How Far We Slaves Have Come

Abstract

This book presents the historic joint occasion where Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro shared a platform in Matanzas, Cuba in 1991. It includes their full speeches and contextual material explaining the long-standing political and military solidarity between Cuba and liberation movements in Southern Africa, especially the African National Congress (ANC).

The text highlights Cuba’s military support to Angola against apartheid-backed forces, the weakening of South African apartheid through international pressure and internal resistance, and the ideological connection between socialist internationalism and African liberation struggles. It frames the meeting between Mandela and Castro as a symbolic convergence of two major anti-imperialist movements of the 20th century.