INTERNATIONALIST MISSIONS

INTERNATIONALIST MISSIONS:

Internationalist missions constitute one of the most glorious pages in the history of Cuba. Following the example and the tradition sown by the thousands of citizens from all latitudes who have fought for the Cuban cause since the struggles for independence in the 19^th century and up to the National Liberation War waged in the late fifties and by the more than 1,000 Cubans who defended the Spanish Republic from fascist aggression.

In numbers greater than 300,000, Cuban combatants voluntarily went to the aid of other peoples in many parts of the world. Among these missions the most outstanding were those that took place at the time of the foreign military aggression against the newly set-up People's Republic of Angola in 1975 and Ethiopia two years later.

The selfless help of the Cuban internationalist combatants was decisive in both the disappearance of the shameful apartheid regime in South Africa and in the achievement of the independence of Namibia, the last colonialist redoubt in Africa. The internationalists fought without hesitation and forced the racist apartheid South Africa to the negotiating table. Apartheid South Africa was then the main military power in Africa and, at that time, it possessed seven nuclear weapons. The internationalists' contribution is now recognized by the leaders of the greatest prestige and, above all, by all the peoples of the African continent.

As the main leaders of the revolution stated publicly, Cuba did not aspire to and did not obtain any economic or political benefit whatsoever for fulfilling this titanic task of solidarity. Only the moral satisfaction of a duty fulfilled.

Internationalist missions were not limited to help in terms of soldiers. Tens of thousands of Cuban civilian specialists have given their selfless collaboration to other peoples.

There is no Cuban military presence in any foreign country today, but as in the past, thousands of doctors and other health professionals, sports trainers, builders, teachers and highly skilled personnel of the most varied specialties give their aid in many Lain American and African countries. In correspondence with this line of invariable principles, there are also thousands of youths from those continents who study in Cuban higher education centers.

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