-DATE-
19810616
-YEAR-
1981
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
SPEECH
-AUTHOR-
F. CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
INT'L DAY OF SOLIDARITY W/PEOPLE OF S. AFRICA
-PLACE-
UNITED NATIONS
-SOURCE-
GRANMA WEEKLY REVIEW
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19810626
-TEXT-
FIDEL CASTRO SCORES UNITED STATES ON SOUTH AFRICAN POLICY

Havana GRANMA WEEKLY REVIEW in English 26 Jun 81 p 1

[Text of message from Fidel Castro to Akporode Clark on the occasion of the
International Day of Solidarity with the Struggling Peoples of Southern
Africa]

[Text]

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 16 (PL).-- The head of state and governments of
Cuba, Fidel Castro, sent a message to Akporode Clark, president of the
Special Committee on Apartheid, on the occasion of the International Day of
Solidarity with the Struggling Peoples of Southern Africa being
commemorated here.

In his capacity, as chairman of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries,
Fidel Castro condemned the United States for the military, economic,
political and diplomatic aid to the South African racist regime.

The full text of the message is as follows:

On the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the
Struggling Peoples of Southern Africa, we express our solidarity and
support for our struggling African brothers and sisters, who every day
sacrifice their lives in an unequal battle for independence and for
fundamental and inalienable rights -- rights denied to them under the
wicked and inhuman system of apartheid by the racist minority now usurpong
power in South Africa and Namibia.

The process of deconolization has now reached its final stage.
Supported by the world's progressive forces, tha national liberation
movements are making important headway, and in spite of all the
difficulties they face, the day is fast approaching when the last bastions
of colonialism and racial oppression in southern Africa will be demolished.

In contemptuous disregard of the decisions of the United Nations, the
Organization of African Unity and the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries,
the South African Government has refused to withdraw the troops illegally
occupying Namibia, upholding the apartheid regime there and thus promoting
the exploitation of the Namibian people and the plunder of their natural
resources. Led by SWAPO,their sole legitimate representative, and supported
by constantly growing solidarity, the Namibian people continue to rebel and
struggle against this oppression.

Apartheid violates all the fundamental principles of civilized society.
But its very nature it is an irritant, a provocation and a threat to
international peace.

In spite of countless efforts made by the United Nations, the
Organization of African Unity; the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and
other international organizations on behalf of southern Africa's oppressed
peoples, the racist regime in Pretoria is waging a racist war against
millions of people, continuing to occupy Namibia illegally and threatening
and attacking is neighbors, which are peace-loving sovereign states. It is
to blame for the increasingly tense and explosive situation in that part of
the African continent.

The Pretoria regime persists in a policy of bloddy repression against
the black population which forms the overwhelming majority in the country,
jailing, torturing and murdering their fighters and applying the harshest
measures against the entire people. Even women and children have been
killed on the streets and in the prisons.

We all angrily recall the savage slaughter of peaceful demonstrtors in
Soweto in 1976, the South African regime's repressive answer to the African
population's wholehearted rejection of the policy of racial discrimination.
We recall, too, the Cassinga massacre, when hundreds of Namibian refugees
were murdered in Angolan territory, in violation of that country's
territorial integrity and sovereignty.

The policy of apartheld and the illegal occupation of Namibia can only
be mantained with the help of certain powers, such as the United States,
whose support to apartheid was denounced by the foreign ministers of the
members of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Countries at their
recent meeting in Algiers.

During the 6th Summit Conference of the Movement of Non-Aligned
Countries held in Havana, the heads of state and government paid homage to
the heroism displayed by the South African people and their liberation
movement, praised the Namibian people and SWAPO for intensifying the
carrying forward the armed struggle, and reiterated their conviction that
this form of struggle must be given total and active support if the full
liberation of Namibia is to be hastened.

We condemn South Africa's continued violation of the principles of
international law. Relying on military, economic, political and diplomatic
aid from the Government of the United States and its allies, it is
committing aggression against Angola, Mozambique and other neighboring
countries.

We further condemn all attempts by the imperialists and South Africa to
uphold the legal status of the puppet regime set up in Nambia, with which
they are trying to silence the world's demand for the independence of
Namibia and to make its people lay down their weapons.

Once again we show our solidarity with the Namibian and South African
peoples and with all other peoples struggling to obtain their legitimate
rights. We condemn the economic activities and interests of the imperialist
and colonialist powers in southern Africa, which prop up the racist South
African minority regime in order to safeguard their own economic and
strategic interests.

Finally, we wish to make it clear that we will never forget those who
have fallen in defense of the most basic human rights, those who have
dedicated their lives to struggle for the equality of all, social justice
and world peace.

Fidel Castro Ruz
President of the Council of
State and of the Government
-END-