The Cuban Intervention in Angola, 1965-1991

From Che Guevara to Cuito Cuanavale

Edward George

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2004
• Print ISBN:
  9780415350150
• eBook ISBN:
  9781134269327
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

A new examination of why Cuba, a Caribbean country, sent half a million of its citizens to fight in Angola in Africa, and how a short-term intervention escalated into a lengthy war of intervention.

It clearly details how in January 1965 Cuba formed an alliance with the Angolan MPLA which evolved into the flagship of its global 'internationalist' mission, spawning the military intervention of November 1975 culminating in Cuba's spurious 'victory' at Cuito Cuanavale and Cuba's fifteen-year occupation of Angola.

Drawing on interviews with leading protagonists, first-hand accounts and archive material from Cuba, Angola and South Africa, this new book dispels the myths of the Cuban intervention, revealing that Havana's decision to intervene was not so much an heroic gesture of solidarity, but rather a last-ditch gamble to avert disaster. By examining Cuba's role in the Angolan War in a global context, this book demonstrates how the interaction between the many players in Angola shaped and affected Cuba's intervention as it headed towards its controversial conclusion.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Maps
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Internationalism in the Cuban Revolution and the Birth of the Alliance with the Mpla, 1959–65
• 2 The Cuban Mission to Brazzaville and the Collapse of the Alliance, 1965–74
• 3 The Carnation revolution and the failure of Angola’S Decolonisation, April 1974–October 1975
• 4 Operations Savannah and Carlota, October–November 1975
• 5 The ‘Second Liberation War’, November 1975–March 1976
• 6 The failed withdrawal from Angola, 1976–81
• 7 ‘The People’S War’ Cuban internationalists in Angola, 1975–91
• 8 Abortive Peace negotiations and the path to full-scale War, 1981–5
• 9 The big offensives, 1985–7
• 10 The battle of Cuito Cuanavale, November 1987–March 1988
• 11 The fighting in south-west angola and the negotiating end-game, March–December 1988
• 12 The sting in the tail
• Conclusion
• Appendix 1: chronology of principal events in the angolan war, 1956-91
• Appendix 2: principal sadf operations in angola, 1975-88
• Appendix 3: angolan place name variants
• Appendix 4
• Notes
• Select bibliography