Ernesto Guevara

Ernesto Guevara
Portrait of comrade Che
Born	Ernesto Guevara (1928-06-14)June 14, 1928 Rosario, Santa Fé Province, Argentina
Died	October 9, 1967(1967-10-09) (aged 39) La Higuera, Vallegrande Province, Bolivia.
Cause of death	Capture and execution by the Bolivian state
Nationality	Argentinian
Political orientation	Marxism–Leninism Guevarism Anti-imperialism

Ernesto "Che" Guevara (June 14th, 1928 — October 9th, 1967) was a Latin-American Marxist–Leninist revolutionary and a leader of the Cuban Revolution, alongside Fidel Castro. During his time in the government of Cuba, he was appointed president of the Central Bank of Cuba in 1959 and later Minister of Industry in 1961. He would also lead the Department of Industrialization and the National Institute for Agrarian Reform.

Che was part of an expedition led by Fidel Castro that directed the armed struggle against the US-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara 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, Che left Cuba to set up guerrilla forces first in the Congo and then later in Bolivia, where he was ultimately captured and killed in October 1967. Accounts of his execution have varied over the years, but many contemporary accounts indicate some degree of collaboration between Bolivia's government troops and the United States' CIA. Che Guevara developed a theory of primacy of military struggle, in particular concept of guerilla foquismo. Many of Che's theories regarding guerilla tactics are articulated in his 1961 work "Guerilla Warfare."

Life

Early life in Argentina (1928–1950)

Baby Ernesto Guevara in 1928

Ernesto Guevara was born to his father Ernesto Guevara Lynch and his mother Celia de la Serna y Llosa in the city of Rosario, Argentina on May 14th, 1928, despite his birth certificate recording his birth a month later. His mother got pregnant before she was married to his father and they hid baby Che from their families for one month after he was born. Che spoke Spanish with a typical La Plata accent, common in the regions of Uruguay, south of Brazil and the northeast region of Argentina, which makes frequent use of the interjection "che" in the speech. This characteristic accent would render Guevara's nickname "Che".

Che Guevara's mother had Spanish descent, from the Argentine colonial era nobility, and his father had Irish descent, also from an aristocratic family. During his childhood, Che developed chronic asthma, which would afflict his health for his whole life.

He initially studied engineering in the Argentine city of Córdoba. In 1947, his paternal grandmother, who he taken care of, died. This death caused him to start studying medicine at the School of Medicine in Buenos Aires. He received his degree at the age of 24.

Continental motorcycle travels (1950–1952)

Guevara made two motorcycle trips across South America.

The first trip was during a time when he was a student. He made the trip with Alberto Granado. They worked in hospitals in Lima and São Paulo to help cure those afflicted with leprosy.

He made another trip on his motorcycle to help those in need after graduating. That trip ended in Guatemala.

His motorcycle trips across Latin America helped inspire him against imperialism. This was due to seeing mistreatment of workers in Chilean copper mines run by the Anaconda Company and hearing about the actions of the United Fruit Company. Both United Fruit and Anaconda were Statesian companies. He understood that the actions of foreign imperialists was inherently tied to the bourgeoisie in the local countries. This lead him to support both Marxism and national liberation.

Guatemala and Mexico (1952–1955)

He would meet Raúl and Fidel Castro as well as other future Cuban revolutionaries in Mexico. Guevara was inspired to join them in their revolution by Fidel Castro and was decided to be the doctor of the Granma yacht.

Cuban Revolution (1956–1958)

Guevara was involved in the Cuban revolution and was a member of the Granma yacht expedition to Cuba. He fought in Sierra Maestra and was at the head of the invasion.

Governance in Cuba (1959–1965)

During the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, Guevara almost was killed by an accidental discharge of his pistol. While leading the Rebel Army Command at the previous headquarters of the Rural Guard in Consolación del Sur in Pinar del Río, he fell on a pipe which loosened his pistol from his belt which proceeded to discharge. The bullet entered his right cheekbone and exited by his ear. He received a tetanus vaccine due to the shot, to which he was allergic.

In December 1964, Che spoke at the United Nations and encouraged the UN to take action against imperialism.

On 24 February 1965, he addressed the Second Economic Seminar of Afro-Asian Solidarity in Algeria. He called for socialist countries to support post-colonial states in order to protect them from imperialist banks. He said trade between socialist countries should help both countries develop.

Struggle in Congo (1965–1966)

Che left Cuba before he could attend the Tricontinental Conference and fought in the revolutionary movement in the Congo.

Struggle in Bolivia and capture (1966–1967)

Mario Monje, leader of the Bolivian Communist Party, agreed to support Che's struggle in Bolivia. The CIA, working with wealthy Cuban exiles, captured and murdered Che Guevara in Quebrada del Yuro near La Higuera in Bolivia on the 8th of October, 1967.

Works

Bibliography

Che Guevara biographies

• Richard L. Harris (2011). Che Guevara: a biography. Santa Barbara, Califonia: Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-313-35916-3 [LG]
• Fidel Castro (2006). Che: a memoir. Melbourne: Ocean Press. ISBN 978-1-921700-83-5 [LG]
• Jon Lee Anderson (2010). Che: a revolutionary life. Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-9725-2 [LG]
• Jorge G. Castañeda (1998). Compañero: the life and death of Che Guevara. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 9780679759409 [LG]
• Pablo Ignacio Taibo II (1997). Guevara, Also Known as Che. Thomas Dunne Books (St. Martin's Press). ISBN 9780312155391 [LG]