READER QUESTION Alan Ferreira dos Santos, Sao Luis, MA
He was a revolutionary who helped to establish a new political regime – one-party and socialist – in Cuba, which lasts until today. For many, Che is a martyr who opposed dictators and the US and fought for fairer societies in countries like Guatemala, Congo and Bolivia. For others, he was a guerrilla obsessed with violence who used controversial methods – such as chasing and killing opponents – to achieve his goals. Either way, he is an important historical figure and cultural icon around the world, even being venerated as a saint in some parts of Bolivia. His name and face became symbols of rebellion, being used to this day on t-shirts, posters, songs and even games.
THE STORY OF A MYTH
Born into the middle class and a qualified physician, Che dropped everything to fight oppressive regimes.
1. MOTORCYCLE DAILY
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna was born in 1928 in Argentina, where he grew up. In 1951, he took a break from medical school and rode a Harley-Davidson motorcycle to travel Latin America for eight months with his friend Alberto Granaldo, also a physician. They descended the Argentine Atlantic coast, crossed the Andes to Chile and then headed north.
2. AN IDEALIST IS BORN
In Peru, the pair met Dr. Hugo Pesce, a doctor member of the Communist Party, who cared for a leper colony. Che dreamed of becoming a doctor to cure diseases that affected the poor. After the trip, he decided that the best way to help was to fight those responsible for the political injustices that contributed to the spread of poverty.
3. FIRST CONFLICTS
After completing his studies in Argentina, he went to Guatemala, where the president had been deposed by a coup devised by the CIA. With the nickname Che, he established himself as a revolutionary and oppositionist in the US and even took part in groups that fought the government. He also met his first wife, Hilda Gadea, and eloped with her to Mexico City.
4. THE PARTNERSHIP WITH FIDEL
In Mexico, he met Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl and joined the 26th of July Movement, which planned to take power in Cuba, then under the dictatorship of Fulgêncio Batista. In 1956, 82 guerrillas sailed there from Mexico, but were attacked on the coast – most of them killed. Che was injured but survived and followed the group into the Sierra Maestra mountains.
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5. CUBAN HERO
The group grew and started the Cuban Revolution, carrying out attacks between 1956 and 1958. In 1959, they took over Santa Clara and Santiago de Cuba. Batista fled, allowing the takeover of Havana without confrontation. Che held various government positions and traveled the world as Cuba’s ambassador. He also remarried and had four children.
6. MISSILE CRISIS
With the Missile Crisis, in 1965, Che left bureaucratic positions and returned to organizing revolutionary cells in other countries. Some sources point to differences between Che and Fidel at that time, but one of Guevara’s daughters says they were just rumors of North American origin to discredit her father figure. Che was missing for several months
7. FROM AFRICA TO AMERICA
In 1965, it was revealed that Che was in Congo, where he led guerrillas who tried to overthrow dictator Joseph Mobutu. With the failure of the venture, he returned to Cuba in hiding and devised the plan to create a guerrilla hotbed in Bolivia, where he went undercover in 1966. The country was living under the dictatorship of General René Barrientos, supported by the USA
8. EXECUTION IN BOLIVIA
The US provided the Bolivian Army with weapons and training for counterguerrilla actions. A detachment of 2,000 men attacked Che’s group, who was wounded by a gunshot and captured. On October 9, 1967, after interrogation, Guevara, aged 39, was killed with a rifle volley by Lieutenant Mario Terán
9. MORTAL REMAINS
After his death, Che’s hands were cut off and sent by the Bolivian Army to the CIA so that his identity could be confirmed with fingerprint analysis. His body location was only discovered 30 years later. He was buried in a ditch in the middle of the Bolivian jungle, near the Vallagrande airport.
Curiosity: According to documents, Che would have been involved in 144 deaths and would have been responsible for the irregular arrest of 30,000 people.
SOURCES Books Che Guevara, A Biographyby Jon Lee Anderson By Motorbike through South America – Travel Diaryby Ernesto Guevara, Encyclopedia of Wars and Revolutions of the 20th Centuryby Francisco Carlos Teixeira da Silva, Politically Incorrect Guide to Latin Americaby Leandro Narloch and Duda Teixeira, and Life in Redby Jorge Castañeda, and documentary chevolution