That remote town became a symbol of resistance and courage, after the victory of the Popular Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola Fapla , together with Cuban, Namibian and South African internationalists who were against the army of the opprobrious apartheid regime.
By the beginning of November , the South African armed forces had encircled the best Angolan units in the village and were preparing to annihilate them.
The fall of Cuito was imminent, which would mean a devastating blow to the Angolan government. The army of racist South Africa had for its offensive powerful infantry forces, modern combat aviation, tanks, long-range and anti-aircraft artillery, as well as high-precision weaponry. Some dozens of thousands of volunteer Cuban combatants, along with vital military equipment, travelled more than 10 km from the Caribbean and crossed the Atlantic.
They reversed the travels of the slave ships that brought African slaves to Cuba in past centuries, and now returned to the land of their ancestors to rid the continent of racist domination. The Cuban troops went south of Angola to attack from the south-west in the direction of Namibia. Meanwhile, km to the east, select Cuban units advanced towards Cuito Cuanavale and there they prepared a deadly trap for the powerful South African forces that were advancing.
The objective was not only to defend Cuito, it was to expel the South African Defence Force from Angola once and for all. Throughout these years, some dubious authors have also tried to rewrite history, minimising and even ignoring the relevance of the fight in Cuito Cuanavale.
