adminSenior Reporter
ZANU-PF national chairman Cde Simon Khaya Moyo has celebrated the existing rapport between Cuba and Zimbabwe saying the two were revolutionary twins.
Addressing students at the High Institute of Foreign Relations in La Habana, Cuba, on Tuesday, Cde Khaya Moyo said Cuba and Zimbabwe found each other so many years ago as they fought colonial injustice.
“The struggles for the end of colonial subjugation, racial and class privilege in both Zimbabwe and Cuba were very similar and started at about the same time in the 1950s,” he said.
“It was the common desire for true justice that drove the people of Cuba to decide that justice would only come through the barrel of the gun and took their destiny and sovereignty by force. The Cuban people also resolved to keep their sovereignty intact, and that has been tested over the years. The detractors of this country have always found Cuba ready and willing to defend its rights.”
Cde Khaya Moyo said the liberation movements of Zimbabwe have a very heavy debt to Cuba.
“Working with our late Father Zimbabwe Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo, El Commandant, President Fidel Castro and the might of the Cuban armed forces assisted the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army, Zipra, to transform itself from being simply the armed wing of a nationalist party into a formidable fighting force,” he said.
Added Cde Khaya Moyo, “Under the encouragement of the Liberation Committee of the Organisation of African Unity, the precursor of today’s African Union and sister revolutionary comrades like the Communist Party of Cuba and the Chinese Communist Party, the then Zapu and Zanu liberation movements formed the Patriotic Front in order to deliver a final united blow to the settler regime of Rhodesia.”
Cde Khaya Moyo said the mutually beneficial relationship has continued to grow as in the almost 35 years after Zimbabwe’s independence hundreds of Cubans have had the opportunity to work in an independent Zimbabwe as doctors, teachers and other professionals.
“As you can also see with the presence of Zimbabwean students here with us today, hundreds of Zimbabweans have come to Cuba in continuation of your very generous offers — hosting future generations of Zimbabwean professionals in their formative years,” said Cde Khaya Moyo.
“So like twins, Cuba and Zimbabwe have experienced the same birth, have had the same life and it’s not surprising therefore that we both ended up with unilateral and illegal economic sanctions slapped on us by the United States and Britain, primarily for what we have always believed in.”
He said while Cuba has lived a heroic 53 years under these illegal economic measures, Zimbabwe has suffered the same experience of economic sanctions for almost 15 years now.
“Comrades, our perceived crime against these countries are the same. Let’s not be fooled by the complicated demands for all manner of things in order to normalise relationships with them. The crime is that we defeated them and we’re ruling our own countries without them and we’re determining our own policies,” he said.
Cde Khaya Moyo said the Zanu-PF government crafted Zim-Asset adding that the economic blueprint was driving the country’s economic performance up to 2018.
“All economic activities have been organised into four clusters of Food Security and Nutrition, Infrastructure and Utilities, Value Addition and Beneficiation and Social Services and Poverty Eradication. This is the mandate that we got from the people and we’re pursuing it sanctions or no sanctions. Not negotiable,” he said.
Turning to the region, Cde Khaya Moyo said Sadc was prosperous and peaceful, except for perhaps two countries — that is, parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Kingdom of Lesotho.
“These security concerns are receiving due attention from, both, Sadc and the AU and we hope to see resolution of those conflicts soon. Our aim, as a region, is to concentrate on the business of economic prosperity in a completely peaceful social and political environment,” he said.
He said the threat of the spread of the Ebola virus had the full attention of the leadership of Sadc adding that the Ministers of Health were currently engaged in implementing appropriate counter measures.
“It’s important to be ready to tackle any outbreak and this readiness will also be useful in strengthening our collective public health capabilities as a region, as Africa, and globally for diseases know no borders.”
Online Reporter