Full name Ernesto 'Che' Rafael
Guevara de la Serna. 'Che' variously translates as "Hey, you ...", or
'Chum', or 'Buddy', or 'Pal', or 'Dude', or 'The Kid'.
[b]Country:[/b]
[url=http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/videla.html]Argentina[/url], Cuba.
[b]Cause:[/b]
Liberation of Cuba from a corrupt military dictatorship and resistance
to United States interference in Cuban political affairs.
[b]Background:[/b]
Christopher Columbus claims Cuba for Spain on his first voyage in 1492.
The Spanish are ousted by the US in the war of 1898. The island is then
effectively annexed by the US. American business interests flourish but
the domestic political process is seriously compromised by US interference.
1933 sees the entry of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar onto the political
scene when the then army sergeant leads a military revolt that installs
a new revolutionary government.
In January 1934 Batista topples the new government and installs himself
as dictator, ruling until 1940 when he is legitimately elected as president.
Finding himself out of power in 1944, Batista, now a general, bides his
time until 10 March 1952, when he overthrows the government in a bloodless
coup and cancels planned elections. The US recognises the Batista government
on 27 March. Batista rules by decree and presides over a corrupt regime
with links to US business and organised crime. [url=http://www.moreorless.au.com/background/cuba.html]More
background[/url].
[b]Mini biography:[/b]
Born on 14 June 1928 in Rosario, Argentina, into a liberal, middleclass
family. He is the first of five children. As a child he suffers from asthma,
and will do so for the rest of his life.
[b]1947[/b] - He begins studying for a degree
in medicine at the University of Buenos Aires. He spends his leave on
motorcycle tours with his friend Alberto Granado, who runs a dispensary
at the leper colony of San Francisco del Chanar near Cordoba in Argentina.
In journeys undertaken in 1951 and 1952, Guevara travels first in Argentina,
where he meets the lepers at Cordoba, then heads west into [url=http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/pinochet.html]Chile[/url] and then north
through Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and on to Miami in the US, where he is
turned back by the immigration authorities.
While in Peru he works in the San Pablo leprosarium. His experiences
with the lepers and the poor and underprivileged during his travels have
a key impact on the development of his political thought. He becomes convinced
that genuine equality can only be achieved through socialism.
Guevara's experiences on the road are later described in his book
'Motorcycle Diaries'.
[b]1952[/b] - Guevara participates in riots
against Argentine President Juan Perón.
[b]1953[/b] - Guevara completes his medical
degree in March. He travels to Bolivia and then to [url=http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/montt.html]Guatemala[/url],
which is governed by the reformist administration of Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán.
While in Guatemala Guevara meets his first wife, Hilda, an exiled Peruvian
Marxist. The couple will later divorce.
[b]1954[/b] - The Guatemalan Government is
overthrown by a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) backed coup d'état
in June 1954. The CIA's involvement includes the compilation of lists
of individuals to be "eliminated", imprisoned or deported following
the coup.
After helping in the resistance against the coup, Guevara flees to Mexico
City, where he works in the General Hospital and teaches on the medical
faculty of the National University. His experience of the CIA's role in
the downfall of the Guzmán government confirms his growing belief
in the need for armed resistance against opponents of socialism.
[b]1955[/b] - While in Mexico he meets Fidel
Castro, the Cuban revolutionary. Castro is in self-imposed exile following
his early release from a prison sentence imposed after his abortive attempt
to overthrow the Batista regime on 26 July 1953.
"Our first argument revolved around international politics,"
Guevara later writes of his first meeting with Castro. "By the small
hours of that night I had become one of the future expeditionaries."
[b]1956[/b] - From his base in Mexico, Castro
forms the 26th of July Revolutionary Movement. Guevara joins the group
as a medic and trains with them in guerrilla warfare techniques. The group
of 82 land on the coast of Oriente province (in the island's east) on
2 December and launch an attack against the Batista regime. The attack
results in the death or capture of most of the revolutionaries.
The 12 survivors, including Castro, his brother Raul and Guevara, retreat
to the Sierra Maestra Mountains to the south. From there they stage continuous
successful guerrilla attacks against the Batista government, gaining widespread
support and growing to an estimated 3,000 men.
Faced with the choice of either remaining a medic or taking up the gun,
Guevara writes, "I was confronted with the dilemma of dedicating
myself to medicine or my duty as a revolutionary soldier. I had in front
of me a rucksack full of medicine and an ammunition case, the two weighed
too much to carry together. I took the ammunition and left the rucksack
behind."
Guevara becomes Castro's chief lieutenant and distinguishes himself as
a resourceful and ruthless tactician capable of ordering the execution
of traitors and waverers but also deeply concerned for the welfare of
his troops.
