In South Africa on June 12, 1964, exactly 56 years ago, Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison for sabotage and high treason. He would remain in prison for almost 27 years.
number one ofAfrican National Congress – still today the most important political party in the country – Mandela led the fight against apartheid for years, the regime of racial segregation imposed on the black population. He was arrested in August 1962 on charges of planning an uprising against the government. Along with him, seven other people were sentenced to life imprisonment.
"More powerful than fear of inhuman prison life - Mandela said in his speech to the judges of the Tribunal - is anger at the terrible conditions in which my people are subjected outside prisons, in this country... I have no doubts that posterity will prove my innocence and that the criminals who should be brought before this court are members of the government."
For decades there has been talk of a possible CIA involvement in Mandela arrest, but the only confirmation in this regard came in 2016, when Donald Rickard - a former diplomat and, according to some, a former US secret service agent - told the British director John Irvin that he had personally communicated to the South African authorities of the time the details of Mandela's whereabouts. Also according to Rickard, at the time of his arrest the South African leader was organizing a mass rebellion against the racist government of national party.
After these revelations, Zizi Kodwa - spokesman for the ANC four years ago, now deputy minister of security - spoke of "serious accusations", but did not show any surprise: "We always knew that some Western countries were collaborating with the apartheid regime”, Kodwa told the AFP agency, adding that the CIA still continues to interfere in the political life of South Africa.
Madiba – this is the name of Mandela within his tribe, of Xhosa ethnicity – he returned free on February 11, 1990 and renounced any intention of revenge, working for the reconciliation of the country. He won the prize Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and the following year was elected President in the first multi-racial election in South African history. It's nice to remember it in the days when the horror of racism against blacks returns to the States, as we saw in Minneapolis.
