Teaching Internationalism: The Role of the Cuban Internationalist School in Forging Postcolonial African Elites

Mostly known, prior to the 1959 Cuban revolution, for its zona franca and the most infamous Cuban prison, Presidio Modelo (where Fidel Castro was under custody between 1953-1955), the island of Pines, in the south of Cuba, was renamed island of Youth in 1978. During the 1960s it became known as a space for training brigadistas (young Communist brigades) and education camps (some of which for conscripts) for the Cuban youth. The prison was dismantled in 1967 and transformed into a museum. However, it was only after Cuba’s involvement in the Angolan civil war (1975-1991), and its African internationalist experiences, that the Island became a hub for youngsters from the Global South (Asia, Africa and Latin America) that flocked to the Internationalist School, where they would study maths, sciences and humanities, as well as socialist ideology. In 1982, for example, the island welcomed over 22,000 students from all over the world. Based on first-hand interviews with Lusophone Africans (from Angola, Guiné-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé e Príncipe) who studied in Cuba in the 1970s and 80s, this paper aims to attest how the Internationalist School, albeit its limitations, was crucial in forging African postcolonial elites that would, in turn, shape some of the most significant policies in those countries, especially in Education and the Arts.