The United States is putting pressure on South Africa to break diplomatic ties with Cuba, reports Stefaans Brummer
SOUTH Africa is fast becoming a proxy battlefield for American policy on Cuba — but Pretoria’s diplomats appeared this week to be resisting pressure to toe Uncle Sam’s line on Fidel Castro.
Department of Foreign Affairs representative Enrico Kemp said South Africa was going ahead with plans to consummate its young relationship with Cuba and that an advance party had already been to Havana to plan for an
“We do not believe our relations will pose a threat to any country or that they will have a significant influence on the existing good relations between the United States and South Africa,” he said.
While Kemp would not name the ambassador South Africa had in mind for Cuba, it is understood Cabinet has already approved John Nkadimeng, former trade unionist and liberation struggle stalwart, as ambassador- designate. Nkadimeng, who returned to South Africa in 1990 after 14 years in exile, is on the ANC national executive and the South African Communist Party central
South Africa formally established diplomatic relations with Cuba on May 11 last year — the day after President Mandela’s inauguration, which was attended by Cuba’s President Castro — and Cuba sent its first ambassador to South Africa late last year.
But the prospect of South Africa actually opening a mission in Cuba was too much for the United States anti-Castro lobby. Ten days ago, four Congress leaders, all chairing influential House of Representatives committees in foreign relations and led by Africa subcommittee chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, wrote to Franklin Sonn, South Africa’s ambassador in Washington, protesting the decision.
They also complained that South Africa was “even thinking of inviting Fidel Castro to South Africa as an honoured guest of your government”. Cuba’s embassy in Pretoria confirmed this week that Castro had been invited to South Africa, but could not confirm whether the visit would take place.
The Congress leaders, who arguably have some influence in shaping American policy towards South Africa, wrote in a barely veiled threat: “The clear message of such a decision (to send an ambassador) would be to tell the American people that South Africa does not share our commitment to liberty, justice and democracy. Such a message could have significant impact on the Congress’s relations with your country.”
That letter comes against the background of increasing isolation of America in its hardline stance and trade blockade against Cuba. Already Canada, Britain and France are scooping up the Cuba trade opportunities denied American companies by the blockade, and America is struggling to maintain support for its position in the United Nations and other international forums.
Attempts to toughen the embargo — inter alia by forcing penalties on other countries which disregard it — are embodied in controversial amendments to US legislation on Cuba being considered by Congress committees at the moment. Raymond Suttner, ANC MP and chair of parliament’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, this week slammed this as an attempt to “legislate beyond US borders, which is illegal in terms of international law”.
It appears to be South Africa’s stature as moral leader in the Third World and the Non-Aligned Movement that has attracted the attention of the US, which must realise that South Africa would be a key to international support for, or rejection of, its sanctions on Havana.
Sonn’s embassy replied to the congressional letter that Sonn “will be in South Africa soon on other matters and will take the opportunity to consult further and discuss this issue at the highest level”, but also made it clear that diplomatic relations with Cuba were there to stay.
“Diplomatic relations have been established with Cuba in keeping with the non-ideological posture that the government has set itself. It is also in keeping with our desire to promote democratisation through dialogue and non-confrontational diplomacy,” the embassy reply
It seems the only area where South Africa has been willing to toe the US line has been in arms exports. A blacklist of countries with whom South Africa won’t trade arms, revealed by the Mail & Guardian last week, includes Cuba.
A Department of Foreign Affairs explanation of the classification of countries for arms exports made it clear that “the US responds to the export by foreign countries of arms to Cuba by imposing punitive measures … That country will also be ineligible to receive US foreign assistance for a period of 12 months.”
While the National Party remains vigorously opposed to relations with Cuba — its bitter enemy in the Angolan war of the 1970s and 1980s — there appears to be no dearth of supporters for the Cuban cause in South Africa. The supporters are said to include President Nelson Mandela, who would find it difficult to forget the favours the Cubans did the ANC and Umkontho we Sizwe cadres in Angola.
Several ANC cabinet ministers, including Trevor Manuel, Dullah Omar and Kader Asmal, as well as Gauteng Premier Tokyo Sexwale, ANC deputy secretary general Cheryl Carolus, and influential church, labour and political leaders, have thrown their weight behind a Southern African conference in solidarity with Cuba, to be held in Johannesburg in October.
The conference is the brainchild of several South African Cuba friendship associations, which appear to be growing in strength. Three, in the Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu/Natal, are already well- established, while similar bodies in three more provinces are in their infancy.
Cuban embassy political and media councillor Elio Savon this week charged that the US was “threatening other countries and interfering in the right to have relations with the countries you want”.
He said Cuba admitted it had “shortcomings and mistakes”, but said it would not make concessions because of American policy.