The President of the Simón Bolívar Institute for Peace and Solidarity among Peoples, Carlos Ron, held a meeting on Thursday with the Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Joseph Nikosi.
The meeting took place at the headquarters of Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of South African leader Nelson Mandela’s release from prison after 27 years in jail for confronting the Apartheid system of racial segregation.
At the meeting, the two authorities discussed the solidarity-based work carried out by the Simón Bolívar Institute, possible cooperation areas and the good relations between the two countries.
Nelson Mandela’s Legacy of Peace and Freedom
On February 11, the peoples of the world commemorate the release of Nelson Mandela, a South African leader who fought the Apartheid system of racial segregation.
Mandela spent 27 years in prison after being sentenced in 1964 to life imprisonment under the accusation of being the leader of the African National Congress.
His release paved the way for the political leader to put a definite end to South Africa’s apartheid, a deed that earned him and then President Frederik de Klerk the Noble Peace Price in 1993.
Three months after his release from prison, Mandela was chosen to lead the African National Congress, where he fought for democracy. In 1994, the first democratic elections in South Africa’s history were held, and Mandela won a sweeping victory, becoming the first black president of this African nation.