There are moments in the life of a nation when solidarity is not merely a diplomatic word, but a moral obligation. Namibia’s humanitarian campaign for the people of Cuba, which has raised more than N$700 000, presents one such moment.
The campaign is important not simply because of the money collected, or because it provides medical supplies and solar-panel kits to a country facing serious economic difficulties. It is important because it reminds Namibians of a history that should never be reduced to speeches, anniversaries and political ceremonies.
Cuba stood with Namibia when our country was fighting for its freedom. Today, Namibia has an opportunity to demonstrate that solidarity is reciprocal.
The economic hardship experienced by ordinary Cubans cannot be discussed without acknowledging the long-running United States embargo against Cuba. The policy dates to the early 1960s, when the administration of US President John F. Kennedy imposed the economic embargo that became one of the most enduring features of Washington’s policy towards Havana.
For more than six decades, the Cuban people have lived under restrictions affecting trade, finance and access to international markets. The Cuban government has also made economic and policy choices that have contributed to the country’s difficulties, and those issues should not be ignored. But neither should the impact of the embargo and the wider sanctions regime on ordinary people.
The consequences are ultimately experienced by families, patients, students, farmers, workers and businesses. When access to financing, imported goods, technology, equipment and essential supplies becomes more difficult and expensive, the burden does not fall exclusively on governments. It reaches into households.
This is why Namibia’s humanitarian response matters.
The debate over Cuba should not become another ideological contest in which people are expected to choose between Washington and Havana. Namibia does not need to endorse every policy of the Cuban government to recognise the suffering of Cuban citizens. Nor does supporting humanitarian assistance to Cuba require Namibians to adopt a particular political ideology.
The issue is fundamentally human.
If medical supplies can help Cuban patients, they should be provided. If solar equipment can help generate electricity, it should be delivered. If Namibian citizens, businesses, churches, civil society organisations and institutions are willing to contribute, their generosity should be welcomed.
But there is another reason why this particular humanitarian effort carries such significance for Namibia.
Our relationship with Cuba was forged in one of the darkest and most decisive chapters of Southern African history. Cuba did not simply express sympathy for the liberation struggles of Southern Africa from a distance. Cuban soldiers fought and died on the continent.
The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale became a defining moment in that history. Cuban forces fought alongside Angolan forces against the apartheid-era South African military and its allies. The battle and the broader military campaign that surrounded it contributed to a strategic shift in the region and formed part of the chain of events that eventually helped create conditions for Namibia’s independence.
For Namibians, therefore, Cuba is not an abstract foreign country.
Cuba is connected to the story of our own freedom.
Thousands of Cuban professionals subsequently served in Namibia, including doctors, teachers, engineers and other specialists. Many Namibians encountered Cuban professionals not in the pages of history books but in hospitals, classrooms, construction projects and communities.
That relationship was built through sacrifice.
This is why the humanitarian campaign should be viewed as more than a fundraising initiative organised by a friendship association or foundation. It should become a national effort.
And national means exactly that.
It must belong to Namibians of every colour, creed, political persuasion and social background.
It must not become the property of the ruling party. It must not be dismissed as an initiative for former liberation-movement activists. It must not be turned into a left-versus-right argument. And it should certainly not become another occasion for political grandstanding.
The Cuban people did not ask what political party Namibians belonged to when they stood with our liberation struggle.
They did not ask whether every Namibian agreed with every policy of the liberation movement. Their solidarity was directed towards a people seeking freedom from colonialism and apartheid.
Namibia should therefore approach the Cuban people in the same spirit.
There is a temptation in modern Namibia to remember history selectively. We celebrate independence, commemorate important battles and honour those who contributed to our liberation, but sometimes forget that international solidarity came at a cost.
The Cuban contribution was not theoretical.
Cuban soldiers were placed in harm’s way. Cuban professionals travelled thousands of kilometres from home to work in Namibia and other parts of Africa. The relationship between the two peoples was therefore built through human beings, soldiers, doctors, teachers, engineers and ordinary citizens, rather than diplomatic communiqués alone.
That history imposes a responsibility on the present generation.
Namibia cannot solve Cuba’s economic problems. Nor should it pretend that humanitarian donations can substitute for structural economic reform or international diplomacy. But a country does not need to be wealthy to demonstrate solidarity.
N$700 000 is significant precisely because it represents many Namibians making a collective contribution. Its greatest value may therefore be symbolic as much as financial.
It says that Namibia remembers.
It says that humanitarianism should transcend ideology.
And it says that friendship between nations is measured not only by what we receive, but also by what we are prepared to give when our friends are experiencing hardship.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s renewed call for the lifting of the US embargo reflects Namibia’s longstanding diplomatic position. That position will inevitably attract political debate. Such debate is legitimate. But humanitarian assistance should not depend on winning that debate.
The people of Cuba should not have to wait for geopolitics to be resolved before receiving assistance.
Namibia should continue to advocate diplomatically for an end to policies that it believes unfairly burden ordinary Cubans. At the same time, it should expand practical humanitarian assistance through credible, transparent and inclusive channels.
The national effort should involve government, business, churches, civil society, professional bodies, educational institutions and ordinary citizens.
This should not be about repaying a political debt.
It should be about remembering a human one.
Cuba stood with Namibia when our people were fighting for the right to determine their own destiny. Today, when Cuban families are confronting economic hardship, Namibia has an opportunity to demonstrate that the bonds forged during the struggle for freedom were not temporary alliances of convenience.
They were bonds of humanity.
And humanity should have no colour, creed or political affiliation.
If Cuba could stand with Namibia then, Namibia can stand with Cuba now.
That is not charity.
It is solidarity returned.
