Barely two years after the revolution, in 1961, President Castro sent a ship laden with arms, including cannons and 105mm howitzers to Algerian leader Ahmed ben Bella. Such was Fidel Castroà ‚¬ „ s overwhelming desire to fight against imperial oppression wherever it is found. During the war hundreds of thousands of Algerians lost their lives and as of the writing of the book, the French military has not delivered all the maps of all the mines they planted there before leaving.
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Two other extraordinary events also took place during that initial, feeble attempt to fight colonization beyond Cubaà ‚¬ „ s borders. The first occurred at the return voyage of that first ship filled with weaponry. Rather than returning empty, President Castro decided to fill it with around 100 war-orphaned children, thus starting a Cuban precedent of reaching out to the most innocent and most victimized of any war the children, and helping as many as possible.
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The second Cuban precedent that began with President Castroà ‚¬ „ s assistance to the Algerian rebels was the addition of dozens of Cuban doctors to the list of deliverables. Even though over half of Cubaà ‚¬ „ s doctors fled the country during the first months of the revolution, President Castro still found it necessary to ensure that medical help was never far behind military necessity.
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This concept of providing relief as well as the means of liberation is something that Cuba still practices today. When Hurricane Katrina battered the states of Louisiana and Mississippi in late August, 2005, Cuba offered to send over 1,000 doctors to aid in the recovery. Even though this aid was flatly refused by then President Bush, who preferred condemning his own citizens to death than accepting aid from Cuba, President Castro went on to form the Henry Reeve International Contingent of Doctors Specialized in Disaster Situations and Serious Epidemics to help nations around the world who have been struck by major natural disasters. In honor of American Henry Reeves, who gave his life to the Cuban revolution in 1878, the contingent today comprises thousands of doctors from Cuba and beyond and have worked to save lives in Pakistan, Guatemala and elsewhere.
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But the Cuban anti-imperialist assistance didnà ‚¬ „ t stop with Algeria. Cuban forces were sent to Angola and Guinea-Bissau in 1965 to aid in their independence. Guinea-Bissau, a Portuguese colony, had been struggling for sovereignty since 1956 and would continue to struggle another ten years before finally achieving the inevitable in 1974. But Amà lcar Cabral, leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, never gave up. When their day of liberation finally arrived, there were 600 Cubans, of which 70 were doctors, there to celebrate with them.
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By July, 1975, Cuba had helped liberate the countries of Cape Verde Islands, Sà £o Tomà © and Principe from Portugal. They had helped the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) and its leader Samora Machel gain independence from Portugal as well, even though South Africa started illegally invading the country as soon as it was granted nationhood. Zimbabwe was liberated much in the same fashion with South Africa constantly crossing the border in illegal raids.
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