By Emmanuel O. Fashakin MD, Esq.
When Fidel Castro died on November 25, 2016, I wrote him a memorial, thanking him for his intervention in Africa which made the “liberation” of many countries in the Southern part of the continent possible. I remember our many marches as students in the 1970s calling for independence for Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, end of apartheid in South Africa and release of Nelson Mandela. One morning, in my Brooklyn office, I came face to face with one of the liberating Cuban Guerrillas in Angola and Namibia.
I am used to patients asking me, in view of my unAmerican last name and thick African accent “where are you from?” I usually ignore such questions, deeming them irrelevant, or tell them tales like “Brooklyn”, “Samsabusa”, or “Archipelago.” Many of them wisely drop the subject, but that morning, there was something unusual about this 66 year old Cuban emigrant, a new patient to the practice, who wanted to know where in Africa I came from.
“Nigeria!”, I finally told him. “Ah, Nigeria. I fought in Angola!” “What?”, I exclaimed! “You were one of the Cubans sent by Castro to fight in Angola!” Yes, he affirmed. They were well armed by the Soviet Union. He told me that they killed lots of Portuguese in Angola, until they fled, and Angola became independent. He remembered fondly Dr Augustino Neto, the warlord freedom fighter turned First President of Angola.
Ok, my patient is Cuban, spoke only Spanish, and the Angolans spoke Portuguese: “how did you communicate with the Angolans?” “We had our commanders”, he explained. “Our commanders spoke to the Africans, and tell us where to fight, and we fight.” “After Angola was liberated, we crossed over to Namibia and fought against the South Africans”.
I doff my heart! It’s tough fighting a war to liberate your own country, but to cross the ocean and fight another man’s war of independence is something else. Africa is forever grateful to Fidel Castro’s Cuba and the Soviet Union for helping the continent throw off the yoke of oppression in our own homelands
Thank you old soldier! I feel honored being in the same room with you. May God bless Cuba and may Fidel Castro Rest In Peace.
Emmanuel O. Fashakin MD, Esq.
