Neither of them could hide their emotion for the reunion in this town in the Angolan province of Cuando Cubango, which became a protagonist of history by hosting a battle (November 15, 1987-March 23, 1988) that changed the course of Southern Africa, paving the way for the independence of Namibia and the end of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Trujillo, 84 years old, traveled to Angola as part of a delegation that participated in the inauguration of the Cuanza Sul general hospital, named Comandante Raúl Díaz Argüelles in homage to the first head of the Cuban military mission in the country and to all the combatants of the epic.

Amândio Mateus was among the Angolan combatants and officers of the Armed Forces who accompanied the delegation from Cuba to Cuito Cuanavale the day before, and although the two traveled on the same plane from Luanda, it was only in the place where they made so much history together, that they became aware of each other’s presence.

I always talk about him in conferences and exchanges about the Battle,” the Angolan lieutenant general said. Our artillery had no range to protect our troops and the aviation became our artillery; they played an outstanding role, but Trujillo and another Angolan pilot gleamed due to their dedication, he said.

He added that they flew numerous missions for months, from January to March 1988, regardless of the time or the challenge.

The emotion of the reunion moistened Trujillo’s eyes, it is an embrace between brothers forged in the hard experience of war and returning to the place where they lived, it had had a special meaning.

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