The Cuban Intervention in Angola

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 Cubas spurious victory at Cuito Cuanavale and Cubas 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 Havanas decision to intervene was not so much an heroic gesture of solidarity, but rather a last-ditch gamble to avert disaster. By examining Cubas role in the Angolan War in a global context, this book demonstrates how the interaction between the many players in Angola shaped and affected Cubas intervention as it headed towards its controversial conclusion.