We explain who Che Guevara was, what his life and travels in South America were like, and what his characteristics and political positions were like.
Che was one of the most important revolutionary leaders in Cuba.
Who was “Che” Guevara?
Ernesto Guevara, better known as “Che” Guevara, was an Argentine-Cuban politician and revolutionaryHe also worked as a journalist, writer and soldier.
He had an important participation in the Cuban Revolution (1953-1959) led by Fidel Castro. He was One of the most important revolutionary leaders in Cuba at the timealong with Fidel and Raúl Castro, Huber Matos and Camilo Cienfuegos.
This is a controversial figure, Admired by some and rejected by othersThis is due to his participation as a promoter of communist guerrillas in different Third World countries. This militancy made him a world-renowned icon of the Revolutionary Left and the Anti-imperialist struggle.
The portrait of Che Guevara taken by photographer Alberto Korda (which illustrates this article) is one of the most famous and most reproduced portraits in the world. It is used in part taking into account its original ideological context, but also to make reinterpretations, appropriations and elaboration of merchandising: clothing, hats, posters, etc.
See also: National Security Doctrine
Birth of Che Guevara
Ernesto Guevara Born in the city of Rosario, Argentinaon June 14, 1928.
Was the eldest son of five that Ernesto Guevara Lynch and Celia de la Serna had, who belonged to the Argentine aristocracy.
According to some versions, Che He would be a descendant of José de la Serna and Hinojosathe last Spanish Viceroy of Lima.
Che He had a comfortable childhood although plagued by frequent asthma episodes.
He had access to books and He was cultivated in both adventure novels and poetryHe later studied medicine at the University of Buenos Aires. It is not known that he was active in any student movements or in Peronism, a movement for which he nevertheless felt sympathy.
Travels through South America
Che was an enthusiastic travelercommitted to the idea of touring Latin America and getting to know it better, far from the traditional tourist circuits. Thus, he made a trip through the northwest of Argentina in 1950, alone, on a Cucciolo motorcycle, which would be a prelude to his great continental trips.
- First Latin American trip. In 1952, Che and his friend Alberto Granado made a seven-month trip by motorcycle. They left Córdoba (Argentina) heading south, entered Chile through Patagonia and then traveled all the way north. Afterwards, they entered Peru, visited Cusco, Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Then Lima, Iquitos and flew by seaplane to Bogotá, at the height of the Colombian La Violencia. From there they left by bus to Caracas, and Ernesto returned to Buenos Aires on a flight with a stopover in Miami.
- Second Latin American trip. Between 1953 and 1954, Che made his second trip, this time with his childhood friend Carlos Ferrer. The goal was to return to Caracas, where Alberto Granado was still waiting for him. They left Buenos Aires by train for Bolivia, staying in La Paz, in the midst of the revolutionary process of 1952. They then retraced the route through Peru (Cusco, Machu Picchu, Lima) and from there to Guayaquil, Ecuador, by bus. There they changed course: Ernesto decided to go to Guatemala to witness the Revolution of Colonel Jacobo Arbenz, so he separated from his friend and headed to Panama, then Costa Rica, Nicaragua (hitchhiking), Honduras and El Salvador. When he finally arrived in Guatemala, he stayed there for just over nine months.
Relationship with Fidel and Raúl Castro
Che met the Castro brothers in Mexico, where he had lived since 1954.
Che He met the Castro brothers in Mexicoafter living there for two years, since 1954. He soon enlisted in the 26th of July Movement that Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl (who was a fervent communist militant) promoted to retake the island of Cuba from the dictatorial regime of Fulgencio Batista.
His friendship with the Castros lasted for many years.He established himself in guerrilla warfare and in revolutionary militancy, leading Che to even hold public office in the Cuban revolutionary government, as he was considered a man of utmost confidence.
Participation in the Cuban Revolution
During the Cuban Revolution, Che was commander of the “Fourth” Column.
