Winnie Mandela and Cuba stand out at the United Nations
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews
United Nations, 13 Apr (PL) Cuba’s permanent representative to the UN, Anayansi Rodríguez, today recalled the closeness of the people of that Caribbean island to Winnie Mandela (1936-2018) and how she was an inspiration to everyone in the world.
We Cubans saw her as someone very close to us. For us, she and Nelson have always been, are and will be indivisible, two parts of a single symbol, of the same ideal. And so we will always remember her,’ he said at a tribute ceremony.
Rodriguez recalled how the cause that this woman defended also motivated the Cubans who left their blood and sweat in the anti-colonial struggles in Africa.
Winnie will always have a special place in the hearts of Cubans, who have accompanied her struggle for more than four decades for the definitive emancipation of her country, he added.
She is also remembered as a paradigm of the unbreakable bonds of friendship and solidarity between Cuba and South Africa, forged during long years of common struggle, the Cuban diplomat said.
Faced with the immense figure of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Cuba renews its commitment to the noble causes of the African peoples and its will to continue to accompany them in their struggles, dreams and hopes, he emphasized.
Winnie was and is living history, she was the voice of Nelson Mandela in the streets of their country and around the world, while the apartheid regime held him prisoner for almost three decades, Rodríguez said.
This woman’s spirit of resistance aroused the admiration of worthy people and also the fear of her enemies, who could never break her, she said.
‘Mother of the South African nation’ has rightly been called, but she was much more than that: her motherly embrace transcended the borders of her homeland. With the victory of her people over apartheid, Africa was reborn and the world turned its gaze to that continent, she stressed.
In the opinion of the Cuban ambassador, this anti-apartheid fighter was an expression of the spirit of rebellion and the firmness of African women.
Mama Winnie left for immortality, to join Madiba. Next to him, to welcome her, will be Amilcar, Neto, Machel, Lumumba, Sankara, Nkrumah and many other builders of African independence.
The Cuban diplomat offered her heartfelt condolences and sincere feelings of solidarity with her family and with the Government and people of South Africa.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is remembered as a tireless freedom fighter in South Africa and a symbol of resistance against the apartheid regime.
The anti-apartheid fighter died on 2 April at the age of 81 in Johannesburg and was buried with the honours of a head of state on 7 April.
pgh/ifb