Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Luanda, Oct 27.- Cubans and Angolans today relived the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale with the help of several of its protagonists, during a visit to that town in the southern province of Cuando Cubango, in Angola.
The Cuban delegation, headed by the Minister of Health, José Angel Portal, and made up of Major General Ramón Pardo, the ambassador, Oscar León; the director of Sub-Saharan Africa at the Foreign Ministry, Luis Alberto Amorós; and the daughter of Commander Raúl Díaz Argüelles, Natasha, also included a representation of combatants.
The delegation was received by the vice governor of the province of Cuando Cubango, Helena Lourenço Chimena, and her work team.
On the Angolan side, protagonists of the actions in Cuito Cuanavale were also present, such as Lieutenant General Fernando Amândio Mateus and retired General Francisco Lopes Gonçalves Afonso “Hanga”, as well as other senior officers and representatives of the Angolan Armed Forces.
Together they brought to life the memorial museum commemorating the victory of the battle (November 15, 1987-March 23, 1988) that changed the course of Southern Africa, ushering in the independence of Namibia and the end of the apartheid regime. in South Africa.
Explanations on the participation of the island's forces, provided by the head of the 71st tactical group, Colonel Venancio Ávila, who was there from the beginning of the Cuban participation in Cuito Cuanavale until the end; as well as anecdotes and reunions, characterized the day.
Ávila, who donated 21 photographs to the museum that reflect different moments linked to the epic, highlighted the brotherhood between Cubans and Angolans who suffered permanent harassment from around 85 thousand projectiles of different calibers.
He remembered the 23 children of the Caribbean nation who lost their lives in the actions and the hundreds of Angolans who also died, as well as the communion created in exceptional moments, not only in combat, but in all the tensions and vicissitudes that the campaign life.
The occasion allowed us to recognize the work of the engineers and sappers, who were essential for the movement of troops along the Cuito River and establishing the minefields; as well as aviation, which became a bulwark of defense against the enemy.
“For us it is a very high honor to visit the memorial to the victory of the Battle of Cuito Cuanavales, where we honor the combatants who fell in this historic combat that changed the course towards victory against the invading enemy,” Minister Portal wrote in the visitor’s book.
He added that taking this tour in the company of Cuban internationalist fighters who fought alongside the Angolan people as true brothers, constitutes a privilege and reminder of the history and solidarity that unites both peoples.
In addition to the museum, the delegation visited other sites linked to the Battle and each of them became a moment of remembrance.
The minister also took the opportunity to talk with a small representation of the island's medical brigade that works in the province, headed by its coordinator, Félix Álvarez. (Text and Photo: PL)
