“The man who fought for Africa from across the ocean”

By Fortune Madondo

He came to Africa not to take, not to dictate policy or impose his own will, but to stand shoulder to shoulder with Africa. And his legacy is as clear as daylight: small nations can stand tall when they defend their dignity and sovereignty. Just like Cuba, which has become synonymous with resilience and national sovereignty. For Africa, Fidel Castro is a giant of international solidarity because of his unwavering commitment to justice, healthcare, education, and the liberation of oppressed people.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born on 13 August 1926 in Birán, Cuba. Fidel Castro came to power on 1 January 1959 after the successful Cuban Revolution. He led Cuba for forty-nine years, until February 2008, when he officially stepped down and handed power to his brother, Raúl Castro. Fidel Castro died on 25 November 2016, at the age of 90, in Havana, Cuba.

If there was one region that benefited from Fidel Castro coming to power, it was Africa. After taking power in Cuba, Fidel Castro did not look only inward. He looked at Africa and saw the same fight. The same chains. The same empires. The same racism. Driven by a policy of revolutionary internationalism and anti-colonial solidarity, Fidel Castro and Cuba under his leadership played a profound and transformative role in modern African history.

The 1960s

Just three years after coming to power in Havana, in _1962_ — considered Fidel Castro’s first mission — he sent Cuban doctors and soldiers arriving just weeks after Algerian independence to help rebuild the North African nation. In _1965_, Castro sent his revolutionary comrade, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, to train freedom fighters alongside Patrice Lumumba’s comrades in the Congo. During the same period, Cuba trained guerrillas from Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and others.

Angola 1975 to 1991: Cuba, The Southern African Game Changer

When the South African Defence Forces (SADF) and CIA-backed forces tried to crush Angola, Cuba sent over 300,000 personnel in a period of 16 years.

The Siege of Cuito Cuanavale

Fidel Castro and Cuba shaped Southern African history, particularly in Angola, Namibia, and South Africa. And it all comes down to the Cuito Cuanavale military engagements. The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale is one of the turning points in Southern African history, and Cuba was right at the center of it. Castro’s Cuban troops in Angola, starting in 1975, were supporting the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).

The Siege of Cuito Cuanavale was a series of epoch-shaping battles and military engagements along the banks of the Lomba River, in the vicinity of Cuito Cuanavale in south-eastern Angola, between UNITA, aided by the SADF. The siege took place from August 1987 to March 1988. Apartheid aggression was put to a decisive stop, thanks to the support of Castro’s Cuban army. These military engagements were instrumental in the withdrawal of apartheid South African forces from Angola and in paving the way for the liberation of Namibia.

The decisive military blow delivered to the apartheid SADF forces by the Angolan army, aided by Cuban forces, eventually forced the apartheid Pretoria administration to negotiate. This smoothed the path not only for Namibia’s independence but also for majority rule in South Africa in 1994. Even Nelson Mandela is on record crediting Cuba’s sacrifices as a major turning point in freeing South Africa. On one of his first official visits after being released from prison, Nelson Mandela visited Havana, Cuba. During a mass rally in Matanzas celebrating the 28th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, Mandela delivered a famous speech. The visit was a public gesture of gratitude to Fidel Castro and the Cuban people for their long-standing support during South Africa’s liberation struggle. Mandela was quoted as saying:

“The Cuban people hold a special place in the hearts of the people of Africa. The Cuban internationalists have contributed to African independence, freedom and justice unparalleled for its principled and selfless character”. (1)

Humanitarian & Medical Internationalism

Fidel Castro dispatched thousands of Cuban doctors, nurses, and healthcare specialists to newly independent and developing African nations to build public health infrastructure and treat diseases. In 2014, during Ebola, Cuba sent 256 doctors and nurses to West Africa — the largest medical team in the world at that time.

Education and Training

Cuba provided full scholarships and free higher education to thousands of African students, training them as doctors, engineers, and teachers in institutions in Cuba. All in all, it is estimated that Fidel Castro sent between 300,000 and 450,000 Cuban personnel — including combat soldiers, military advisors, and civilian volunteers like doctors and teachers — to various African nations from the 1960s through the late 1980s. At the peak of deployment in Angola alone, troop numbers surpassed 35,000 to 50,000 at any one time. (2)

Global Standing: Diplomatic & Political Solidarity

Cuba positioned itself as an unyielding champion of the Global South against both Western imperialism and Cold War dominance, earning Castro enduring status as a liberation hero across much of the African continent.

What Castro Stood For?

Historic Speech

On 12 October 1979, Cuban leader Fidel Castro delivered a historic address to the 34th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. Speaking not just for Cuba, but as Chairperson of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), he used the global platform to launch a sharp critique against global inequality, economic exploitation, racism, and colonialism. Part of his speech, which remains very relevant to this day, reads:

“We want a new world order based on justice, equality and peace to replace the unfair and unequal system that prevails today under which, according to the proclamation in the Havana Declaration, wealth continues to be concentrated in the hands of a few powers whose economies, based on waste, are maintained thanks to the exploitation of workers and to the transfer and plundering of natural and other resources of countries in Africa, Latin America and other regions of the world”. (3)

This quote demonstrates Castro’s belief in fighting colonialism, racism, and imperialism, and is a testament to his commitment to the well-being of people of African descent around the world.

Torulagha (2020) argues that Castro was never motivated by economic, selfish, or geopolitical considerations, but rather by altruism, the certainty of his worldview, and the historical connection between the peoples of Cuba and Africa. The principle of international solidarity, socialism, and the emancipation of Africa was a much-desired aspiration for Castro.

Fidel Castro and his socialist government were at the forefront, supporting liberation movements in their struggle against colonialism. Castro sent doctors, not bombs, to Africa. He sent medical personnel — very good doctors — and well-trained fighters, just to help. Not to steal, to take, or to impose conditions. To help. To support. What a friend!

The name Fidel Castro will forever be mentioned alongside Africa’s fight for freedom, justice, and emancipation from imperial and neocolonial tentacles. This is because of Fidel Castro’s massive military, medical, and educational contributions and sacrifices to Africa.

Conclusion

Fidel Castro was not African by birth, but he fought like he was. Separated from Africa by the Atlantic Ocean, Cuba had neither colonial ambitions nor territorial claims. Instead, it sent soldiers, doctors, teachers, engineers, and technical specialists. Thousands volunteered to fight for countries they had never seen. Many never returned home. Unlike colonial armies that arrived to conquer, exploit, and occupy, Cubans came to defend liberation movements that sought to govern themselves. This remains one of the most extraordinary acts of international solidarity in modern history. And for that reason, Fidel Castro is a friend, a comrade, and an unforgettable revolutionary figure in African history and memory.  

Long live the memory and spirit of Fidel Castro!!!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Fortune Madondo is a Zimbabwean Pan-Africanist writer, political analyst, and decolonial thinker. His work is characterized by a staunch, unapologetic, defiant, Pan-Africanist and anti-imperialist stance, often addressing issues of neocolonialism and the need for African self-determination. His writing champions global South solidarity, regularly critiquing global powers’ hegemony and resource exploitation in Africa. His work is driven by his core Pan-Africanist framework: African sovereignty, anti-paternalism, African geopolitics; in all this, he advocates for socio-economic justice. He is a youth empowerment advocate, organiser, activist, and a founder of a youth organisation.