The Diplomad has a good piece on Nelson Mandela and his African National Congress: Certain
informal "off the record" meetings with ANC reps while in Geneva and Vienna [in the 1980s] proved inconsequential, but showed the intense hostility of
the ANC towards the USA, capitalism, and Western democracy. Some of the
ANC had a very hard pro-Soviet, pro-Castro line, and there was no
reasoning with them. These meetings, frankly, shaped my view of Mandela,
making me suspicious of him and what he would bring to South Africa
were he freed and in power at the head of the ANC.
As it turns out, I was right and wrong. The ANC was a lost cause; they
did not believe in democracy, and had a large element of thuggery in
their ranks. Many were terrorists who had received training in Libya,
and were out for revenge and blood.
Mandela, however, was more
complicated than I had thought. He had had his violent phase, but only
after trying peaceful opposition to apartheid. Both in and after coming
out of prison, he proved an extremely intelligent negotiator and
compromiser, reaching understandings with Botha and De Klerk, and
turning down the volume of the anti-white message of the ANC. He seemed
to have an understanding that whites and other non-blacks were essential
for a peaceful and prosperous South Africa. He also, surprise, did not
go full Mugabe. He won election--although the vote counting was
suspicious--served his term, trying to unite blacks, whites, Asians, and
others into accepting the new post-apartheid South Africa. He did not
try to drive the whites out, and did not go around confiscating farms
and businesses. He did not encourage revenge against whites and sought a
reconciliation of the races. A practical politician, he turned a blind
eye to the rampant corruption among the ANC, finding it better to let
the party members expend their revolutionary fervor making money. At the
end of his term, he stepped down. Yes, he stepped down. That is an
amazing thing in Africa; he stepped down on completing his term of
office. It does not happen much on that continent. He, however, never
got over his deep mistrust of the USA, and despite his credentials as a
victim of human rights abuse, refused to criticize Qaddafy, never gave
up his fervent admiration for Castro--who, ironically, runs a racist
regime in Cuba--and remained very anti-Israel. 
Related:
Fans of Mandela Like to Forget That One of the ANC's Biggest Supporters Was Muammar Gaddafi
