There isn't a lot to share. I spent most of my time, along with a couple of hundred Matabele's with their families, that had been in the Army of the Republic of Angola. I got there late, just as it was falling apart. The Angolan nationals were gathering up everything they could cram into their suitcases and leaving with most of the military personal that were white. A few farmers that considered themselves Angolan rather than Portuguese, stayed behind and gathered up everything they could to stem the tide.
Kind of a strange fight at first. The defenders left, in a hurry, before the Communists even realized there was an actual uprising of the peasants.
It took a couple of months for them to send real aid and combatants, but when they did come, they came in the form of Russian advisors, Chinese medical specialists and advisors as well as Cuban troops. They were all tough. They were all away from home and did everything they thought was necessary to survive. No one tied their hands behind their backs like happens to our troops now. IMHO, it saved a lot of their lives.
One thing to get straight. Trained troops can be surprised, poorly deployed or wasted by their commanding officers through inexperience or plain stupidity and even pure cruelty. In the end, trained, well disciplined troops have the advantage. Their KIA ratios are about 1-10. I'm not talking about ambushes here. Those can go either way, no matter how well prepared. Disciplined troops don't panic in the same manner and stick together to protect each other. They are usually well supported with ammo, meds, food and get out of the boonies on regular occasions for RRR.
The Cubans I ran into there, were like foreign troops anywhere. Some were educated, some were dumb as posts, some were terrified of everything and some were fearless. All of them were trained to some extent, heavily socially indoctrinated and all believed they were there as liberators.
They came with all sorts of obsolete Soviet and Western weapons. The Soviet pilots flew the Hind helicopters, air transport and spotter aircraft. I only saw one fighter in the air and it was about 500 feet up and moving fast. The Soviets, weren't overly generous with the equipment they gave the Angolans. I saw Canadian made FNC1s, likely a gift from Pierre Trudeau to Castro, Belgian FNs and of course SKSs and AK47s. They had RPGs RPDs and some 1919 Browning machine guns mounted on the old T33/54 tanks they were supplied with. The T33/54s also had other designations. These came from the newer engines they had been retrofitted with. The tanks were made during the mid 1930s and had somehow made it through WWII and maybe even Korea. They were perfect for the situation there. Their Christy suspension was ideal for the terrain. There was nothing, other than a few ground troops that had anything to take them out. Artillery was non existent. I didn't run into anything that was working anyway. The Portuguese nationals destroyed everything they couldn't take out with them.
Milsurp enthusiasts would go wild over what is still in service and hidden away in Africa. Everything you can imagine as far as small arms go. Some of it so old they require black powder cartridges. Everything that goes bang that their donators or previous invaders left behind or they could acquire.
The South African government sent in tons of ammo, arms and supplies to the farmer militias. UNITA and the FNLA were constantly at each other and basically shot at anything that moved, friend or foe. Mostly scared and disorganized.
It was a great big mess. A bloody awful mess. Now, it's a big sh-t hole where everyone struggles to survive, child soldiers are the game of the day and it largely goes unnoticed.
Funny, back in the eighties, the Liberal government in Canada, decided they were going to build a French Immersion University there. They sent or spent $25 million dollars on it. A rather small, concrete building is all there was to show for it and maybe some textbooks. AFAIK, none were ever issued, no teachers were hired and no students crossed the thresholds. The only time I heard French spoken there was in a small village that was turned into a field hospital and was being run by a French mercenary turned priest/medic. Darn good man, he and the villagers were declared untouchable by all sides. He didn't care who you fought with, if you were injured or hungry, he took care of you until you were well enough to leave. You had to get there to get the treatment. His people didn't have resources to come looking.
These African nations don't change one bit, no matter who comes in to help them. Same goes for the Middle East. They just change out their oppressors and masters on a regular basis. Sometimes, like South Africa, they change their white masters for black masters. Some things have obviously gotten better there but the basic constitution and laws are roughly the same and it is just same ole, same ole for the people they promised to make changes for. They still live in poverty, they still don't own land and they still get shot at when they go on a legal strike.
In the end, it's all about the money and how it is going to be distributed, religion is just a tool they use when needed.
I am a bit confused though. Mandela, a rich and privileged man in his youth, becomes a terrorist, goes to Moscow for training. He isn't overly successful and ends up in prison for many years. His first wife carries on the struggle with a bloody passion. Literally hundreds of thousands of people died in that conflict. Many in the most cruel and brutal ways. Can you say African neck tie??? He is declared a hero after the fight is over. Many South Afrkaaners lose their land or just give it up and leave. Mandela is still a hero, even though the land goes to a few black bureaucrats and the poor are booted off the properties.
In Cuba on the other hand, Castro, a man of privilege as well, creates and wins a successful revolution with the aid of the Soviets and Chinese, turns the land over to the peasants to work and at least earn a subsistence living. If it weren't for the embargoes, Cuba would be a very successful example of revolution and post revolutionary government. Lots of schools, everyone that wants to go to school is encouraged and the medical system is second to none in the entire world. The system is open to anyone that can get to it, Cuban or not. In some cases, like joint surgery there will be a charge, less than a third of what similar operations would cost here and done by world renowned specialists.
Castro is considered to be a villain by the Western powers. Why. He changed the Cuban constitution, changed the basic Cuban laws and threw out the oppressors. The lot of the average Cuban is better now than it ever has been and became better the day the revolution ended.
I seem to be missing something here. I think it has a lot to do with the IMF??
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