Ernesto 'Che' Guevara: The Biography Project

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Ernesto 'Che' Guevara (1928 - 1967)

Guerrilla Warrior
National Hero of Cuba

Biographical Notes
'Che' Guevara was born Ernesto Guevara de la Serna on 14 June 1928 in
Rosario, Argentina, into a relatively upper-middle class family. His father was a
construction engineer. He was the first of five children.

Develops a severe asthmatic condition at the age of two, prompting his family to
move to the drier climate of Alta Gracia, Cordoba.

Most of his early education was provided by his mother at home. He is reported to
have read widely and deeply from his father's library, encountering Marx and Freud
in his early teens.

In 1941, he attends the Colegio Nacional Dean Funes, a secondary school in

Cordoba.

Enrolled in the University of Buenos Aires in 1948, studies medicine, becomes

interested in leprosy. His asthma disqualifies him for military service.

Makes a 4,000 mile long journey through Northern Argentina alone on a moped,
encountering many indigenous tribes and experiencing first hand the impoverished

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 Ernesto 'Che' Guevara: The Biography Project

conditions of their lives.

In 1951, he takes off on a motorcycle journey with his good friend, Alberto
Granado. They travel from Buenos Aires, down the coast of Argentina, through the
Andes into Chile, and then north into Peru, Columbia and Venezuela. The diary
Che kept during this time has been published as: The Motorcycle Diaries: A Journey
Around South America.

He qualifies as a doctor in 1953, specializing in dermatology. Around this time he

was exposed to the attempted worker reforms following the National Revolution of
1952 in Boliva.

Walks and hitchhikes to Guatemala, witnesses the overthrow of the radical

socialist government of Jacobo Arbenz by USA-supported Castillo Armas. He could
not help but note the vital role that the CIA played in the counter-revolution.
Establishes connections with Peruvian Apristas and other Latin American radicals.

In September of 1954, he moves to Mexico City, finding work in the General

Hospital. Through Hilda Gadea, a Peruvian Marxist, he meets Fidel Castro and
involves himself in the planned invasion of Cuba. He marries Gadea. They have a
daughter, Hildita.

Under the influence of Castro, Alberto Bayo and the writings of Mao Tse-tung, he
begins to form the primary axioms of his philosophy of guerrilla warfare. In this time
he also began to be called 'Che', for his habit of ending his sentences and calling
his friends 'Che'- which is an Argentinian expression for buddy.

In 1956, the revolutionaries land in Cuba on the "yacht" Granma, initating a three-
year guerrilla war against the dictator, Fulgencio Batista. Che is included at first for
his medical expertise but soon rises through the ranks to become the
Commandante of the Revolutionary Army of Barbutos. In this role, he is directly
responsible for dozens of executions of defectors and Batista loyalists.

The revolutionaries succeed in overthrowing the Batista regime in January of

1959. Che is now considered second only to Castro, who appoints him Governor of
the National Bank.

He marries Aleida
March de la Torre, with
whom he eventually has
four children.

He is made Minister
for Industry in 1961,
becomes increasingly
hostile towards US
interests in the Cuban
economy, strengthens relationship with USSR. During the Cuban Missile Crisis,
Che advocates nuclear confrontation.

From 1961 to 1965, he travels with his wife around the world as an ambassador
for Cuba.

Becomes disillusioned with Soviet Communism, makes a formal break in a speech

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 Ernesto 'Che' Guevara: The Biography Project

delivered in February of 1965. Calls for guerrilla-type revolutionary actions in Africa,

Asia and South America.

Che goes underground, traveling through Africa, eventually assembling a group of

Cubans to fight in the Kinshasa rebellion in the Congo. The rebellion fails and Che
withdraws in August of 1965.

Castro informally removes Guevara from office, their ideas for the future of Cuba
having radically diverged.

He disguises himself as Uraguayan economist, shaving off his beard and not
wearing his famous beret, in order to travel incognito through Latin America.

In November 1966, he leads a group of guerrillas through southeastern Bolivia,

hoping to inspire the peasants and workers into a revolutionary movement that
would spread all throughout Latin America, sparking off "twenty new Vietnams".
Dispirited by casualties, illness and depression, the ragged group is cornered by a
Bolivian battalion (which had been trained by US Special Forces in anti-guerrilla
warfare) in a gorge on October 8. Two jets and a helicopter provide air support. Che
is taken to the nearby town of La Higuera.

He refuses all attempts at interrogation by CIA and Bolivan officials. The Bolivian
president, General Rene Barrientos, orders the execution of Guevara as soon as
possible.

9 October 1967. After a few false starts and Che's telling them to get it over with,
six or more shots are fired into Guevara's torso. One version of his reported last
words were: "I knew you were going to shoot me; I should never have been taken
alive. Tell Fidel that this failure does not mean the end of the revolution, that it will
triumph elsewhere. Tell Aleida to forget this, remarry and be happy, and keep the
children studying. Ask the soldiers to aim well." Others have claimed his last words
to have been: "Shoot, coward! You are going to kill a man."

After his death, a death mask was made and his hands were cut off to ensure
identification. His body was buried in a secret grave. Guevara was 39 years old.

In June of 1997, a team of Cuban and Argentinian scientists recovered the

skeleton, missing both hands, of Guevara in the town of Vallegrande, Bolivia. The
bones have since been "repatriated" to Cuba.

Quotes
● "It is better to die standing than to live on your knees."

● "The question is one of fighting the causes and not just the effects. This
revolution is bound to fail if it doesn't succeed in reaching deep inside them,
stirring them right down to the bone, and giving them back their stature as
human beings. Otherwise, what's the use?"

