304 The Presidential Years
[Nasser]. Send a telegram to Sukarno.... Only the small non-aligned countries
can fight for peace. It is necessary to block these [imperialist] nuts. Set the
world against them, isolate them.”^205 Thus the idea of the Non-Aligned Con-
ference took shape, at which the member states would come up with a strategy
to confront colonialism and prevent war between the great powers. He also
needed to persuade Nehru who, according to Tito, could not act because of
India’s debts with the West and because of reactionary forces he had to cope
with in New Delhi. “But,” Tito argued, “we have to help him free himself from
the mess he is in.”^206
Tito started his journey to Africa with an entourage of about 1,400 peo-
ple, among them forty musicians and folk singers. The yacht Galeb, which
he boarded with his wife Jovanka and his collaborators, was escorted by three
warships. The tour lasted seventy-two days, from 15 February to 22 April, reach-
ing Ghana, Togo, Liberia, and Guinea—and from there by land to Mali—
then Morocco and Tunisia. The last and most important stop was in Egypt,
although this was an “unofficial” visit. At every stop Tito informed his hosts
about his negative experiences with Moscow, warning them not to tie them-
selves exclusively to them. He even stressed that his relations with the West
were more correct and balanced than with the Russians. Furthermore, he pre-
sented Yugoslavia as an example to be followed, since it was independent from
the blocs. He found sympathetic listeners, particularly in Ghana and Guinea,
which were led by two outstanding anticolonialist fighters.^207 The president of
Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, said: “He is the most realistic of the contemporary
statesmen. No one has understood Africa better than he. And we, too, have
understood him.”^208
This was an epochal event since, for the first time in history a European
statesman had come to the Africans as to equals, approaching them without
paternalism and without sparing criticism for the colonial powers. Rodoljub
Čolakovic wrote in his diary that Tito was aware of the psychological effect of
his visit. On his return, he spoke in his inner circle “about the African peoples,
about their attitude toward the white man, and especially the white man called
Tito.”^209
The trip was, however, not without incident: for example, once, during a
distribution of luxury gifts, there was such a frenzy that Tito exclaimed in
despair: “Everybody take what he wants.”^210 The final statements in discussion
with local leaders, prepared of course in advance, were adapted to the political
and social conditions of every country, though always stressing the value of col-
laboration and equality among nations, and condemning colonialism and neo-
colonialism. The main idea presented by the Yugoslav theoreticians was the
assertion that, beyond ideologies, the gap between the developed North and