Cuba in Africa - Jorge Risquet Valdes

'The Second front of Che in the Congo'

  
Story of the Patricio Lumumba Battalion

 Jorge Risquet Valdes in South Africa in 2006

In response to the request of a Domza I have decided to translate and post the book titled: El Segundo Frente del Che en el Congo, Historia del batallon Patricio Lumumba. I am assured there is no current translation and that Jorge Risquet would not mind that I am republishing it in this episodic form. 

The idea of this initial translation and the publication of the documents that will follow it, will be to reassess the role and impact of the Cuban participation in the African Liberation movements. We hope the publication in English will generate discussion here and elsewhere.

Jorge Risquet, an imposing an charismatic revolutionary and chronicler of revolution, has dedicated this copy of his book:

Para el hermano sudafricano

Dominic Tweedie, con el afecto de

J. Risquet

20.XII.2006

Phil Hall 

'an unprecedented projection of power'

The speech made on 2 December 2005, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the first Cuban expeditionary force to Angola, which became what Chester Crocker called an “unprecedented projection of power”.

Piero Gleijeses has written a lot. The second item is an article of his containing this memorable passage:

“While Castro’s troops advanced toward Namibia, Cubans, Angolans, South Africans, and Americans were sparring at the negotiating table. For the South Africans and Americans the burning question was: Would the Cuban troops stop at the border? It was to answer this question that President Ronald Reagan’s Assistant Secretary for Africa, Chester Crocker, sought Risquet. "My question is the following," he told him: "Does Cuba intend to halt the advance of its troops at the border between Namibia and Angola?" Risquet replied, "I have no answer to give you. I can’t give you a Meprobamato [a well-known Cuban tranquillizer] – not to you or to the South Africans. ... I have not said whether or not our troops will stop. ... Listen to me, I am not threatening. If I told you that they will not stop, it would be a threat. If I told you that they will stop, I would be giving you a Meprobamato, a Tylenol, and I want neither to threaten you nor to reassure you ... What I have said is that the only way to guarantee [that our troops stop at the border] would be to reach an agreement [on the independence of Namibia]." [15] On August 25, Crocker cabled Secretary of State George Shultz: "Reading the Cubans is yet another art form. They are prepared for both war and peace ... We witness considerable tactical finesse and genuinely creative moves at the table. This occurs against the backdrop of Castro’s grandiose bluster and his army’s unprecedented projection of power on the ground." [16]”

Jorge Risquet Valdés Saldaña, fighter, negotiator, and currently member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, has written (downloadable, in Spanish) “El Segundo frente del Che en el Congo” (ISBN 959-210-412-3, Casa Editorial Abril, 2006) – the history of the Patrice Lumumba Battalion, in which Risquet served. The picture above is of the same Jorge Risquet, a great and brave hero, also famous for his friendliness and joie-de-vivre.

By Domza, republished from the Communist University