Читать книгу How Far We Slaves Have Come - Nelson Mandela - Страница 5

1 January 1959 – The Cuban revolution triumphs over the US-backed dictatorship.

21 March 1960 – South African police open fire on a crowd of Black protesters at Sharpeville, killing sixty-nine. The apartheid regime subsequently proclaims a state of emergency and bans the ANC and other anti-apartheid organisations.

5 August 1962 – Mandela is captured by South African police. He is convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for incitement to strike and leaving the country without a passport.

11 June 1964 – Mandela, already serving a prison term, and seven ANC leaders are found guilty of sabotage in the Rivonia trial and are sentenced to life imprisonment.

1965 – Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara aids liberation forces in the Congo.

5 November 1975 – Cuba decides to send troops to Angola to combat a South African invasion endangering Angola’s upcoming independence. By late March 1976 the South African forces are driven back across Angola’s border with Namibia.

16 June 1976 – Police open fire on protesting South African schoolchildren in Soweto, sparking the first sustained nationwide protests since 1960.

November 1987 – South African troops encircle Angolan forces at Cuito Cuanavale, creating a critical situation for the Angolan government. Cuba decides to send thousands of reinforcements and sufficient military equipment to prevent a South African victory.

January-March 1988 – Cuban troops, together with Angolan and SWAPO troops, repulse five South African assaults and break the siege of Cuito Cuanavale. Immediately afterward, Cuban, Angolan, and SWAPO forces begin to drive the South African troops back towards Angola’s southern border.

13 July 1988 – Representatives of the United States, South Africa, Angola, and Cuba sign a fourteen-point statement setting a framework for South African withdrawal from Angola and Namibia’s independence from South African colonial rule. A final agreement is signed 22 December.

2 February 1990 – The South African government announces the unbanning of the ANC and other organisations.

11 February 1990 – Mandela is released from prison after twenty-seven and a half years.

21 March 1990 – Namibia celebrates its independence from South African rule.

25 May 1991 – The last Cuban troops leave Angola under an agreement between the Cuban and Angolan governments.

25-27 July 1991 – Mandela visits Cuba.