Writing of an investigation into alleged treason by one peasant, Guevara
says, "I carried out a very summary inquiry and then the peasant
Aristidio was executed. ... It is not possible to tolerate even the
suspicion of treason."
On his execution of Eutimio Guerra, a peasant and army guide, Guevara
writes, "I fired a .32-calibre bullet into the right hemisphere of
his brain, which came through his left temple. He moaned for a few moments,
then died."
Guevara comes to believe in hatred as a potent revolutionary force. "Hatred
(is) an element of the struggle," he later writes in his 'Message
to the Tricontinental'.
"A relentless hatred of the enemy, impelling us over and beyond
the natural limitations that man is heir to and transforming him into
an effective, violent, selective, and cold killing machine. Our soldiers
must be thus; a people without hatred cannot vanquish a brutal enemy.
We must carry the war into every corner the enemy happens to carry it:
to his home, to his centres of entertainment; a total war."
In 1957 he is made a commander of one of the largest of the five guerrilla
columns.
[b]1958[/b] - The US provides Batista with
US$1 million in military aid. The US has become the dominant economic
force in Cuba, which is treated as an international playground. However,
the revolution cannot be stopped.
In November Guevara leads the guerrilla advance from Oriente Province
through government lines to central Las Villas Province. Guevara's column
takes the strategic provincial capital of Santa Clara in the centre of
Cuba on 28 December. The road to Havana is now clear.
[b]1959[/b] - With the guerilla forces pressing
in, Batista flees the country on new year's day. Castro's 3,000 guerrillas
have defeated a 30,000 strong professional army. Guevara enters Havana
on 2 January. A new interim government is formed and is recognised by
the US on 7 January, the same day that Castro enters the capital. Castro
assumes the position of prime minister on 16 February. Guevara is declared
Cuban born. He marries his second wife, Aleida, then travels through Africa,
Asia and Yugoslavia. Guevara and Aleida had fought together during the
insurgency. They will have four children.
The new revolutionary government quickly arrests and tries the 'Batistianos',
the supporters of the Batista regime, for alleged atrocities committed
during the dictator's rule. As commander of the La Cabana Fortress in
Havana, Guevara is closely involved in the trials. More than 500 civil
and military officials from the former government are executed.
It is reported that Guevara takes a personal interest in the prosecutions
of former members of Batista's Bureau for the Repression of Communist
Activities. He is also involved in the reorganisation of the national army.
On 7 October Guevara is appointed as director of the industrialisation
program of the Instituto Nacional de la Reforma Agraria (National Agrarian
Reform Institute), the agency that administers land reforms and the expropriation
of American-owned businesses and agricultural estates. He stays in the
position only until 26 November, when he is made president of the National
Bank of Cuba.
Guevara advocates rapid industrialisation and centralisation of the economy,
a position that will put him at odds with others in the government more
concerned with the development of the agricultural sector. He also argues
that Cuba should turn to the political left and ally itself with the
[url=http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/stalin.html]Soviet
Union[/url]. He calls for the creation of a 'New Man' selflessly dedicated
to the betterment of society.
Relations between the US and Cuba sour when the land reforms begin to
bite and US industrial, commercial and agricultural interests in
Cuba are nationalised. Meanwhile, Castro frequently promises to allow
a general election and the return of democracy but refuses to set a firm
timetable for the restoration of the electoral process.
[b]1960[/b] - In February Castro signs a
trade agreement with the Soviet Union. Cuba agrees to buy Soviet oil in
return for sugar exports and US$100 million in credit. The US responds
in March by terminating purchases of Cuban sugar and ceasing oil deliveries.
Covert operations coordinated by the CIA include the formation of a paramilitary
force of Cuban exiles to invade the island and overthrow Castro.
In May Cuba and the Soviet Union establish diplomatic relations. Further
seizures of US-owned properties and further agreements with other communist
governments causes the US to restrict trade with Cuba and, on 19 October,
impose a partial economic embargo that excludes food and medicine. The
Soviet Union becomes Cuba's chief supporter and trade partner.
In August 'Time' magazine publishes a cover story on Guevara, calling
him "Castro's brain." "It is he who is most responsible
for driving Cuba sharply left, away from the US that he despises and into
a volunteered alliance with Russia," the magazine states.
During the year, Guevara completes his book 'Guerra de guerrillas' (Guerrilla
warfare). The book will become a manual for revolutionary groups in Latin
America and elsewhere.
1960 is also the year in which fashion photographer Alberto Diaz Gutierrez takes
the most famous of all the images of Guevara. Titled 'The Heroic Guerrilla',
the photograph will become a symbol throughout the world of a revolutionary
ideal.
