WeeklySA_AdminCONTEMPORARY: Cuba’s place in history should be judged not only through the lens of Cold War politics but also by its enduring contribution to anti-colonial struggles, African liberation and international solidarity, argues Ambassador Phatse Justice Piitso…
By Phatse Justice Piitso
If history is to judge the Cuban Revolution fairly, it must also judge it by its actions beyond Cuba’s shores.
For many across the Global South, Cuba’s defining legacy is not simply the overthrow of the Batista dictatorship but the extraordinary commitment it demonstrated to international solidarity. From Africa to Latin America, Cuban doctors, teachers and soldiers served in countries struggling to secure their independence and build new societies after colonial rule.
No assessment of twentieth-century liberation movements can ignore that contribution.
Across Africa, Cuba stood alongside governments and national liberation movements confronting colonial domination and minority rule.
From Algeria and Ghana to Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia and South Africa, Cuban internationalists became part of struggles that shaped the continent’s modern political landscape.
Thousands of Cubans served far from home, many never returning. They did so not in pursuit of territorial expansion or economic gain, but because they believed that the fight against colonialism and racial oppression transcended national borders.
For many Africans, that sacrifice remains deeply significant.
South Africans, in particular, remember Cuba’s role in supporting the liberation struggle against apartheid. The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale in Angola remains one of the defining moments in Southern African history. Nelson Mandela himself acknowledged that the outcome of that battle fundamentally altered the regional balance of power and accelerated Namibia’s independence while hastening the eventual demise of apartheid South Africa.
These are historical realities that continue to shape Africa’s collective memory.
It is therefore difficult to reconcile this record with descriptions of Cuba as merely an exporter of terrorism. Such characterisations overlook the historical context in which revolutionary movements emerged across the developing world and the solidarity many liberation movements experienced from Havana during the height of anti-colonial struggles.
Reasonable people may disagree about Marxism, socialism or the political evolution of post-revolutionary Cuba. They may legitimately debate the country’s governance, economic performance or human rights record. Those debates are important and should continue.
But historical disagreements should never become historical erasure.
The Cuban Revolution cannot be understood solely through the ideological lens of the Cold War. It must also be viewed through the experiences of nations whose independence movements received diplomatic, educational, medical and, in some instances, military support from Cuba during their darkest hours.
History is rarely uncomplicated.
The same revolution criticised in some capitals is remembered in others for sending doctors instead of demanding resources, for training professionals instead of extracting wealth, and for standing with newly independent nations seeking to determine their own future.
Whether one agrees with Cuba’s political model or not, its influence on the liberation struggles of the twentieth century remains undeniable.
This is why historical memory matters.
Nations should not seek to perpetuate the divisions of the past but to learn from them. The twenty-first century presents challenges that demand dialogue rather than ideological confrontation. Climate change, inequality, armed conflict and global insecurity cannot be solved through the language of permanent hostility.
Diplomacy remains humanity’s most effective instrument for resolving differences.
Respect for sovereignty, peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding should form the basis of relations among nations, irrespective of political systems or ideological preferences. International relations are strengthened not by the rewriting of history but by an honest acknowledgement of its complexity.
For the United States and Cuba alike, the future need not remain captive to the grievances of previous generations.
Constructive engagement offers greater possibilities than perpetual estrangement.
For those of us in Africa, Cuba occupies a distinctive place in our historical consciousness. Its contribution to the continent’s liberation struggles is woven into our own story of freedom. That does not require uncritical admiration, nor does it demand agreement with every decision taken by successive Cuban governments.
It simply requires intellectual honesty.
History should be examined in its entirety—not selectively remembered according to present political convenience. The achievements, failures and contradictions of every nation deserve rigorous examination, but they should be judged against verifiable historical evidence rather than ideological caricature.
That is why debates about Cuba remain so enduring. They are ultimately debates about history itself: who tells it, whose experiences are recognised, and whose sacrifices are remembered.
History cannot lie to itself.
Its pages are written not only by governments and military powers, but also by ordinary men and women who struggled for dignity, justice and freedom. Those struggles continue to inspire new generations across continents and political traditions.
The Cuban Revolution forms part of that wider human story.
Whether celebrated or criticised, its place in world history cannot simply be erased because contemporary politics demands a different narrative.
History, after all, has the final word.
Ambassador Phatse Justice Piitso is a member of the African National Congress and the SA Communist Party. He writes in his personal capacity.
