When Western governments and media criticised these visits, Mandela lambasted such criticism as having racist undertones, and stated that "the enemies of countries in the West are not our enemies."
Cando os gobernos e os medios de comunicación occidentais criticaron estas visitas, Mandela arremeteu contra eles dicindo que tiñan un fondo racista, e afirmou que "os inimigos dos países no Oeste non son os nosos inimigos".