[b]1961[/b] - The US officially breaks diplomatic
relations with Cuba on 3 January and intensifies attempts to destabilise
the Castro government. In the first two weeks of April there are several
terrorist bomb attacks in Havana as well as bombing raids on Cuban airfields
by unidentified aircraft.
On 17 April 1300 Cuban exiles, supported by the CIA and operating from
a base in Nicaragua, attempt to invade Cuba at a southern coastal area
called the Bay of Pigs. After three days of fighting they are crushed
by Castro's forces. In the aftermath about 20,000 Cubans are arrested
and charged with counter-revolutionary activities.
From October 1960 to February 1961, Guevara tours socialist and communists
countries, including [url=http://www.moreorless.au.com/heroes/havel.html]Czechoslovakia[/url],
the Soviet Union and [url=http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/mao.html]China[/url],
as part of a commercial delegation seeking loans and trade agreements.
On 23 February 1961 he is appointed minister of industry in the Cuban
Government, stepping down from his position as president of the National
Bank. In the industry portfolio, Guevara continues his advocacy of centralised
economic planning. He fixes prices for staples, reduces rents, and places
controls on the accumulation of private capital. Industrial output is
increased, imports are reduced and the tax burden is shifted to upper
and middle income earners.
In July he publicly criticises Castro for overfunding the armed forces
when the money could better spent on industrial production.
In August Guevara is appointed as a member of the board of economic
planning and coordination. In July 1962 he becomes secretary of the board.
Meanwhile, the 26th of July Revolutionary Movement is merged with the
Communist Party of Cuba. Castro declares that Cuba is now a socialist
state, although Soviet leader Nikita Kruschev publicly states that Castro
is not a communist. Castro has become the head of a non-elected, single-party
regime focused on his own charismatic personality.
[b]1962[/b] - In February the US extends
the trade restrictions on Cuba. The restrictions are extended even further
in March. Imports of all goods made from or containing Cuban materials
are now banned, even if the product is made in third country.
The 'Cuban Missile Crisis' flares in October when the US Government discovers
that the Soviet Union is setting up launch sites for long-range ballistic
missiles in Cuba. After a tense 13-day standoff between US President
[url=http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/us-presidents.html]John
F. Kennedy[/url] and Soviet leader Nikita Kruschev the missiles are removed on
condition that the US withdraws its missiles stationed in Turkey and ceases
its attempts to overthrow Castro. During the crisis Guevara argues in
favour of a first strike and is bitterly disappointed when the missiles
are withdrawn.
[b]1963[/b] - US economic and social restrictions
on Cuba are tightened further still. Travel to the island by US citizens
is banned, as are all financial and commercial transactions. All Cuban-owned
assets in the US are frozen. In December Guevara address the [url=http://www.moreorless.au.com/heroes/evatt.html]United
Nations[/url] (UN) General Assembly, stating that armed struggle is the
only sure path to socialism. At home however, his policies contribute
to the decline of the Cuban economy and begin to fall out of favour.
[b]1964[/b] - Tensions within the Cuban Government
over Guevara's economic policies continue and are heightened by his enthusiasm
for carrying the revolution beyond Cuba into other parts of Latin America
and to Africa.
Guevara begins to travel widely and frequently, meeting with guerrilla
and revolutionary groups and their supporters around the world and arranging
the formation of the Organisation of Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa,
Asia and Latin America (the 'Tricontinental Conference').
In March he represents Cuba at a UN conference on trade and development
in Geneva. He travels to Peking in China, then to Paris and Algeria and
Moscow. In December he again addresses the UN General Assembly, before
travelling to [url=http://www.moreorless.au.com/heroes/bethune.html]Canada[/url], Algeria and Mali.
Addressing the UN General Assembly, Guevara denounces Western imperialism,
singling out the [url=http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/leopold.html]Congo[/url]
in Africa as an example of the damage that can be caused by Western meddling
in the affairs of underdeveloped and newly independent countries.
"We would like to see this Assembly shake itself out of complacency
and move forward," he says. "We would like to see the committees
begin their work and not stop at the first confrontation. Imperialism
wants to turn this meeting into a pointless oratorical tournament, instead
of solving the serious problems of the world. We must prevent it from
doing so."
"Of all the burning problems to be dealt with by this Assembly,
one of special significance for us, and one whose solution we feel must
be found first is that of peaceful coexistence among states with different
economic and social system," he continues.
"Much progress has been made in the world in this field. But imperialism,
particularly US imperialism, has attempted to make the world believe that
peaceful coexistence is the exclusive right of the earth's great powers."
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