Cuito Cuanavale 37th Anniversary

A lesson for history in Cuito, “that 23rd” (of March)

Not coincidentally, and with the vision that always distinguished him, African leader Oliver Tambo would describe Cuito Cuanavale as “South Africa’s Waterloo.”

Cuban combatants in Cuito Cuanavale, Angola, March 1988. Photo: Cubadebate

Documentary analysis places the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale (November 15, 1987–March 23, 1988) as a symbol of the resilience and courage of the Angolans, who, with the support of Cuban internationalists and combatants from neighboring countries, managed to defeat the invading forces of the South African apartheid regime and its allies.

The victory in this town, in the southern province of Cuando Cubango, was a crucial element in consolidating Angolan sovereignty, ending apartheid in South Africa, and achieving the subsequent independence of Namibia on March 21, 1990.

Memorial to the Victory of Cuito Cuanavale, a Tribute to the Heroes of Freedom. Photo: Ahora.cu

Cuito Cuanavale, Angola – March 24, 1988

On the still-smoldering ground lie the lifeless blackened bodies of South African soldiers and its allies, “ground down” by the mats of the South African armored vehicles themselves, who 24 hours earlier (on the historic 23rd) had managed to stampede away from the firepower and courage unleashed by the Cubans and Angolans, in what constituted the final, lethal blow to the final onslaught launched by Pretoria there.

Almost 500 shots from 130 mm cannons, more than 600 from 122 mm howitzers, some 700 rockets launched by the terrifying BM-21s, tanks, anti-tank weapons, machine guns, rifles, the dreaded MIGs, mines, death, horror, despair… these were just a fraction of what awaited them.

The lesson had proved decisive. Not coincidentally, and with that vision that always distinguished them, the African leader Oliver Tambo would describe Cuito Cuanavale as “South Africa’s Waterloo,” while for Nelson Mandela, that battle marked “the turning point in the struggle to free the continent and our country from the scourge of apartheid.”

One could talk or write about that victory for hours, even days. Deep reverence for hundreds of protagonists, anonymous but decisive, who neither there nor here sought individual glory.

Yesterday, Sunday, the Earth completed 37 calendars since that March 23rd, and I often recall the diary notes of a South African soldier named V. W. Beling, about the terror the Cuban MIGs inflicted on his ranks, and the deterioration already registered in the political and morale of the attacking troops by early January.

In truth, the V.W. Beling saw the field much clearer than President Pieter W. Botha and several of his ministers, who, drunk with arrogance, had had the audacity to review their troops and enter Angolan soil.

History did not grant them the chance to do so again. After an unstoppable push on the southwestern flank, the aggressor was finally expelled from Angolan soil and had to accept—as a loser—what they had never imagined at the negotiating table. Namibia finally achieved the long-awaited implementation of UN Resolution 435 for its independence, and the segregationist apartheid regime found burial within its own backyard, in South Africa.