“It is better to die standing than to live on your knees.”
The execution of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara in 1967 created a global phenomenon: a revolutionary hero who achieved legendary status. Today is the 40th anniversary of the murder of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara de la Serna.
Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara was born in Argentina, in June 1928, to an upper-middle class family. He suffered from asthma as a boy and spent bouts of childhood physically inactive, passing his time playing chess and reading books. He later overcame his affliction and played rugby at school, gaining the title ‘Fuser’ (the Raging). He entered the University of Buenos Aires in 1948 to train as a doctor and left in 1951 with his friend Alberto Grenado on a motorcycle tour of Latin America.
It was during this tour that ‘Che’ witnessed the dire poverty and wide-spread exploitation that had spread throughout South America like an Imperialist cancer. Instead of settling down as a GP, Guevara joined what was to become the 26th July Movement and met his long-term ally, a young Guerrilla named Fidel Castro. Although he had no previous military experience, ‘Che’ joined Castro’s 26th July Movement as a medic.
In 1958, the rebels gathered in the forests of the Sierra Maestra and prepared their assault against the U.S. supported dictator Fulgencio Batista. They claimed numerous victories, many of which were achieved by ‘Che’s’ decisive and natural military leadership.
The Revolution took Havana in January 1959 (and still holds it to this day). During this time ‘Che’ presided over open public trials in order to convict known criminals and murderers who had used brutal methods against the Cuban people during the Batista years. If anything ‘Che’ saved these criminals from being lynched in the streets by providing them with a fair trial and an expedient end upon conviction. If anything, these criminals would have suffered far worse fates at the hands of the Cuban people, whom they had oppressed throughout the Batista years. ‘Che’ ensured that justice was served expediently.
After a stint as a Cuban politician and a visit to the UN, Guevara tried but failed to incite similar revolutions across the globe, including a lengthy excursion in the Congo. Unfortunately, Bolivia would be his final stand. He was captured and executed by Bolivian forces in 1967 under the guidance of the C.I.A. with the full consent of Washington.
But, ‘Che’ is not dead, ‘Che’ is alive in all of us. ‘Che’s’ Revolution did not fail, it is still in progress: it is our Revolution and our time will come. The t-shirt is a good first step, but if you want to know the real ‘Che’ Guevara then his writings are essential reading and they must be kept alive and in circulation, now more than ever.
For a detailed account of Ernesto Guevara please see Ike Nahem’s ‘Our Che’ (2007) here.
For a video documentary about Che’s life, please VISIT HERE.
Books:
1952: The Motorcycle Diaries [partial transcription]
1963: Our America and Theirs [partial transcription]
1963: Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War [partial transcription]
1967: The Che Reader [partial transcription]
1967: The Bolivian Diary [partial transcription]
Documents:
April 18, 1959: Abstract of: A New Old Interview
August 19, 1960: On Revolutionary Medicine
October 8, 1960: Notes for the Study of the Ideology of the Cuban Revolution
March 28, 1961: Mobilising the Masses for the Invasion
April 9, 1961: Cuba: Exceptional Case or Vanguard in the Struggle Against Colonialism?
August 8, 1961: On Growth and Imperialism
September, 1962: The Cadres: Backbone of the Revolution
August 1963: Guerrilla war, a method [not to be confused with his famous book]
March 25, 1964: On Development
December 11, 1964: Colonialism is Doomed
February, 1965: Second Economic Seminar of the Organization of Afro-Asian Solidarity
March, 1965: Man and Socialism in Cuba
April 1, 1965: Farewell letter from Che to Fidel Castro
April 16, 1967: Message to the Tricontinental
HASTA SIEMPRE VICTORIA EL COMMANDANTE.
VIVA CHE! VIVA LA REVOLUCION!
