Cuba Awards ANC President OR Tambo the Order of Playa Giron

Cuba Awards ANC President OR Tambo the Order of Playa Giron

On this day, exactly forty years ago, 24 March 1986, at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana, Cuba, African National Congress (ANC) President O.R. Tambo was awarded the Playa Giron Order, a national order conferred by the Council of State of Cuba to honor individuals for exceptional contributions to anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist struggles, or for efforts toward peace and human progress.

The Playa Giron Order was established in 1961 and is named after the Playa Girón (Girón beach), site of the Cuban victory in the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban Revolutionary Forces and President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, pinned the insignia on President Tambo’s lapel, while the member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba, Esteban Lazo, said the following:

“… What Cuba wants to point out to the dedicated ANC fighters, to all South African patriots, to world public opinion, with these awards, is that our people, firmly, militantly and unconditionally support all those battling against apartheid, that Cuba is committed, that Cuba is part of the struggle. We don’t have the slightest doubt that the heroic path undertaken by the Black masses and all South African patriots is now irreversible; it will lead to the elimination of the racist system and will be crowned by victory sooner or later.”

In reply, ANC President OR Tambo said, “We receive this high and honourable distinction, aware that it represents the confidence that the Communist Party, government and people of Cuba have bestowed on the African National Congress and the struggling people of Africa, and further, aware that on our home front we are also, through our actions, paying tribute to the memory of the heroes and heroines who gave up their lives in Playa Giron. We accept it, aware that it is tangible proof of the indestructible bonds of solidarity and friendship linking our people.”

“It makes us extremely proud”, Tambo continued, “to know that this is the second occasion on which the ANC and our people receive this honour; the first was given to the great South African patriot, Nelson Mandela. We are particularly moved to receive this Order from the hands of the first combatant of Playa Giron, heroic son of the Cuban people, revolutionary and world statesman, Comrade Fidel Castro, our brother and comrade in arms.”

“As we accept this high honour on behalf of the African National Congress and the revolutionary masses of South Africa, “Tambo underscored, “we are certain that: Democracy, peace and social progress will triumph throughout Southern Africa. Apartheid, racism, colonialism and imperialist domination in our region will be crushed, regardless of the wishes and actions of the forces of reaction. Revolutionary unity and solidarity between the South African and Cuban peoples, cemented in the same battle trenches against a common enemy, will grow more and more toward a new world order of equality among free peoples and peace among nations. On our own coasts, from the Atlantic to the Indian Oceans, counter-revolution will meet its Playa Giron.”

President Tambo also addressed a rally of solidarity with the South African people on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the expulsion of Pretoria’s troops from Angola. He said “the successful defence of Angola was a very important contribution to the struggle being waged today by the South African people. The struggle of the people of South Africa against apartheid, which is a combination of the masses’ political offensive, diplomatic struggle and armed struggle, has plunged the Pretoria regime into total and permanent crisis.”

The Botha regime is unable to rescue the country from the quagmire into which he himself has led it, and every measure this regime takes serves to exacerbate the crisis. The falsehood of the so-called reform programme has been proven, and the racists’ offer to negotiate is nothing more than an attempt to stay in power.

President Tambo concluded by saying that his stay in Cuba had been both fruitful and tremendously successful, and that he was taking with him the assurances of Cuba’s internationalist support, which assumes many forms, each of them important because they add to the people’s capacity to carry out a victorious struggle.

Sources:
Wikipedia.
ANC International, “Cuba Awards President Tambo the Order of Playa Giron”, Sechaba, June 1986.

Castro Khwela
Good day fellow Compatriots!