Che: The Rebel

Chapter 8 in “Born in Blood and Fire” is focused around the idea of revolution from the old powers and a new way to become independent. The chapter mentioned Peronism in Argentina, issues in Brazil and Mexico, the Cold War, and the Cuban Revolution. An important communist figure in the Cuban Revolution was Che Guevara, who was a theoretician and tactician of guerrilla warfare and he was also a guerrilla leader in South America.

Ernesto “Che” Guevara de la Serna was born in 1928 into a middle class family in Rosario, Argentina. As a child, he became interested in the treatment of the poor and the indigenous groups. He was also very interested in poetry that eventually progressed into more of an interest into Latin American literature.

In 1948 he entered the University of Buenos Aires to study medicine and at this time, he had developed and changed the way he viewed himself and the economic conditions in Latin America. He would spend most of his holidays traveling in Latin America and his observations of the great poverty of the masses contributed to his eventual conclusion that the only solution lay in violent rebellion. He witnessed a population of poor and indigenous people that suffered from the hand of imperialism and capitalism of foreign countries. He wanted to make sure that these groups had equal rights.

He looked upon Latin America not as a collection of separate nations but as a cultural and economic entity, the liberation of which would require an intercontinental strategy. His views were changed by a 9 month journey he began in 1951 with his friend Alberto Granado. They traveled by motorcycle to Chile, Peru, Colombia, and to Venezuela. Che kept a journal throughout the whole trip that exposed the living conditions, poverty, and misery throughout Latin America and he was compelled to do something about it. From this came “The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey” and later the motion picture.

Che Guevara traveled to Guatemala where Jacob Arbenz headed a progressive regime that was attempting to bring about a social revolution. A year later, the Arbenz regime was overthrown by a coup supported by the United States CIA persuaded him that the U.S would always oppose progressive leftist government, which is what he was aiming at for the future. This motivated him to bring about socialism by means of worldwide revolution and it was in Guatemala that Guevara Became a dedicated Marxist.

After his visit, he traveled to Mexico where he met Raul and Fidel Castro, who where political exiles preparing an attempt to overthrow the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in Cuba. Che joined them in an attack to the Batista group in Cuba but were almost wiped out. They later regained strength an numbers that allowed them to become the nucleus of a guerrilla army.

He later became a citizen of Cuba and spoke on behalf of the country during national meets. He was known for his opposition to all forms of imperialism and neocolonialism and for his attacks on U.S foreign policy. His efforts were in vain when Cuba fell client of the Soviet Union and he felt betrayed by them when they removed their missiles from the island without consulting the Cuban leadership during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

This led to the disappearance of Guevara from the limelight. He later traveled to Bolivia to form another rebellion group but was captured and killed. Even after his death, Che Guevara still remained as a powerful symbol of freedom to many. Even though he was seen as a murderer, brutal, cruel, etc, he was still admired for his enormous efforts as a revolutionary and his iconic photograph will forever be viewed as a statement of rebellion. 





http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/248399/Che-Guevara/324361/The-Congo-Bolivia-and-death

http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/thehistoryofcuba/a/09cheguevara_2.htm