Contrapuntos Latino Africanos: Operation Antonio Maceo and the Mists of Benguela Bay

This essay provides a phenomenological analysis of Operation General Antonio Maceo, the Cuban military offensive that took place in southern Angola between January and April 1976 to ensure that South African troops retreated toward Namibia. By peeling away the historical, social and cultural contexts layered around the symbolism of the “Bronze Titan” (António Maceo), I reveal the structures and meanings interwoven into the concept of Latin African that Fidel Castro articulated as the historical-biological-cultural imperative that legitimated Havana’s decision to send thousands of Cuban internationalists to Angola shortly after the outbreak of that country’s civil war. This approach allows us to read the operation as a retelling of national life and unveils the more shaded qualities of collective experience that might otherwise elude us.