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Che Guevara | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of comrade Che | |
| Born | Ernesto Guevara June 14, 1928 Rosario, Santa Fé Province, Argentina |
| Died | October 9, 1967 (aged 39) La Higuera, Vallegrande Province, Bolivia |
| Cause of death | Executed by reactionaries |
| Nationality | Argentinian |
| Political orientation | Marxism-leninism |
Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14 June 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. His life, conduct and thought have become a paradigm for millions of men and women around the world.
He was part of an expedition led by Fidel Castro that began the armed struggle against the US-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. During the war he reached the rank of commander and commanded column 8 Ciro Redondo, which extended the war to the center of the island, precipitating the fall of the dictatorship.
During the Revolution he was appointed President of the National Bank of Cuba and Minister of Industries. He also presided over Cuban delegations that visited various countries and was a representative of the revolutionary government in important international conclaves. During the October Crisis he was appointed military chief of the province of Pinar del Río.
In 1965 he led a guerrilla front in the Congo against the intervention of white mercenaries and their local allies. Failed, the guerrilla movement returned to Cuba and began to organize the revolutionary war in Bolivia. After a campaign of several months, he was taken prisoner by the Bolivian troops in the Yuro ravine and the day after his capture he was assassinated. His remains were located in 1997 and sent to Cuba where they rest in the Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara Memorial Complex that was built for this purpose in the city of Santa Clara
Western Propaganda
For many years people have told lies about Che Guevara, saying that he was a racist, homophobe and an evil mass murderer. Most of these claims are simply reactionary myths that can easily be debunked.
Was Che Guevara a Racist?
It is true that Guevara made racist statements when he was a young man, which experts unfortunately state "would not have been unusual coming from a 24-year-old from Argentina at the time" (see citation below) ; however, as he grew up, Guevara came to reject these statements and ideas. Quoting from a Politifact article on the topic:
At workers' rallies around that time, Guevara and Raul Castro talked about the need to "advance the revolution’s anti-discrimination program," wrote Alejandro de la Fuente, a University of Pittsburgh history professor in his book A Nation for All: Race, Inequality and Politics in 20th Century Cuba. In the speech at Santa Clara, Guevara called for the university to "paint itself with black, paint itself with mulatto" students and teachers, Fuente wrote.
In 1964, Guevara spoke before the United Nations and criticized "racist" intervention by the west in the Congo, Anderson wrote in his book.
People who have studied Guevara said he was racially inclusive in his actions.
These sentiments are supported by various other experts on the topic, such as Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado:
Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado, a political science professor at the University of Nebraska who teaches Latino politics, said that Guevara underwent a transformation from his early days in Argentina. "While there is evidence to support the claim that Ché made such statements, or harbored them in his mind as a young man, his role in the revolution was one where he openly espoused anti-racist, egalitarian ideals," Benjamin-Alvarado told PolitiFact in an email.
Perhaps Guevara's most explicit statement against racism came on December 11th, 1964, at a speech he gave at the United Nations:
Those who kill their own children and discriminate daily against them because of the color of their skin; those who let the murderers of blacks remain free, protecting them, and furthermore punishing the black population because they demand their legitimate rights as free men — how can those who do this consider themselves guardians of freedom? We understand that today the Assembly is not in a position to ask for explanations of these acts. It must be clearly established, however, that the government of the United States is not the champion of freedom, but rather the perpetrator of exploitation and oppression against the peoples of the world and against a large part of its own population.
And of course, Guevara fought alongside with black revolutionaries in the Congo, which he would not have done if he harbored racial hatred against them.
In short, it is clear and obvious to any honest person that Che Guevara was not a racist, and that he condemned racial discrimination, standing side-by-side with revolutionaries of all racial backgrounds.
Was Che Guevara a Murderer?
Perhaps the most well-known allegation against Guevara is that he killed innocent people, particularly during his time at the La Cabana fortress after the revolution. However, Jon Lee Anderson of the New Yorker (hardly a radical publication), and the author of the most definitive biography ever written of Guevara, Che: A Revolutionary Life, stated in an interview with PBS NewsHour:
While Che did indeed execute people [an episode I have gone into at length in my book] I have yet to find a single credible source pointing to a case where Che executed ‘an innocent’. Those persons executed by Guevara or on his orders were condemned for the usual crimes punishable by death at times of war or in its aftermath: desertion, treason or crimes such as rape, torture or murder.
This lays the issue to rest; Guevara did not execute innocent people, or if he did, no evidence of it has ever been found.
Other Achievements of Che Guevara
It is worth noting that Che is not only a revolutionary symbol; he oversaw some very important developments within Cuba after the revolution. For one thing, Guevara was responsible for the Cuban literacy campaign, which according to Oxfam America, was extraordinarily successful:
The National Literacy Campaign of 1961, recognized as one of the most successful initiatives of its kind, mobilized teachers, workers, and secondary school students to teach more than 700,000 persons how to read. This campaign reduced the illiteracy rate from 23% to 4% in the space of one year.
He was also appointed head of the National Institute for Agrarian Reform, which oversaw the successful breakup of the large land estates which had prevailed before the revolution. According to Oxfam America:
When Cuba’s revolution came to power in 1959, its model of development aimed to link economic growth with advances in social justice. From the start, transforming economic changes were accompanied by equally transforming social initiatives. For example, in 1959, Cuba carried out a profound agrarian reform which ended latifundia [land estate system] in the island and distributed land to thousands of formerly landless small farmers.
That being said, Guevara was not perfect; there are legitimate criticisms of him that one can make.
Legitimate Criticisms of Che Guevara
Che was a great man, yet he was not flawless. For one thing, it is undeniable that he was complicit in the homophobic policies of the revolutionary government; whether he played a direct role in them is unknown, but he certainly made no visible opposition.
In addition, Che was not a terribly good bureaucrat; his appointment as Minister of Industry was an undeniable mistake on Castro's part, and Che even seemed to dabble in some idealism when he suggested that workers be content with "moral certificates" rather than pay raises as incentives for harder work. In the book Ernesto "Che" Guevara by Douglas Kellner, Che is quoted as saying:
This is not a matter of how many pounds of meat one might be able to eat, or how many times a year someone can go to the beach, or how many ornaments from abroad one might be able to buy with his current salary. What really matters is that the individual feels more complete, with much more internal richness and much more responsibility.
These are legitimate issues on which Guevara can and should be critiqued. As Marxists, it is essential that we do not fall into the fatal trap of hero-worship; even the greatest revolutionaries remain fallible humans.
Conclusion
Guevara was one of the great revolutionaries of the 20th century; that much is beyond all doubt. His actions during and after the Cuban Revolution helped to bring about a better life for millions, while his image and influence have benefited countless more. The attempts to slander him as a racist and a murderer are disgraceful and dishonest.
Despite this, he was not flawless; he did nothing to fight homophobia in Cuba, and his performance as Minister of Industry is hard to describe as anything but incompetent. That being said, he remains one of the greatest of all proletarian revolutionaries, and an inspiration to all who would seek a better world.
Sources
- Politifact | Did Che Guevara "Write Extensively" About the Superiority of Europeans?
- Marxists Internet Archive | Che Guevara at the UN, 1964
- PBS NewsHour | The Legacy of Ernesto "Che" Guevara
- Oxfam America | Cuba: Social Policy at the Crossroads
- Chelsea House Publishers | Ernesto "Che" Guevara
Additional resources
External Links
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- Wikipedia (about)
- Leftypedia (about)
- EcuRed (Spanish, English auto translated) (about)
- Che Guevara's True Legacy