Saturday, January 11, 2014

Angola and the many “jovenes cubanos” who died there


(My new Babalu post)
We remember a bit of Cuban history largely forgotten today:    

"As part of an arrangement to decrease Cold War tensions and end a brutal war in Angola, Cuban troops begin their withdrawal from the African nation.
The process was part of a multilateral diplomatic effort to end years of bloodshed in Angola—a conflict that, at one time or another, involved the Soviet Union, the United States, Portugal, and South Africa."
Angola was just another example of Fidel Castro's "Megalomania" or his visions of being an international leader.
He used these African adventures to project power and sent young Cubans to wars that had absolutely nothing to do with Cuba.
Castro was also paying back the USSR for all of those subsidies that kept the island afloat for years.
There are no "official" casualty reports from Castro's regime.  I do recall reading that many young Cubans had died, according to this from The LA Times:    

"The Cuban general who defected to the United States last month has told U.S. officials that 10,000 Cuban troops have been killed in Angola since 1976, according to senior Administration officials.The estimate by Brig. Gen. Rafael del Pino Diaz is the first authoritative figure the United States has received on Cuban casualties in Angola, but the officials said it was roughly the same as American calculations."
Frankly, no one knows for sure.   Nevertheless, we can say that thousands died fighting wars that had nothing to do with Cuba.
Angola is one of the biggest tragedies of the Castro regime.  We can not allow people to forget that thousands died in that war!

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