What the Corporate Media Won’t Tell You about Nelson Mandela

 

  By Rolando Diaz December 9, 2013 Foreign Affairs

 

 

South Africa’s first black president and iconic anti-apartheid activist who was imprisoned for 23 years, Nelson Mandela has died at age 95.
Thousands of South Africans mourned the death of Mandela, also known as Madiba, in front of his home in Johannesburg, South Africa where they celebrated in honor of Mandela’s legacy of forgiveness, justice and the strive for dignity.
News of Mandela’s death spread around the world within moments of the announcement made by current South African President Jacob Zuma and the American corporate media spent hours covering Mandela’s lengthy legacy, however this coverage has been overwhelmingly one-sided by ignoring Mandela’s more “controversial” statements that often proved true.
The mainstream media has also ignored the fact that American lawmakers and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was actually involved in keeping Mandela incarcerated.
Mandela has not been quiet about the “War on Terror”, especially when it came to the Iraq War and American imperialism.
Before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Mandela said in a speech at the International Women’s Forum in Johannesburg that former President George W. Bush’s motive behind the invasion was “oil” and that Bush was trying to weaken the United Nations at the time. He also criticized the immediate labeling of people suspected of terrorism without due process.
“The labeling of Osama bin Laden as the terrorist responsible for those acts before he had been tried and convicted could also be seen as undermining some of the basic tenets of the rule of law,” Mandela said in 2001 during a speech in Durban, South Africa.
“If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don’t care,” Mandela once said.
On other foreign affairs, Mandela spoke of his support for people thought to be America’s enemies. In a speech to reporters in 1999, he agreed to be a mediator between Israel and its neighbors and he spoke of his support of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
“Israel should withdraw from all the areas which it won from the Arabs in 1967, and in particular Israel should withdraw completely from the Golan Heights, from south Lebanon and from the West Bank,” he said.
Mandela also compared South African apartheid to Israel’s policies, saying “The U.N. took a strong stand against apartheid; and over the years, an international consensus was built, which helped to bring an end to this iniquitous system. But we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”
In 1991, Mandela met with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and gave a speech titled “How Far We Slaves Have Come”.
“From its earliest days, the Cuban Revolution has also been a source of inspiration to all freedom-loving people. We admire the sacrifices of the Cuban people in maintaining their independence and sovereignty in the face of the vicious imperialist-orchestrated campaign to destroy the impressive gain made in the Cuban Revolution…long live the Cuban Revolution. Long live comrade Fidel Castro.” Mandela said.
From Israel to Cuba, Mandela has also been outspoken on Libya. He urged the U.N. to end sanctions on Libya in 1997 and pledged his support for former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who also supported Mandela.
“It is our duty to give support to the brother leader…especially in regard to the sanctions which are not hitting just him, they are hitting the ordinary masses of the people…our African brothers and sisters,” Mandela said.
Perhaps one of the greatest issues of the 21st century, income inequality, is something Mandela criticized; saying freedom from poverty is a “fundamental human right.”
“Massive poverty and obscene inequality are such terrible scourges of our times—times in which the world boasts breathtaking advances in science, technology, industry and wealth accumulation—that they have to rank alongside slavery and apartheid as social evils”.
One of his most popular quotes about income inequality was when he said “overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life…while poverty persists, there is no true freedom.”
The most unfortunate thing the corporate media refuses to report on about Nelson Mandela is the way the United States played a role in keeping him imprisoned and allowing apartheid to continue in South Africa.
The CIA helped the South African regime that led to Mandela’s arrest, according to a former U.S. official who admitted to the assistance. The unnamed official described CIA assistance to the regime as “one of the most shameful, utterly horrid byproducts of the Cold War struggle between Moscow and Washington for influence in the Third World.”
Mandela wasn’t taken off the U.S. terror watch list until 2008, years after he was released from prison and became South Africa’s president.
In addition to the CIA causing his arrest, American lawmakers, mostly conservatives, were responsible for the apartheid system to persist. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan vetoed the Anti-Apartheid Act, which would have sanctioned the apartheid regime and allowed travel restrictions to the country.
Among those who opposed Mandela’s attempts for a free South Africa was former Vice President Dick Cheney, who was a Republican congressman during the Reagan era.
In fact, Cheney has never declared his regret over how he voted on Anti-Apartheid Act. In 2000, he told ABC’s “This Week” that Mandela’s political party was viewed as “terrorist organization” and that he didn’t have any problems with how he casted his vote on the AAA.
Current lawmakers who back then opposed the AAA are Republicans Joe Barton (Texas), Howard Coble (North Carolina) and Hal Rogers (Kentucky)—some of which support the abolishment of minimum wage in the United States.
Unfortunately, you cannot count on the mainstream media to really inform Americans about anything, sometimes one has to look to foreign media outlets that are funded by public grants to really get the information to be an informed citizen.
Fortunately, Mandela’s legacy will live on and it will inspire future leaders. Among leaders who are already inspired is President Barack Obama, who unfortunately supports a lot of foreign affair topics that Mandela would be strongly opposed to.