|
 Castro smiled as Obama moved to shake his hand on the way to
the podium before making a rousing speech in memory of the
former South African president, one of the world's great
peacemakers, who died on Thursday at age 95.
Torrential rain failed to dampen the spirits of tens of
thousands of singing and dancing mourners at Johannesburg's
Soccer City, who gathered to say farewell to Mandela alongside
90-odd world dignitaries.
The crowd emitted a huge roar as Obama took his seat, in marked
contrast to the boos that greeted South African President Jacob
Zuma, a scandal-plagued leader whose weaknesses have been cast
into sharp relief by Mandela's death.
Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe also received wide applause from
the raucous crowd in the half-filled 95,000-seat stadium.
Speaking yards away from communist leader Castro and Chinese
Vice-President Li Yuanchao, Obama chided those who embraced
Mandela's struggle against oppression yet suppressed opposition
and critics in their own countries.
"There are too many of us who happily embrace Madiba's legacy of
racial reconciliation, but passionately resist even modest
reforms that would challenge chronic poverty and growing
inequality," he said, referring to Mandela by his clan name.
"There are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba's
struggle for freedom but do not tolerate dissent from their own
people," he said.
Relations between Cuba and the United States have been frozen
since soon after Cuba's 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro, who
handed over to his brother Raul in 2008 because of ill-health.
Washington has maintained economic sanctions against the
communist-ruled island for more than half a century.
The only previous known handshake between U.S. and Cuban
presidents since the revolution was in 2000 at the United
Nations, when Fidel Castro shook the hand of then-U.S. President
Bill Clinton in a chance encounter.
AFRICAN BLESSING
Coinciding with U.N. Human Rights Day, the memorial in the
bowl-shaped soccer stadium — scene of the 2010 World Cup final — is the centerpiece of a week of mourning for Mandela, revered
across the world as a symbol of reconciliation and forgiveness.
"He was more than one of the greatest leaders of our time. He
was one of our greatest teachers," United Nations Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon told the crowed. "His boabab tree has left
deep roots that reach across the planet."
Since Mandela's death, Johannesburg has been blanketed in
unseasonal clouds and rain — a sign, according to African
culture, of an esteemed elder passing on and being welcomed into
the afterlife by his ancestors.
[to top of second column] |
 The atmosphere inside the stadium before the
ceremony was one of joy and celebration, more akin to the opening
game of the World Cup three years ago that pitted jubilant hosts
South Africa against Mexico.
Flag-waving whites and blacks danced, blew "vuvuzela" plastic
trumpets and sang anthems from the long struggle against apartheid.
The packed carriages of commuter trains heading to the ground swayed
side-to-side with the rhythm.
"I was here in 1990 when Mandela was freed and I am here again to
say goodbye," said Beauty Pule, 51. "I am sure Mandela was proud of
the South Africa he helped create. It's not perfect but no-one is
perfect, and we have made great strides."
Celebrities included singers Bono and Peter Gabriel,
film star Charlize Theron, supermodel Naomi Campbell and Virgin
entrepreneur Richard Branson. Francois Pienaar, captain of South
Africa's victorious 1995 rugby World Cup-winning side, was also in
the stands.
ZUMA UNDER PRESSURE
The crowd's reaction to Zuma is worrying for the African National
Congress (ANC) which faces an election in six months amid concerns
about persisting poverty, crime and unemployment nearly two decades
after the end of white-minority rule.
The mourning has distracted attention from a slew of corruption
scandals affecting Zuma and his administration.
But memories of Mandela's single five-year term have reminded many
just how distant Zuma's South Africa remains from the "Rainbow
Nation" ideal of shared prosperity and social peace that Mandela
proclaimed after his 1994 election.
South Africa is still one of the most unequal
societies on the planet. Despite two decades of affirmative action
the average white household still earns six times more than the
average black one.
After Tuesday's event, Mandela's remains will lie in state for three
days at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where he was sworn in as
president in 1994.
He will be buried on Sunday, Dec. 15, in Qunu, his ancestral home
in the rolling, windswept hills of the Eastern Cape province, 700 km
(450 miles) south of Johannesburg. Only a few world leaders are due
to attend the Qunu ceremony, a more intimate family affair.
(Additional reporting by Steve Holland;
writing by Pascal Fletcher
and Ed Cropley; editing by Janet Lawrence)
[© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2013 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
