Nelson Mandela, the father of the nation. "I have fought against the domination of the" white "and against the rule of" black "

I do not know what the funeral customs in South Africa, but imagine that the process of Nelson Mandela arranged by the Russian model - a coffin, a brass band and pads with orders.
On one cushion - the Order of Mapungubwe, the first degree in the platinum award in 2002
Next - the Order of Friendship, Russia, 1995
Behind him - Order of the Bay of Pigs, Cuba 1984
And further - Star of Friendship of Peoples, the GDR 1984
Collar of the Order of the Nile, Egypt 1997
Order of Yaroslav the Wise, First Degree, Ukraine 1998
Order of the Bharat Ratna, India
Nobel Laureate Medal 1993
The International Lenin Peace Prize in 1990
Order of the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, UK,
Bulgaria, Mexico, the Republic of Korea
There are even two American awards - Gold Medal Congresses United States, 1997 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2002.
However, the United States obtained embarrassment. After the events of September 11, 2001 there was established a list of passengers suspected of terrorism, access to which is forbidden in America.

In this list, by inertia, fell and Nelson Mandela, as chairman of the African National Congress, canonized in his time on the basis of judgments of a terrorist organization.

This ban lifted in July 2008, so for a long time, Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa, was both a knight Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and at the same time the number of exclusion lists. Without the express permission of its allowed only to the United Nations.

I remember that Kondoliize Rice, then secretary of state, was particularly uncomfortable (for several reasons).

List of orders I gave no accident. Awarding of the South African prisoner, it seems to me, was the way the international community to draw attention to it, not to forget about it.

In April 1964, Mandela, has been sentenced to five years for illegally leaving the country (in 1961 he toured North Africa, raising funds for the armed struggle) again brought before the court.

At this time the charges were serious (terrorism, sabotage, communication with the Communists), the public prosecutor demanded the highest measure - hanging. The judge found the evidence insufficient and sent the case back for further investigation. April 20, 1964 at a meeting of the Supreme Court in Pretoria, Nelson Mandela made his famous speech for the defense.

He spoke for a long time. The court listened patiently. I saw the last one, the 60th page of the speech typed. On it - the final words that lawyers asked Mandela to strike.

"Throughout my life I devoted myself to the struggle for African population. I fought against the domination of the "white" and against the rule of "black." I am honored ideal of a democratic and free society in which all citizens live in harmony and have equal opportunities. This is the ideal for which I am prepared to live and to which I aspire. But if necessary, for the sake of this ideal, I am ready to die »

Today I asked - as Nelson Mandela became.

"On the first day of school - he recalled Mandela - my teacher Miss Mdingane gave each of the students to learn English. At that time it was a tradition among Africans and, no doubt, was due to the British bias in our education. On that day, Miss Mdingane told me that my new name - Nelson. Why it is, I have no idea ».

Nelson Mandela recognized as the father of the nation, and as long as the nation is alive, he will remain a symbol of it.
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