Che He was among the ranks of the Cuban revolutionary guerrillaafter the Granma landed in the Gulf of Guacanayabo. He remained with the “bearded ones” during the three years they resisted in the Sierra Maestra, in the south of the island.
During this time He worked as a field doctor and as commander of the “Fourth” Column (in reality it was the second), which he christened the “shirtless ones”, paying homage to the term used by Eva Perón. There he also created Radio Rebelde in 1958, a clandestine radio station intended to promote resistance to the dictatorship.
After the triumph of the Revolution, Guevara participated in the execution of summary trials to those officials of the dictatorship considered war criminals. Many of these trials resulted in executions.
Hundreds of people were sentenced in these “revolutionary trials”. These were publicly endorsed by Che, who presided over the revolutionary court of justice, and his hearings were public.
Official positions in Cuba
Among other positions, Che was a diplomatic representative on missions to China and the USSR.
Guevara He participated in the design of Agrarian Reform lawsin the creation of Prensa Latina (a revolutionary and international media outlet) and as an ambassador for the Revolution, with diplomatic trips to other Third World countries. In all these unofficial positions he proved to be a supporter of the most radical options.
Later, in the midst of a climate of polarization and international threat, he was put in charge of organizing the Industrialization Department of INRA, which later became the Ministry of Industry. In 1959 he was appointed President of the National Bank of Cuba.a time when banknotes were issued signed with his nickname: “Che”.
From these institutions He advocated the expropriation and nationalization of private industries and the planning of a centralized economy. He was later in charge of diplomatic missions to China and the USSR.
Internationalization of the Revolution
After leaving Cuba, Che went to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Guevara, like many communists, He considered the Revolution to be an international affairArmed insurgency was encouraged in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and Argentina, most of which failed.
Even despite opposition from local communist parties, Guevara I believed that the Internationalization of the Revolution was urgent and necessary.This eventually led him to leave Cuba at the end of 1964, after renouncing his public positions and Cuban nationality.
He left for Africa, and His first destination was the Democratic Republic of the Congo.. The management in this African country was a resounding failure, and after a brief and secret return to Cuba, Che decided to undertake a guerrilla insurrection in Bolivia, where he arrived in 1966.
How did Che Guevara die?
After his arrival in Bolivia, Che Guevara He was wounded in combat and captured by the forces of the Bolivian military dictatorship of René Barrientos, which had the support of the CIA.
Sand publicly announced his death in combatalthough today we know that it was at noon on that same October 9, 1967 that the order to execute him was given. There are doubts and versions regarding the responsibility of the United States in making that decision.
Decorations and recognitions
Che was declared an illustrious citizen of the city of Rosario.
- Order of the Republic of Egypt, 1959.
- Order of the White Lion, First Class, in Czechoslovakia in 1960.
- Grand Cross of the National Order of the Southern Cross, in Brazil in 1961.
- Order of the Great Revolution of September 1st, in Libya in 1990 (posthumous).
- He was posthumously declared an illustrious citizen of the city of Rosario in 2002.
- Order of Augusto César Sandino in the Battle of San Jacinto degree, in Nicaragua in 2008 (posthumous).
Che Guevara’s ideology
Che’s thoughts It is often summarized under the label of “Guevarism”It is an amalgam of anti-imperialism, Marxism and communism, in which armed struggle played a fundamental role.
In his ideology The peasantry, agrarian reform and rural struggle were vital. This is why it was different from European Marxisms, which were more focused on the working class, and was closer to Maoism. It also valued the individual ethics of the revolutionary, which should motivate the individual to the common good and solidarity.
Che Guevara Quotes
“Capitalism is the most respected genocidal in the world.”
- “It is better to die standing than to live on your knees.”
- “The true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love.”
- “If I advance, follow me; if I stop, push me; if I retreat, kill me.”
- “If you are able to tremble with indignation every time an injustice is committed in the world, we are comrades.”
- “Capitalism is the most respected genocidal in the world.”