Welcome President Fidel Castro!
1 September 1998
The South African Communist Party welcomes President Fidel Castro's visit to South Africa to attend the Non-Aligned Movement Summit. This is a visit that millions of South Africans have been looking forward to for many years.
Comrade Fidel symbolises for many South Africans, Africans and peoples of the Third World the spirit of resistance to a world disorder dominated by a powerful few. It is a spirit rooted, not in dogmatism, but in a passionate humanism that is prepared to defy the cynicism of world politics and global markets.
As South Africans we owe an enormous debt to the Cuban people and the role they have played in the liberation of our region. We continue to benefit from the selfless service rendered by hundreds of Cuban doctors. The SACP commits itself to fostering the deep ties of solidarity and friendship between the Cuban and South African people.
Through the difficult 1990s, Fidel Castro and the Cuban people have absolutely confounded those who believed that the Cuban Revolution was an artificial creation, a foreign export. Cuban socialism has shown that it has deep patriotic roots. The preparedness of the Cuban people to defend their socialist gains in the face of decades of US destabilisation and blockading is an inspiring example.
With the global capitalist system in deepening crisis and turmoil, there are many lessons to be drawn from the inspiring Cuban example.
Issued By: SACP HQ