Che Guevara - a brief synopsis.
Che was born in Argentina and completed a medical degree in 1953.
Beginning in December of 1951 he took a nine month hiatus from his
studies and travelled with a friend, initially on a motorcycle, through
Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela.
This journey was chronicled in a journal that was posthumously
published as
"The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey."
Witnessing the poverty of the masses, he became convinced that
Latin America's problems were due to capitalist exploitation
and the solution was a revolution that would unite the continent.
In 1956, he traveled to Mexico and met Fidel and Raúl Castro who
had been exiled from Cuba and who were preparng to overthrow the corrupt
dictatorship of self-declared Cuban president, Fulgencio Batista.
Fidel, Raúl and Che were part of a guerilla team of 82 men and
they sailed from Mexico to Cuba in an old leaky 60-foot cabin
cruiser named
"Granma"*
Attacked by Batista's troops immediately upon landing, they
suffered heavy losses and the remaining 22 took refuge in the
Sierra Maestra mountains.
Che quickly rose to being second in command and led many
succesful tactical battles over the opposing army.
A forceful and often brutal disciplinarian, Che led the final
victory of the revolution by taking the major inland
city of Santa Clara, despite them being outnumbered 10:1.
This victory was decisive in ending the regime and on Jan 1
1959 Baptista fled to the Dominican Republic taking with him
$300,000,000 he had amassed through criminal dealings, including
with the Mafia.
After the revolution, Che was named commander of the
La Cabaña Fortress prison in Havana. This is where the missiles
and other other artefacts from The Cuban Crisis are on display
today, some of which can be seen in images earlier in this thread.
Whilst at La Cabaña, Che was charged with enforcing revolutionary
justice on Batista's collaborators and death by firing squad became
the common penalty.
Che addressed the United Nations in New York in 1954 and
was sent touring the world advocating socialist and communist
ideals.
In 1966, Che was secretly sent to Bolivia to lead a guerilla
force of 50 men to try and bring about an insurrection that
would overthrow the government. However, he failed to receive
support from the local dissidents and tipped off by a Cuban exile
turned CIA operative, the CIA had sent in a team of commandos to
hunt for him.
He was captured on October 8th 1967 and upon order from the
Bolivian president, was executed the following day.
In 1995, a retired Bolivian general revealed that Che had been
buried near an airstrip and after a year long search, his remains
along with that of six others were found in two mass graves.
Che's remains were returned to Cuba and were placed in the
then newly constructed Che Guevara Mausoleum in
Santa Clara.
A snapshot taken of Che in 1960 by photographer
Alberto Korda
was later turned into one of the 20th centuries most iconic posters.
* Today the yacht
"Gramna" is housed in an outdoor glass
enclosure in Havana and is guarded 24-hours a day.
The official daily newspaper of the of the Cuban Communist
Party, which I saw being sold in the streets, is also named "Granma"