No. 6/2016 May 23, 2016
OSPAAL
The indissoluble connection existing between
our tricontinental organization and Africa
I am pleased to have the privilege and the high responsibility of saying a few words on behalf of the international Executive Secretariat of OSPAAAL in this Tricontinental Audiovisual Space entitled “Unity, Solidarity and Internationalism with the Brotherly African Peoples”, dedicated to the Day of Africa, the Fifty-third anniversary of the foundation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the Fourteenth anniversary of the creation of the African Union (AU).
Early this year we celebrated half a century of existence of the Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America (OSPAAAL), which emerged as a result of the agreements of the First Tricontinental Conference held in Havana in January of 1966.
It is now the moment to recall milestones of the indissoluble connection existing between our tricontinental organization and Africa, its national liberation movements, its political forces and its peoples.
– To recall that the most immediate antecedent to the constitution of OSPAAAL was the birth of the Afro-Asian Peoples´ Solidarity Organization (AAPSO) in 1957, with headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. OSPAA granted decided support to the impulse that was being gained by the decolonization and the rise of national independences. It had been founded by scarcely twenty-nine independent countries from both regions and six national liberation movements to grant mutual assistance and solidarity, which required dissemination in order to face successfully the challenges of colonialist serfdom.
– To bear in mind that during AAPSO’s Third Conference, held in Moshi, Tanzania, in 1963, the first concrete steps were given for the meeting in Havana, offered as venue by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro in a message sent to the participants of that meeting.
– To keep in mind that two years later, at AAPSO’s Fourth Conference, held in Winneba, Ghana, and with the determinant support and moral authority of Kwame Nkrumah, the decision was made to convoke to the First Tricontinental Conference in Cuba, coincident with the seventh anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution.
– To highlight that among the African personalities who illuminated with their example and ideas the First Tricontinental Conference was the leader of the national liberation process of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde, Amílcar Cabral.
– To recall that one of the main animators of the idea of constructing a strong alliance of the peoples from the three continents was Moroccan leader El Mehdi Ben Barka, who was to become the president of the Organizing Committee of the First Tricontinental Conference. With the clear intention of frustrating the organization of the Conference in Havana, Ben Barka was kidnapped and later assassinated on October 29, 1965, a few days after his return from a trip to Cuba.
– To underline that is the reason why the name of a personality from the north of Africa honors the most important decoration awarded by OSPAAAL to the most outstanding Third World leaders. Distinguished African personalities have received the “El Mehdi Ben Barka” Order of Solidarity. The first one to receive it was South African leader Nelson Mandela.
The celebration of the Tricontinental Conference of Havana was an event of world relevance. For the first time delegates from the anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist organizations from the three continents were coming together. The idea of unifying efforts aimed at uprooting all forms of colonialism, at frustrating aggressions coming from imperialism and reactionary forces, at speeding up the peoples’ liberation, at ensuring their economic, social and cultural development, at consolidating the movement of solidarity of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, and maintaining an active and permanent link and coordination of all countries struggling to conquer or maintain their independence was becoming effective and turning for the first time into a reality.
As representative of the international Executive Secretariat of OSPAAAL, which will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary precisely in a few days, on May 31, 2016, I express my thankfulness for the permanent solidarity of our organization over so many years in support of the main causes of our peoples, and particularly toward the countries that make up the Executive Secretariat.
The fighters for the national liberation of Angola participated actively in the foundation of OSPAAAL and of its first Executive Secretariat. Brought together in a delegation that comprised the independence fighters of the so-called Portuguese colonies, the Angolan militants left a legacy in OSPAAAL that lasts up to our days. A few days ago we shared great emotion when the image of Paulo Texeira Jorge, unforgettable for his courage and revolutionary firmness, was placed in the Gallery of OSPAAAL Founders because of his dedication, steel principles, human sensibility and infinite optimism in victory.
Conscious of the existence of many pending causes and of peoples who fight for their national rights, we must increase and multiply the initiatives of solidarity so that Puerto Rico may obtain its independence, Western Sahara its self-determination and Palestine its right to the creation of its Independent State.
We celebrate this meeting today on the occasion of the Day of Africa with the conviction of deepening ever more the bonds of brotherhood, solidarity and cooperation that exist among all our peoples and organizations.
Cuba is and will be indissolubly linked to the African continent by cultural and historical ties, by solidarity and combatant internationalism, by permanent brotherhood. The history of our continent could not be written without the word Cuba.
OSPAAAL, whose venue is in this island of freedom and unity, considers itself part of the present and future of the African continent and will continue to contribute, with modesty and sincerity, to the defense of the principles of sovereignty and independence of its peoples, to its development and prosperity, to its aspirations of equality and justice, and to the necessary unity, solidarity and internationalism that strengthen all our Third World peoples.
UNTIL VICTORY ALWAYS!
