial elections.

Phosa highlighted Cuba's decisive role in the liberation of southern Africa: at the height of apartheid, Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro made a decision, and more than two thousand Cuban internationalists shed their blood in southern Africa so that today we can enjoy freedom.

Solidarity is not a slogan, it is sacrifice, she affirmed.

The ambassador explained that doctors from her country trained in Cuba are a pillar of the South African public health system.

She greeted the young people studying in Cuba and reaffirmed that both nations should deepen their economic ties through trade and cooperation in agriculture, biotechnology, and renewable energy.

She also reiterated her country's position regarding the United States' policy toward the island, supporting Cuba's demand for the archipelago's removal from the List of State Sponsors of Terrorism and for the end of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed for more than 60 years: "Down with the blockade!" she declared.

In a message to the people, Phosa expressed that "the bond between South Africa and Cuba was forged in struggle," and affirmed that the Caribbean nation's contribution to the elimination of apartheid will never be forgotten. On behalf of the South African people and their president, he exclaimed: "Long live the friendship between our peoples! The struggle continues! Homeland or Death! We will win!"