Saturday, December 7, 2013

Before we get all weepy about the passing of Nelson Mandela. . .

Nelson Mandela on a 1988 Soviet commemorative stamp.

I am indebted to the several readers who forwarded me this article: "7 Nelson Mandela Quotes You Probably Won’t See In The U.S. Media." I was particularly drawn to the entire text of quote #4, found here: "Castro Opens National Moncada Barracks Ceremony -- Mandela Addresses Event."
Mandela was released from prison in 1990. Wikipedia reports:
Mandela proceeded on an African tour, meeting supporters and politicians in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Libya and Algeria, continuing to Sweden . . . Encouraging foreign countries to support sanctions against the apartheid government, in France he was welcomed by President François Mitterrand, in Vatican City by Pope John Paul II, and in England he met Margaret Thatcher. In the United States, he met President George H.W. Bush, addressed both Houses of Congress and visited eight cities, being particularly popular among the African-American community. In Cuba he met President Fidel Castro, whom he had long admired, with the two becoming friends.
It is in the context of that sideshow of the Cold War that was the Angolan Civil War that Mandela's remarks praising Cuba and its operations in Angola must be understood. The Cubans and their MPLA familiars committed many atrocities. Mandela knew of these since he kept constant track of South African military as well as continental political affairs. He never, to my recollection, condemned them.
In 1992, after a ceasefire and further negotiations, the Buban- and Soviet-backed MPLA government of Angola held elections. In a contest marked by considerable fraud and violence, the Marxists still could get a majority vote. Again, from Wikipedia:
Angola held the first round of its 1992 presidential election on September 29–30. Dos Santos officially received 49.57% of the vote and Savimbi won 40.6%. As no candidate received 50% or more of the vote, election law dictated a second round of voting between the top two contenders. Savimbi, along with eight opposition parties and many other election observers, said the election had been neither free nor fair. An official observer wrote that there was little UN supervision, that 500,000 UNITA voters were disenfranchised and that there were 100 clandestine polling stations. Savimbi sent Jeremias Chitunda, Vice President of UNITA, to Luanda to negotiate the terms of the second round. The election process broke down on October 31, when government troops in Luanda attacked UNITA. Civilians, using guns they had received from police a few days earlier, conducted house-by-house raids with the Rapid Intervention Police, killing and detaining hundreds of UNITA supporters. The government took civilians in trucks to the Camama cemetery and Morro da Luz ravine, shot them, and buried them in mass graves. Assailants attacked Chitunda's convoy on November 2, pulling him out of his car and shooting him and two others in their faces. The MPLA massacred over ten thousand UNITA and FNLA voters nationwide in a few days in what was known as the Halloween Massacre.
As far as I can determine, Mandela never condemned the Halloween Massacre either.
The speech at Moncada Barracks, and Mandela's role in the Cold War in Africa, will not be recalled by the media in the run-up to the collectivist celebration that will be Mandela's funeral. Nevertheless, we should remember.
LATER: See also Mandela Leaves Divided Legacy in Africa

7 comments:

Pirate Morgan said...

Just a cursory glance at South Africa since "apartied" was overthrown and it's very very clear what Mandela was. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out

Anonymous said...

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2013/12/nelson-mandela-che-guevara-of-of-africa.html?m=1

Very detailed article from a native South African and daughter of anti apartheid activist. I never knew he gave "death to white" chants in public

Anonymous said...

I was astonished that even Fox News regulars were gushing about what a "great" man Mandela was.

Things like this are what should give us pause about the accuracy and value of most "history" literature. After all, if most folks can be led to believe that Mandela was a great man of peace even with ample and verifiable evidence to the contrary, then what confidence can we place in our history books to be accurate and true?

The man was, along with his wife, a real piece of shit.

Anonymous said...

Who's Nelson Mandela?

Anonymous said...

It is interesting who the left chooses to elevate to the level of a Marxist Saint. That is why they tolerate no criticism of them. Another low life lauded by the left is Rosa Parks. So called Civil Right hero. Bullshit. You ever read a story that relates that she and her husband were both Communists? Hell no. But it is fact. Both were associats of Obama mentor Frank Marshall Davis. Martin Luther King received money from the Soviet era KGB. It was funneled to him by an American church group that was a front for the Soviet intelligence services. It does seem rather interesting the connections between these so called paragon's of virtue and the Soveit KGB but when the truth is told they were a bunch of Marxist thugs trying to kill anyone that stood in the way of their workers paradise. Maybe with the exception of MLK. But he had skeletons as well. They subscibed to a political ideology that killed 200 million people in the 20th century alone. Goverment by force is their stock and trade. Check out how the economies of both South Africa and the former Rhodesia have faired under this champions of freedom. Six years ago Zimbabwe issued a billion dollar note.

Anonymous said...

He was statist scum that lived too long, but his quotes about the US are on the money.

If the People would realize our present government is the enemy, and not "Eurasia" or "Eastasia" or whoever is the current bad guy, I wouldn't currently be living in "Oceania."

Black Rifle said...

anyone recommend a good, honest read on the REAL history of Mandela/South Africa? there is just TOO MUCH fawning for this to be real. i have long suspected the man is (was) not the saint we have been led to believe. On the other hand, it SEEMS that after he was jailed he showed signs of wanting to reconcile with those he opposed. So i just want a GOOD, HONEST take on it---