Last Thursday, April 22, we had one of the most important political leaders of the 20th century as the subject of our latest webinar on history and current affairs.

Like any real-life character, you can love him a lot or very little.

Mandela managed to make "loving him deeply" the choice of the vast majority. Those who knew him personally said he was an approachable person with enormous and undeniable charisma, commitment, and conviction. He was the kind of leader who moves and inspires people.

Beyond all his achievements—ending the system of racial segregation that nearly led South Africa into civil war in the early 1990s, becoming the country's first black president, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993—Mandela's greatest merit was how he achieved them.

Madiba, as he was known, used every opportunity that came his way intelligently and astutely.

While he was in prison (for a total of 27 years), he realized that he had to earn the trust and affection of his opponents in order to get out of there (he was serving a life sentence). And he could see that in practice this meant, among other things, learning Afrikaans, the exclusive language used only by white people.

He also masterfully used sport to unite black and white people, showing all his compatriots that unity and support for the national rugby team (which won the 1995 Rugby World Cup in epic fashion in extra time against the almost invincible New Zealanders) could also translate into support for a multiracial democracy where everyone had a place.

His great legacy was to promote ways to resolve conflicts peacefully and to demonstrate that change is possible and that racial and ideological differences are not an impediment to the progress of an entire country.

"Everything seems impossible until it's done," he used to say.

Magdalena Guzman L. 

Journalist and Master in Political Science.