Che Guevara: In Algiers, Flanking The Saharawi Struggle
CHE GUEVARA: IN ALGIERS, FLANKING THE SAHARAWI STRUGGLE
2007-10-09 15:34
(ANSAmed) - ALGIERS, OCTOBER 9 - It was in Algiers where Ernesto Che Guevara, killed 40 years ago in Bolivia, delivered his last public speech on February 24, 1965 during the Afro-Asian seminar of economic solidarity in which he criticised the imperialism and distanced himself from the Soviet Union, accusing it of "complicity with the imperialist exploitation". It was during his second visit to the North African state after the one in July 1963 when Che stood next to the Saharawi people in the fight against the Spanish colonisation, the Algerian media recall today. "He was happy and proud of being in Algeria, a country that has fought for its freedom and independence," Yacef Saadi, member of the National Liberation Front commander of the "Autonomous zone of Algiers", as well as producer and actor in the role of himself in the mythic film of Gillo Pontecorvo, "The Battle of Algiers", told ANSAmed. "We accompanied him on the streets of the Kasbah; we showed him the places of our revolution. Che spoke a lot, his way of telling stories was magnetic, he was ironic and nice, strength and courage was shining from his eyes." According to the autobiography of a former Cuban agent, Juan Vives, it was then President Ahmed Ben Bella who asked for Che Guevaràs help for the liberation of the Western Sahara population. Rumours have it that it was the Comandante to advise the Saharawi people to organise themselves in a single movement. That is how the Movement for the Liberation of the Sahara was born. Later, in 1972 it became the Movement for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Wadi el Dhahab, today the Polisario Front, the separatist movement that is currently involved in the struggle for self-determination of the population of Western Sahara, which was annexed by Morocco soon after the withdrawal of Spain in 1975. Hundreds of Saharawi people left for Havana to study and receive political education. When in 1963 Morocco attacked Algeria, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara sent a battalion of 22 armoured vehicles and some hundred soldiers ready to intervene in case the "sand war" lasted longer. "We pay homage to the heroic people of Vietnam, Laos, Guinea, South Africa, Palestine; we pay homage to all exploited countries which fight for their emancipation. Our voices must be heard, we must stretch out our hands and offer our help to our brothers in Venezuela, Guatemala, and Colombia who now take their weapons and say a firm no to the imperialist enemy." With these words, Che ended his last speech accusing the Soviet Union of "complicity with the imperialist exploitation". (ANSAmed).
http://tinyurl.com/3yjgaw
2007-10-09 15:34
(ANSAmed) - ALGIERS, OCTOBER 9 - It was in Algiers where Ernesto Che Guevara, killed 40 years ago in Bolivia, delivered his last public speech on February 24, 1965 during the Afro-Asian seminar of economic solidarity in which he criticised the imperialism and distanced himself from the Soviet Union, accusing it of "complicity with the imperialist exploitation". It was during his second visit to the North African state after the one in July 1963 when Che stood next to the Saharawi people in the fight against the Spanish colonisation, the Algerian media recall today. "He was happy and proud of being in Algeria, a country that has fought for its freedom and independence," Yacef Saadi, member of the National Liberation Front commander of the "Autonomous zone of Algiers", as well as producer and actor in the role of himself in the mythic film of Gillo Pontecorvo, "The Battle of Algiers", told ANSAmed. "We accompanied him on the streets of the Kasbah; we showed him the places of our revolution. Che spoke a lot, his way of telling stories was magnetic, he was ironic and nice, strength and courage was shining from his eyes." According to the autobiography of a former Cuban agent, Juan Vives, it was then President Ahmed Ben Bella who asked for Che Guevaràs help for the liberation of the Western Sahara population. Rumours have it that it was the Comandante to advise the Saharawi people to organise themselves in a single movement. That is how the Movement for the Liberation of the Sahara was born. Later, in 1972 it became the Movement for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Wadi el Dhahab, today the Polisario Front, the separatist movement that is currently involved in the struggle for self-determination of the population of Western Sahara, which was annexed by Morocco soon after the withdrawal of Spain in 1975. Hundreds of Saharawi people left for Havana to study and receive political education. When in 1963 Morocco attacked Algeria, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara sent a battalion of 22 armoured vehicles and some hundred soldiers ready to intervene in case the "sand war" lasted longer. "We pay homage to the heroic people of Vietnam, Laos, Guinea, South Africa, Palestine; we pay homage to all exploited countries which fight for their emancipation. Our voices must be heard, we must stretch out our hands and offer our help to our brothers in Venezuela, Guatemala, and Colombia who now take their weapons and say a firm no to the imperialist enemy." With these words, Che ended his last speech accusing the Soviet Union of "complicity with the imperialist exploitation". (ANSAmed).
http://tinyurl.com/3yjgaw
bin66 - 12. Okt, 00:29
