Cuito Cuanavale: The Battle and the Talks to End the War

The combat at Cuito Cuanavale lasted six months

and became Africa's largest battle since World War II.

The whole effort was conducted by, uh, Fidel

Castro by telephone from Havana.

He was the commanding officer. How you can do a thing like that, I

wouldn't know.

It, I mean, it's impossible. It gave us a problem from our

side.

At last, the South Africans, Angolans, Cubans, and Americans

sat to discuss concrete steps to end the war.

It was a meeting almost of

emotional hatred. Mr.

Rosquete,

he, he started by launching a vicious

attack on us. Vicious.

Saying, "You've always been imperialists, racists,

uh, capitalists,

you know, uh, uh,

causing trouble wherever you went," et cetera, et cetera.

We went for a drink, uh, in this, uh, pub in the

Cairo Hotel.

There were some Cubans, including, uh, Mr. Rosquete.

Then we had a drink together, and I said to him,

"Has it ever occurred to you

that we could both be winners?"

And he chuckled in his drink, uh, uh,

and he said, "What do you mean?" I said to him, "Look,

to put it in simple terms,

if we carry on with this war, we will both be losers.

If you withdraw your troops on the basis of having given

Namibia its independence, your leader, Fidel

Castro, can claim that he won.

You claim a victory of a greater nature, namely the

freedom of the people of Namibia you have achieved.

And I say to the White voters of South Africa, 'I got rid of the

Cuban troops in Angola,

and our war is also ended.'

That makes us both winners."

And suddenly, I, I could see a total

dramatic change

in his whole attitude.