Che Guevara

Che Guevara
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Name	Che Guevara
Caption	Alberto Korda's iconic photograph, Guerrillero Heroico (1960)
Birth name	Ernesto Guevara
Birth date	14 June 1928
Birth place	Rosario, Argentina
Death date	9 October 1967 (aged 39)
Death place	La Higuera, Vallegrande, Bolivia
Nationality	Argentine, Cuban (granted 1959)
Education	University of Buenos Aires (MD)
Occupation	Revolutionary, physician, author, military theorist, diplomat
Known for	Cuban Revolution, guerrilla warfare
Party	26th of July Movement, United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, Communist Party of Cuba
Spouse	Hilda Gadea (m. 1955–1959), Aleida March (m. 1959)

Che Guevara. Ernesto "Che" Guevara was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, and a central figure in the Cuban Revolution. After serving in key roles in the new government of Fidel Castro, including as a military commander and Minister of Industries, he left Cuba to foment revolution abroad, ultimately being captured and executed by the Bolivian Army with CIA assistance. His stylized visage, captured in Alberto Korda's photograph Guerrillero Heroico, has become a ubiquitous global symbol of rebellion and counterculture.

Early life and education

Ernesto Guevara was born in Rosario, Argentina, into a middle-class family with leftist leanings. His early life was marked by severe asthma, which influenced his studious nature and later interest in medicine. He attended the University of Buenos Aires, studying medicine, but his worldview was transformed by two lengthy motorcycle journeys across South America in 1951-1952, documented in his memoir The Motorcycle Diaries. These travels exposed him to widespread poverty, imperialism, and the political upheaval in countries like Bolivia under Víctor Paz Estenssoro and Guatemala during the Jacobo Árbenz presidency, solidifying his revolutionary convictions.

Role in the Cuban Revolution

In 1955 in Mexico City, Guevara joined Fidel Castro's exiled 26th of July Movement, training as a guerrilla fighter. He sailed on the Granma expedition in 1956 to invade Cuba and initiate the armed struggle against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. Displaying fierce bravery and tactical acumen during the Sierra Maestra campaign, he rose to the rank of comandante. His pivotal military victories at the Battle of Santa Clara in December 1958 were instrumental in the collapse of the Batista regime and the triumph of the revolution on 1 January 1959.

Government and international influence

Following the revolution, Guevara held several influential positions, including president of the National Bank of Cuba and Minister of Industries. He was a key architect of Cuba's shift toward a planned economy and a Marxist-Leninist political system aligned with the Soviet Union. As a roving ambassador, he represented Cuba at the United Nations and on global diplomatic missions, delivering famous speeches like the 1964 address at the UN General Assembly and the 1965 Algiers speech where he criticized both Western and Eastern Bloc policies.

Congo and Bolivia campaigns

Driven by a desire to export revolution, Guevara secretly departed Cuba in 1965. He first led a failed Cuban contingent aiding Marxist rebels in the Congo Crisis, an experience he deemed a defeat. In 1966, he entered Bolivia under a false identity to establish a guerrilla foco intended to ignite a continental uprising. Hampered by a lack of local support, terrain difficulties, and effective counter-insurgency operations by the Bolivian Army trained by the U.S. Green Berets and advised by the CIA, his group was tracked and decimated. He was captured at the Quebrada del Yuro and executed the next day in La Higuera on orders from the high command in La Paz.

Ideology and political philosophy

Guevara was a dedicated adherent of Marxism but developed his own distinct theories of revolutionary practice. He advocated for the foco theory, a vanguard guerrilla strategy to catalyze mass insurrection. He emphasized the necessity of armed struggle, anti-imperialism, and internationalism, viewing the United States as the primary imperialist enemy of Latin America. His economic philosophy, outlined in works like Socialism and Man in Cuba, stressed moral over material incentives and the creation of a "New Man" devoted to socialist ideals. He was a staunch critic of capitalism and what he perceived as Soviet revisionism.

Legacy and cultural impact

Guevara remains a profoundly polarizing historical figure, revered as a martyr for global liberation and condemned as an advocate for violent revolution and authoritarianism. His image is one of the world's most reproduced, a symbol of revolt merchandised globally. Major biographies by authors like Jon Lee Anderson and films like The Motorcycle Diases have shaped his posthumous narrative. In Cuba, he is an official national hero, with his likeness adorning currency and countless murals, while his remains reside in the Che Guevara Mausoleum in Santa Clara.

Category:1928 births Category:1967 deaths Category:Argentine revolutionaries Category:Cuban Revolution Category:Marxists