Che’s Little Star Continues To Shine

Forty years after his execution in Bolivia, the face of Ernesto Che Guevara still haunts the world of the living. His image has endured, despite death and the passage of time. Che is Che. His legend has survived the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disappointments born of the struggle for national liberation in various countries. Che, popular icon and symbol of revolutionary heroism, is a myth. He is still admired, particularly by the young ; he himself would be astonished to discover that he is more famous than ever. He is cited as an example due to his ethics and courage. Recuperated as a subject for debate, he also has his detractors. To some, he was nothing more than a merciless Saint-Just, who sent the torturers of Batista’s dictatorship to their execution by firing squad. The fact that he gave medical attention to soldiers and also released soldiers in the Cuban Sierra Maestra is disregarded…

In order to understand Ernesto Che Guevara, we have to immerse ourselves in the history of Latin America, that poor and humiliated continent. Che became aware of the situation during his trip around Latin America, at a time when the continent was controlled by the dictatorships of Trujillo, Somoza, Stroessner and Batista, set up by the North-Americans and their multinational corporations. In Guatemala in 1954, the young Guevara witnessed the overthrow of the progressive government of Jacobo Arbenz, a man who was harshly punished, with the secret involvement of the CIA.

Che the Marxist, Che the communist “wanderer”, Che the internationalist truly began his revolutionary epic a little later in Mexico where he became friends with the Cuban rebels and Raul Castro. He met Fidel who was in the middle of preparing the Cuban landing. The two men were engaged in fervent discussions throughout the night ; this was the beginning of a close collaboration between “brothers in arms”. Ernesto set out on the Granma along with Fidel’s men. In the direction of Cuba. He was the expedition’s doctor and proved himself as a competent military chief. He was made commander. The Granma expedition was a failure ; the twelve survivors, among whom were Fidel, Raul and Che, organised a guerrilla campaign, benefiting from the support of the peasants, then from the city dwellers. They mounted spectacular coups and used the media to their advantage. The revolution led by the “barbudos” was in motion.

At the end of 1958, Ernesto led the column of soldiers who liberated Santa Clara. At the beginning of 1959, he marched into Havana with Camilo Cienfuegos and prepared for Fidel’s arrival. Che became a Cuban citizen and occupied the highest posts of the revolution. An anti-conformist, he often neglected his successive responsibilities in order to interact with the public, cut sugar cane or play chess, his familiar beret decorated with a star firmly attached to his head.

Roving ambassador to Cuba, he gave a speech before the United Nations, in support of revolution and overexploited peoples. He undertook several missions to the Eastern countries, questioned the direction of the USSR’s economic policy and its imperialism towards third world countries. In 1965, with the approval of Fidel Castro he decided to abandon all his official duties. What he wanted to do was leave Cuba and ignite a base for revolution wherever the fight against imperialism was spreading. He travelled to Africa, fought in the Congo, returned after defeat and prepared his expedition to Bolivia. After eleven months of guerrilla warfare in a hostile region, where he was leading a handful of guerrilla fighters, Che was captured on 8 October 1967 during an ambush held by the Bolivian rangers and the CIA agents in the Quebrada del Churo. He was executed the following day at the schoolhouse in the village of La Higuera. For thirty years his body and those of some of his companions lay buried in a communal grave beneath the runway of the little aerodrome in Vallegrande.

Forty years after his death, the mythic figure, who inspires action, keeps the spirit of revolt and political engagement alive. He represents a powerful foil to the neoliberal frenzy of today. And for all those who refuse to accept the fatality of the situation and want to change the world through a present-day revolution, Che certainly lives on.

Bernard Duraud