You published an article on Nelson Mandela (Mandela Today: 'I Am Ready'--April 11) without even mentioning that: he was offered his freedom if he renounced violence, and refused; he has never been accepted by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience; he admitted to 19 acts of sabotage; he was trained in Algeria by the FLN and in the East Bloc; he wrote a document, How To Be A Good Communist, and even if he copied it, took a lot of trouble over it; he has never denied his strong links to the Soviet Union; and he also said to those who interviewed him, and in statements through his daughter, that he was not interested in negotiating, only in the transfer of power.
The Tass interview with Winnie Mandela of Feb. 13, 1986, is indicative of the Mandela family's attachment to the Soviet Union: "The Soviet Union is a torchbearer for all our hopes and aspirations. We have learned and are continuing to learn resilience and bravery from the Soviet people, who are an example to us in our struggle for freedom, a model of loyalty to internationalist duty. In Soviet Russia genuine power of the people has been transformed from dreams into reality. The Land of the Soviets is the genuine friend and ally of all oppressed peoples fighting against the dark forces of world reaction."
Klaus W. Praekelt
Counsellor
South African Embassy
(letter to the editor published in April 23, 1986 Globe and Mail)
-Want to see the response from "Canada's National Newspaper" to this obvious misrepresentation of the truth by the apartheid regime, a cause taken up by then-Prime Minister of Canada Mulroney (however badly and insufficiently he executed it)?
TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP HERE.
TO SEE TERM OF REFERENCE 5) TO THE CHRISTMAS, 1987 STATEMENT TO P.W. BOTHA, TAKE YOUR NEXT FOOTSTEP HERE.