With Thanks to Mandela

By Ana Hurtado on January 15, 2024 from Havana

The genocide continues; it does not stop.

We have changed the year but the hegemonic control of the planet remains. Those who wage wars are still the same. In Gaza, people continue to die every day without distinction of gender or age.

More than three months of shed blood of innocents. During this time a media and information distortion has shown us again how little human lives are worth for the imperialists. They clearly demonstrate that their center of interest is power, capital and business. Their media in the present time is the business of control of the masses, by the way.

But we are not in that business. We are not fooled by anyone. We have learned, some of us since we were very young, others later. Some by family and patriotic responsibility, others of our own free inquiring will. We are not puppets that any imperialist can come to manage. We have our own criteria. We know how to detect demagogy. We understand power games.

We understand how to manage in a system as cruel as capitalism, which, if you do not wake up, controls you from the moment you are born until you die.

In this context of death and destruction, Nelson Mandela has spoken. He has stood up with his morals and has raised dignity as a banner.

When some peoples project themselves and take action, it can be seen that behind it is the influence, legacy and presence of their leaders. Of those who fought to break their chains. This is the case of South Africa that in these days denounced the Zionist state terrorism in the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

The air tight case South Africa presented is nothing but the presence of the man who gave his life to overthrow Apartheid. And now Mandela’s people, who survived, understand that the state of Israel is trying to do the same to the Palestinian people.

In his words, we are all clear: “Freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”

When a people are educated in values, in morals and have suffered oppression, they carry a seed within them that is passed on from generation to generation.

Therefore, the South African government’s denunciation, which shows a courage that no other country had shown so far, is nothing more than the meaning that Nelson Mandela lives. And Cuba’s endorsement of the lawsuit also shows that Fidel is present.

It shows that the historic leaders for the freedom of the world are appearing at the International Court of Justice from another plane. Whoever stops to think about it knows it is the truth.

On Thursday, January 11, as a sign of gratitude, a group of people in solidarity with the Palestinian people went to the South African Embassy in Havana to thank Ambassador Yvonne Nkwenkwezi Phosa for this effort.

Among the visitors were communicators, activists, victims of genocide, like our brother Bassel, who recently lost his father in a bombing in Gaza and more than 150 relatives.

There was also solidarity from Belize with Asaad Shoman, a diplomat and lawyer who was prime minister of this country, who represented it at the UN from 1975 to 1980, and who had a close friendship with Fidel.

The human and historical level of the peoples’ causes was present. We only went to say thank you. That was enough for us yesterday.

But today we continue. Gratitude and recognition makes human beings great and is one of the engines that drives us to continue collaborating and working with each other for a greater good.

The lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel is 84 pages long. Israel cannot sink any lower.  Its legitimacy is shattered.

The content is simple: genocide is being committed and it is being done deliberately. The end. There is no more.

We are left with international pressure, that continues to come from the majority of people of the world.

And as Robespierre said:

“To punish the oppressors is clemency. To pardon them is barbarism”.

Source: Cubadebate, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – England