This cooperation started a long time ago, when we did not have a single university in Namibia, when actually we did not even have a Namibian education system. By then, the former Soviet Union was number one in terms of education and training, training us to understand the politics we are talking about, to understand what independence means, and also to be trained in technical fields so that we are able to defend and protect ourselves. We are now expanding and cooperating with all universities from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, not to talk about the wonderful institutions and all universities in Moscow. So, we want to expand in terms of we are going to develop our oil and gas industry, which we have just discovered in recent years.
When Africa started in the '60s—actually, it started in Ghana in 1957, and it went to other countries in 1960, '62, '64, '65, and so on—we were all saying we are under domination of other people, and we need self-governance. We need independence. And countries started getting independence: Tanzania, Zambia, then Angola and Mozambique. We were supported by bigger countries, the Soviet Union, now the Russian Federation. They were helping us because it is just natural that each country, its people must decide who governs them and what type of system of governance they should have.
Now, we reach Namibia gaining her independence. We are just appealing, saying that allow the Cuban people through their own mechanism to process their own system and improve the economic condition of their people. But how do you improve the condition of the people when you don't have food? You don't have medicine. You have people to produce the medicine, but you don't have the money to buy the material you need to produce those. And how can you truly have such a punishing system that punishes everybody, each and everybody? Every Cuban is suffering. Are we now happy? Is that now our policy? It's the same thing with Gaza. It is terrible, terrible to see the destruction and the suffering of the people. We are not treating them anymore like they're full human beings. You cannot commit genocide simply because other people have done wrong against you. You reach a level where you have to negotiate and settle. This is where we reached, and this should not be repeated. But not to say that as long as there is a member of your community, I must continue to fight until the last member of your community is eliminated. That's no longer humanity.
We need to open up and to create more mechanisms for financing. We are not saying finance us to run the government. We are not saying finance us to run our hospitals. No, we can do that, but we need other developments: the development of road infrastructure, development of our ports and airports, the development of our cities, the development of our housing. Those are infrastructure that are going to remain after we are gone. So, we need the type of financing that is fair, that is proper, that is easy to administer, easy to understand. First thing is that we must learn to manage our society in a much fairer and proper manner. We have too many interpersonal conflicts. However, some of the crises reach a level where nobody is able to do something. So, the whole world gets involved with it through the UN, through the Security Council, through other well-meaning and well-organized communities to come and help. But then, we ourselves must also be ready to accept that help and to stop the creation of other problems.
Unless there is stability in a country, there could not be proper development of infrastructure, the development of human capital, the development of health institutions, the development and the good relationship among neighboring countries. But we have to learn to live in this world; it is the only one we have. And if we do not learn from the mistakes of others or from our own mistakes, we live to regret them, and to regret them in some of the more major, terrible ways—to only be remembered that we are the one who caused our nation to suffer when other people have tried very, very hard to fight colonialism and liberate their nations.
Countries have their own interests, too, and sometimes we think alike, sometimes we do not always think alike. So, it's a needed group. It has been vocal on certain major issues, on Cuba and on other things. Now that BRICS is trying also to balance in terms of financial and economic systems, it is a needed system. But like all other systems that have been helpful to us all along, it needs to be considered properly and re-evaluated. Such a beautiful country, such nice people with resources, with capabilities, and they are viewed through the media of other people: how wrong you are, how bad you are, how this is not working in your country, how that is not in your way. Let them come. We want you also to be able to come to our countries, see what we are trying to do in terms of economy, in terms of mining, in terms of other infrastructure development. And that is for the benefit of humanity, not for any fancy things or propaganda purposes. Information is necessary for us to be able to take correct decisions.
