| Ernesto (Che) Guevara's Biography |
Also known under the name "Che Guevara" or "El Che" is one of the leading Marxist figures of modern history.
Born in Argentina, Ernesto was a revolutionary, a medic as well as a Cuban political figure.
The journey of "El Che" took a real start while he was a medicine student. He took the decision to travel through many Latin America countries, and this opportunity led him to see poverty with his own eyes and to feel the level of injustice and social inequality and corruption.
This has led Ernesto to get more and more convinced that this situation needed a remedy and that the impoverished population should not remain in such conditions. As such, Guevara traveled to Guatemala and tried to get a grasp of what reforms could be implemented in the other countries, while getting more and more convinced that a revolution may ultimately be the solution sought.
Upon his arrival in 1953 to Guatemala, Che Guevara wrote that he wanted to settle for a little while there in order to perfect himself and accomplish all possible means in order to become a true revolutionary.
Ernesto met a Peruvian but Guatemala-settled politician named Hilda Acosta and married her at a later stage (in Mexico). This also gave him the opportunity to get more connections to leading political figures.
Guevara actually had the "Che" linked to his name right in Guatemala, which means 'hello' and 'mate' in Argentina, due to him frequently using it in conversations.
Soon, a coup in Guatemala lead by Carlos Armas (and which started by trying to stop a shipment of arms from communist Czechoslovakia to the Guatemalan regime) pushed Guevara to hold the arms and join a guerilla force to help the leftist leader. But the latter couldn't last long and asked his supporters, including Ernesto to leave the country.
Che Guevara was frustrated at the fact that foreign intelligence agencies had helped lead a coup in a country he saw as ideal for his idea of reforms, and began to perceive imperialism as a tool that deepens social inequalities.
After leaving Guatemala, and refusing to go back to Argentina in such situations, Che Guevara headed to Mexico where he ultimately met Raul Castro, the younger brother of Fidel Castro. Ernesto soon met the elder brother and quickly had the impression that this guy was his revolutionary idol. As such, El Che decided to join Castro's 26th of July armed group. Guevara attended much training and was soon found to be one of the most outstanding students.
Guevara soon headed with the movement to Cuba in order to topple the government of Fulgencio Batista.
His often described braveries in warfare soon lead his comrades to call him "El Commandante". Many do accuse Guevara that he had zero tolerance for a number of issues and had executed many spies and deserts from his group.
Guevara has also become a trainer in Sierra Maestra, where he would give guerilla tactics lessons to new recruits. He also received help and support from multiple local groups.
The rebellion became more and more intense, and heavy fighting started spreading all over east Cuba. Che Guevara established a so called suicide squad which was responsible for the most difficult guerilla missions.
From 'la ofensiva' in Sierra Maestra, to the major attack on Santa Clara near the end of the year 1958, Che Guevara started winning decisive battles.
This soon led Batistia to flee the country and leave control to the 26th of July group.
After this victory, Che Guevara was proclaimed a Cuban citizen (by birth) in recognition of the help he provided to the rebels in order to make the revolution successful.
He assumed several responsibilities, one of which was being a prison commander, receiving heavy critics from outsiders, accusing him of literally executing former officers from the old regime without real trials.
Ernesto divorced his wife and married a 26th of July woman leader named Aleida, with whom he had children.
Some of the others posts Guevara has assumed in the post-revolution Cuba are president of the national Cuban bank (whereby he signed the bank notes with the famous 'Che' nickname), industry minister as well as an official at the institute of agrarian reform.
It is worthy to mention that Guevara has refused on several occasions to receive his multiple due salaries, and insisted on only taking a small pay for his role as an army commander. This move is often seen in the eyes of his supporters as an attempt to foster the image of the good leader in the mind of the people of Latin America.
Guevara tried to export the concept of guerilla warfare and revolution to the outside of Cuba such as Panama and the Dominican Republic, but his attempts were not successful.
