In a world of shifting alliances, Cuba stands on principles, by Owei Lakemfa

I walked into the Casa de Africa or Africa House in Havana. I wanted to find out what made it uniquely African. But I was in for a surprise. I had not realised that it also housed a unique class for children learning basic subjects like history, geography and African languages, including Yoruba.

I tried to tip toe so as not to disturb the class. The tour guide, Miguel Abreu and I spoke in low tones. But the children had been told a friend of Cuba was visiting. They rose and welcomed me with a song.

How was I to explain to these fifth graders that the primary cause of their country’s problems is that it has a neighbour 95 miles away which for 63 years has imposed severe sanctions on it?

So, I assured them that their country has friends across the universe, particularly in Africa. The interpretation in Spanish, was by one of the children. We took photographs and they continued their lessons.

At the House, I also ran into an African delegation which included the Zimbabwean and Namibian Ambassadors. We took photographs under a huge map of Africa.

Cuba had made a decisive military intervention in Africa, sending thousands of its youths to fight Apartheid forces and liberate the continent from colonialism. The Castro government in the 1980s had to explain to the Cuban people why their youths were shedding precious blood to extricate African countries like Angola, Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe from the stranglehold of the Apartheid forces and, to decolonise Namibia and South Africa. The establishment of Casa de Africa was partly to explain to the people why Cubans were fighting and sacrificing their lives in Africa, some 11,000 kilometres away.

The Director of the House is Alberto Granado Duque. He is the son of Alberto Granado, the biochemist who with the legendary revolutionary, Ernesto  Che Guevera in 1951, set out on a motorcycle tour of Latin America. Amongst those who had visited the House was the Ooni of Ife Olubuse who was there in 1986. 

Part of the theme the House depicted was that Africa is the mother of humanity and that slavery was the greatest crime against humanity.

Many of the slaves brought to Cuba were from the ‘Congo and Calabari’ area of present day Nigeria. They were in constant revolt against the system and many lost their lives in the process. For them, it was either freedom or death. This might explain where Cubans got their resolve to resist oppression under any sky.

The slaves who worked an average 15 hours daily, in their spare time played rumba, deepened their ancestral culture most of which they eventually merged. Even when they conspired against the slave owners and the system, in many cases, they used gestures and symbols. The 78-year-old Abreu told me: “We speak with our eyes, our hands and our legs.”

Some of the almost 5,000 pieces on display included chains and shackles used during the slavery era. Cuba was one of the earliest sugar producers in the world and it was for it millions were enslaved. One of the main reasons for the US blockage since 1962, was the nationalisation of the sugar industry by the Castro government.

Also on display was the traditional religion of the Cuban people which is a blend of African traditions, mainly of the Yoruba people, and Catholicism. It is called Santeria.

On display at the House were gods of this religion, especially Obatala, Yemaya (Yemoja)  O Hun (Osun), Oya and Sango, the god of thunder and lightning.

There were also gifts from various parts of Africa on display. These include two stuffed lions given to Fidel by Emperor Haile Sellasie and, a lion skin by then Somalian President Siad Barre. There were also two big carvings by Nigeria’s Bisi Fakeye.

I was also at Africa Heroes Park in Havana. There busts of outstanding African leaders like those of Samora Machel and Eduardo Modlande from Mozambique, Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo of South Africa, Sekou Toure of Guinea, and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana were on display. Also in the park were busts of Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta, Amilcar Cabral of Guinea Bissau, Laurent-Desire Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mwalimu Julius Nyerere of Tanzania. Three former Nigerian leaders, Tafawa Balewa, Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe were painted on a pedestal, obviously waiting for their busts to be made or donated.

My primary purpose for being in Cuba from March 13-22, 2025 was to attend the Fourth International Colloquium, otherwise called the Patria. The conference held against the background of two anniversaries: the 133rd year since the establishment of the ‘Patria Newspapers’ founded by Cuban international revolutionary, Jose Marti, and the twentieth anniversary of the international television network, teleSUR inspired by Fidel Castro, then President of Cuba and, Hugo Chavez, then President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

The colloquium explored the dynamics of power in an interconnected world, challenges of hate speech, disinformation and the general manipulation of information. It also examined the global hegemonic powers in techno-politics and how collective efforts can be made by other groups to foster “networks of hope and popular mobilization.”

The Cuban President, Miguel Diaz-Canel, attended sessions of the conference. At the opening ceremony, he spent generous time taking photographs on the steps of the University of Havana. It was when he was leaving I realised that a car I was a few metres away from was actually his official car and that three men I stood around with were his bodyguards. I was used to bodyguards in dark suits, wearing dark glasses and dangling earphones. In contrast, the Cuban Presidential guards seemed to have blended with the populace and environment.

At the over one hour closing session, Diaz-Canel simply listened.

There were lots of documentaries. In one of them, a Palestinian woman tells an Israeli: “You are stealing my house” The Israeli replied: “If I don’t, someone else will steal it.”

Delegates generally agreed that the criteria for belonging to the emergent group is to be anti-imperialist, anti-fascist and anti-Zionist. A participant raised the problem of Zionism hiding under Judaism; how to separate the parasite from Judaism.

There were lots of discussions on media linkages and suggestions made about organising groups per country.

I also had the privilege of meeting a management team of the University of Havana led by the Vice Rector, Dionisio Zaldivar. At the university which was established on January 5, 1728, we discussed possible linkages with some Nigeria universities. I proposed these could be in the fields of history and international relations.

I found Cuba while existing in a world of shifting alliances, ever standing on principles.

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