Letter, Jorge Risquet to Fidel Castro, Luanda

Commander-in-Chief,

I have just returned from a tour of Quibala, Catofe, Conde, Ebo, Gabela, Point Amboim. The morale of the [Cuban military] commanders with whom I spoke (Polo [Leopoldo Cintra Frías], [Manuel] Cervantes, [Armando] Saucedo etc. at the southern front headquarters; [Romérico] Sotomayor, Calixto Rodríguez Proenza and René [Hernández Gatorno]; [Jesús] Oviedo in Point Amboim) is very high: they are optimistic and full of ideas about how to strike the enemy. The morale of the soldiers and officers with whom we spoke was equally high. [Fernando] Vecino [Alegret], [Luis Alfonso] Zayas and, for the first part, Furry [Abelardo Colomé Ibarra], accompanied me.

This high morale, the large number of our troops and the large supply of material, the nature of the terrain, and the material and psychological condition of the enemy lead me to conclude that there are no big problems for our [defensive] line at Amboim-Ebo-Quibala-Cariango; that we have recovered the initiative in the south; that in the next few days our "active defense" will gain ground in the south. ...

Risquet.[1]



[1] On 3 December 1975, Risquet flew to Angola as head of the Cuban Mission in Luanda. As such, he was above the ambassador (Oscar Oramas) and at the same level as the chief of the MMCA.