He also confessed his role in the crisis between Cuba and the United States, when the former Soviet Union installed ballistic nuclear missiles in Cuba.
At the end of the year 1964, Ernesto went to New York, attended and gave a speech at the United Nations general assembly. After that, he went on a close-to-be world tour, trying to explain his point of view and to explain why socialism is the answer to the nations' struggles. Some of the countries he visited are: China, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Congo-Brazzaville, North Korea and Tanzania. His last appearance to the public was from the capital of Algeria on the 24th of February 1965.
During the period where Guevara did not show in Cuba's public life (mainly 1965-1967), it was said that the former Soviet Union was not satisfied with the fact that Guevara was getting real close with China. It is also believed that Guevara was not really pleased with the way the Soviet Union was handling external politics. This latter idea is backed u by the fact that, during his last speech in Algeria, Che Guevara mentioned that the Soviet Union betrayed Cuba by removing the ballistic missiles without even discussing it with Fidel Castro. He went on to the extent of saying that the United States and the Soviet Union represent the northern hemisphere that always tries to exploit the southern one.
And in a letter addressed to Fidel Castro, Guevara announced his resignation from all the posts he was assuming in Cuba, and he even gave up his Cuban nationality. He also expressed his will to continue the fight elsewhere, and did mention his strong support to North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
News about Ernesto Guevara de la Serna was heard again in 1967 ... he was now in Bolivia and started yet warfare against the government there.
But this rebellion did not really succeed due to different factors, mainly that Guevara had in mind that he will be fighting only the regular army, and did not anticipate that the United States will send troops and agents to Bolivia in order to help its government.
He also expected to find many sympathizers that will help him in his quest, just like the case was in Cuba. This did not really happen in Bolivia.
And to top all of the above, the communication system he had with him and which was supposed to keep him in contact with Havana, was faulty and later lost.
On the 8th of October 1967, an alleged informant led the Bolivian special forces to Guevara's lair, resulting in his capture. Some witnesses mentioned that before the capture, and when sighting the Bolivian agents, Guevara shouted that he'd be more important alive and captive than executed. Other critics deny this statement.
It is said that Guevara's rifle was hit by a bullet during the exchange of fire with the Bolivian agents, and that he suffered bullet wounds in his legs.
The capture of Guevara did not last long. Next day, October 9th 1967, at around 1pm, he was taken to a schoolhouse in La Higuera, where he was executed. It is widely believed that the act of execution was not supposed to be known to the general public because Ernesto was not shot directly in the face r chest, rather it is believed he was repeatedly shot in the lower part of his body, especially his legs.
It is also said that the CIA agent that administered the capture of Che Guevara is named Felix Rodriguez, and the latter stole Guevara's Rolex watch and other personal items, and proudly kept showing them to the media in the long period that succeeded El Che's execution.
Fidel Castro announced on October 15th that Guevara is dead and declared a three days mourning period in respect to the sacrifices the man had made for Cuba in specific, and socialism in broad.
The body of Guevara was not recovered until October 17th 1997, where a team of medics performed tests to make sure this is him. The remains of other comrades of Guevara were found as well.
The remains of Ernesto were then laid to rest in a special ceremony in the city of Santa Clara in Cuba, in a mausoleum built for this specific purpose, Santa Clara being the place of one of the major offensives that Guevara's guerilla had launched in order to take over Cuba.
Another point to mention is that the famous portrait of Che Guevara that is printed on many t-shirts, mugs and other accessories worldwide (mainly in monochrome) was taken by a photographer, Alberto Korda, during a memorial service Guevara attended for dead French sailors. These men died when an accidental explosion ripped through their vessels while they were unloading ammunition in Havana, and Guevara sent a direct rescue for them. But a second explosion could not be avoided and more than a hundred servicemen died.
This is what probably explain in the eyes on many the serious look he had in that photograph, while he was usually seen smiling in the majority of other pictures available for the public.
A more condensed timeline can be checked at this link