● "Hatred is an element of struggle; relentless hatred of the enemy that impels

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 Ernesto 'Che' Guevara: The Biography Project

us over and beyond the natural limitations of man and transforms us into
effective, violent, selective, and cold killing machines. Our soldiers must be
thus; a people without hatred cannot vanquish a brutal enemy."

● "Man really attains the state of complete humanity when he produces, without
being forced by physical need to sell himself as a commodity."

Subcultural Relevance
The 30 year anniversary of Guevara's death, the publication of a slew of books,
and the timely recovery of his bones have amply served to underscore the recent
surge in the popularity of the sixties guerrilla leader. The famous photograph of Che
in black beret taken by Korda has become an icon all over the world. His image is
used by everyone from politically subversive rock bands to advertisers seeking
credibility. In Cuba and many parts of Latin America, he is spoken of in an almost
Christ-like reverence. The Cuban government actively cultivates a "Che mythos",
exploiting the nostalgia for the good old revolutionary days.

The issue of Che Guevara's relevance is two-fold. Primarily, his life represents the
archetype of revolutionary in the late 20th century political theater. On the other
hand, the blatant and nothing less than pornographic whoring of his image vividly
illustrates the dangers of mediated manipulation and recontextualization of a
threatening personality. It would be a sad, but telling, fate if Che ended up only
being remembered as fashionable martyr-rebel icon for Madsion Avenue. The
imperative here is to not become seduced by the advertized images and empty
slogans; but to see through it into the complexities and, at times, difficult aspects of
the extraordinary human being that was Che Guevara.

Other Links
● Che Guevara Page An excellent Guevara Page, including:

❍ Che Documents

❍ Che Pics

❍ Che Chat

● http://www.marxists.org/archive/guevara/index.htm nice summary, with some

original national security archive information.

● LatinoLink: 'Ernesto (Che) Guevara': Revolutionary's Last Days An important

resource with several articles addressing the contemporary influence of
Guevara

● Ernesto Che Guevara A page by a political science major

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 Ernesto 'Che' Guevara: The Biography Project

● Vallegrande Extremely informative site about the recovery of Guevara's

remains

● Che Guevara Biographical sketch from the often copied, occasionally altered,
Guevara entry in Edward Hyams's A Dictionary of Modern Revolution

● CubaWeb Scattered information about Che from the "official Cuban Website"

● Che Guevara's Dubious Legacy Intriguing article about Guevara's Message

to the Tricontinental, which advocated hatred as an essential element of
revolutionary struggle.

● Che Guevara: The St Just Of The Jungle

Major Works
● The Bolivian Diary of Ernesto Che Guevara - Mary-Alice Waters, (ed.),
Pathfinder Press, 1994

● Che Guevara Reader: Writings on Guerilla Strategy, Politics & Revolution

● Che Guevara Speaks: Selected Speeches & Writings

● Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War 1956-58

● Guerrilla Warfare: An Introduction

● Motorcycle Diaries: A Journey Around South America

● Socialism and Man in Cuba

● To Speak the Truth: Why Washington's 'Cold War' Against Cuba Doesn't End
with Fidel Castro, Pathfinder Press, 1992

● Che In Africa: Che Guevara's Congo Diary [1999]

● The Diary of Che Guevara: The Secret Papers of a Revolutionary

● Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War

● The Complete Bolivian Diaries of Che Guevara, and Other Captured

Documents [June 2000]

Biographical and Related Secondary Texts

● Chasing Che: A Motorcycle Journey in Search of the Guevara Legend -

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Ernesto 'Che' Guevara: The Biography Project

Patrick Symmes [2/2000]

● I, Che Guevara - John Blackthorn (novel)

● Che: Ernesto Guevara, Una Leyenda De Nuestro Siglo - Pierre Kalfon

● Che: The Photobiography of Che Guevara - Christophe Loviny

● Che For Beginners (Readers and Writers Documentary Comic Book)

● Che Guevara - David Sandison (lots of photos)

● Che Guevara (Pocket Biographies Series) - Andrew Sinclair

● Che Guevara: A Biography by Daniel James, Stein & Day Publishers

● Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life by Jon Lee Anderson, Grove Press, 1997

● Che Guevara and the Fight for Socialism Today: Cuba Confronts the World
Crisis of the '90s - Mary-Alice Waters

● Che Guevara and the FBI edited by Michael Ratner and Michael Steven
Smith

● Che Guevara: Economics and Politics in the Transition to Socialism

● Death of Che Guevara: A Novel - Jay Cantor, Random House

● The Defeat of Che Guevara: Military Response to Guerilla Challenge in

Bolivia - Gary Prado Salmon

● The Fall of Che Guevara: A Story of Soldiers, Spies & Diplomats - Henry
Butterfield Ryan

● Guevara, Also Known As Che by Paco Ignacio Taibo, St Martins, 1997

● Compañero: The Life and Death of Che Guevara - Jorge G. Castaneda

● Great Rebel: Che Guevara in Bolivia - Luis Gonzalez, Grove Press

● Roll Over Che Guevara: Travels of a Radical - Marc Cooper, Norton, 1996

● The Marxism of Che Guevara: Philosophy, Economics and Revolutionary

Warfare - Michael Lowy

● Death of a Revolutionary: Che Guevara's Last Mission (revised edition) -

Richard Harris (8/2000)

● Fat Capitalist's Song On the Death of Che Guevara

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 Ernesto 'Che' Guevara: The Biography Project

Video, Documentary and Otherwise

● Che Guevara: Restless Revolutionary [VHS]

● El Che: Investigating a Legend (1998) [VHS]

● Ernesto Che Guevara, The Bolivian Diary Richard Dindo, dir. (1994) [VHS]

● Che! Richard Fleischer (1969) Starring Omar Sharif as Che, Jack Palance as
Fidel Castro... reputed to be awful.

Author: Bonesy Jones

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