Che Guevara, Freedom Fighter

Che Guevara, Freedom Fighter

 

The Recent Addition of a Che Guevara Statue to Rosario, Argentina

 

ANAGRAM EVIDENCE: Che Guevara, Freedom Fighter - 'I am the rugged, arch-foe fever.'

 

While Ernesto "Che" Guevara remains the most famous export of this sleepy city, his legacy here (Rosario, Argentina) has long been a low-key one.

 

Except for a handful of businesses named in his honor, few markers alert visitors that the revolutionary leader was born here exactly 80 years ago before becoming one of the most mythic figures of the 20th century.

 

That changed Saturday when civic leaders inaugurated the first official monument honoring the revolutionary leader in Argentina , ending decades of government silence about the controversial figure.

 

A 13-foot-high bronze statue unveiled before hundreds of cheering admirers depicts the beret-wearing Guevara standing defiantly while facing toward Santa Clara , Cuba , where another statue of Guevara faces toward Argentina .

 

Much of Guevara's family, including three of his children, attended the ceremony along with other veterans of the Cuban Revolution who fought beside Guevara.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20080614/wl_mcclatchy/2966747

 

Recently, the small city of Rosario, Argentina had its tender South American slumber interrupted by the addition of a statue of the famous freedom fighter whose controversy originates from this destination.  A city of roughly 1.2 million inhabitants, Rosario is the third most important city in Argentina.

 

Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located 300 km (187 miles) northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 945,000 residents as of the 2005 census.

 

It has been the third most important city in Argentina since the end of the 19th century because of the growing and important metropolitan area, a large urban department and for being the most important export centre in the country. It also retains the classical and ancient architecture in some residences, houses and public buildings. It is the third largest city in Argentina in terms of area and population.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosario

 

Over the years, Che Guevara grew into the most famous and perhaps the most controversial figure to arise out of Rosario.  Some people consider him to be a ruthless butcher, and some people believe that he was an inspirational revolutionary leader.  The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

 

Juan Menendez , a self-described Marxist-Leninist activist, said he came to Rosario Saturday to help "rescue" Guevara's legacy from over-commercialism and to remind people of what Guevara fought for. Menendez spoke while holding a giant red banner adorned with the famous image of Guevara created by photographer Alberto Korda.

 

"We need to remember Guevara as a figure in the fight against injustice," the 18-year-old said. "People have emptied the content of Che and just used his image, and we're trying to revive his message."

 

Teacher Mirtha del Valle , who was at the front of the crowd, said many Argentines have forgotten about Guevara, even as the rest of the world debates his legacy. She blamed a succession of military and center-right governments who she said had suppressed the history.

 

"The governments have made sure that people don't know about Che," del Valle said. "In fact, we know less about him than anyone else in Latin America."

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20080614/wl_mcclatchy/2966747

 

If you study guerilla warfare or the Cuban Marxist movement, you have almost certainly heard of Che.  However, for those teenie-boppers born after his ascension to world fame, I am including a short tribute to his life, death, and eternal legacy.

 

The Life of Che Guevara

 

In 1948, Guevara entered the University of Buenos Aires to study medicine. While still a student in 1951, Guevara took a year off from his medical studies to embark on a trip traversing South America by motorcycle with his friend Alberto Granado, with the final goal of spending a few weeks volunteering at the San Pablo Leper colony in Peru, on the banks of the Amazon River. Guevara used notes taken during this trip to write an account entitled The Motorcycle Diaries, which later became a New York Times best-seller and was adapted into a 2004 award-winning film of the same name.

 

Witnessing the widespread poverty, oppression and disenfranchisement throughout Latin America, and influenced by his readings of Marxist literature, Guevara began to view armed revolution as the solution to social inequality. By trip's end, he also viewed Latin America not as separate nations, but as a single entity requiring a continent-wide liberation strategy. His conception of a borderless, united Hispanic America sharing a common 'mestizo' Hispanic America was a theme that prominently recurred during his later revolutionary activities.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara#Early_life

 

Che’s trip through Central America is largely accepted to have been one of the formative periods of his lifetime.  Faced with such widespread poverty and oppression, Che decided to fight for the freedom and prosperity of those who had significantly less than he did growing up.

 

Later, in Mexico, he met Fidel Castro and joined his 26th of July Movement. In December 1956, he was among the revolutionaries who invaded Cuba under Castro's leadership with the intention of overthrowing U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara soon rose to prominence among the insurgents, was promoted to Comandante, and played a pivotal role in the successful guerrilla campaign that deposed Batista. Following the Cuban revolution, Guevara reviewed the appeals of those convicted as war criminals during the revolutionary tribunals. Later he served as minister of industry and president of the national bank, before traversing the globe as a diplomat to meet an array of world leaders on behalf of Cuban socialism. He was also a prolific writer and diarist, with one of his most influential works being a manual on the theory and practice of guerrilla warfare. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to incite revolutions first in an unsuccessful attempt in Congo-Kinshasa and then in Bolivia, where he was captured with the help of the CIA and executed.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara

 

As if I did not already have enough reasons to be upset with the CIA, they also killed one of my military heroes.  I just like the way that he managed to see past his own hedonistic self-serving and tried to bring better times to the world.  And, I really liked his military style.  You don’t have to have the best army and equipment on the planet to win a war if you have talent and skills.

 

After His Death, Che’s Legacy Remains

 

Since then, Guevara's handsome, stern face has become one of the most reproduced images in the world, and leftists hail him as a romantic symbol of doomed political idealism.

 

Last week, Guevara's image was even used by a Socialist group in Rawalpindi, Pakistan , during protests demanding judicial reforms.

 

"I'm in total disagreement with this homage," said Luis Oskis, 50, who owns a store in the city's downtown. "I'm against all extreme movements and all wars, whether they're from the left or the right. After all, Che ordered a lot of deaths."

 

Elsewhere in Latin America , however, leaders such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales regularly cite Guevara as an inspiration.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20080614/wl_mcclatchy/2966747

 

I will certainly miss Che, and I am glad that he has finally received some recognition for his efforts to help those with next to nothing.  While I am not a large fan of communism, I am a large fan of freedom!

Reviews

[The Archangel Gabriel]

I would like to respond here to Danny. I am sorry for the loss of your family and for the presumed oppressions of the people. What was worse back then - the so-called freedom of the America sphere of influence or the Cuban Revolution? And, didn't you do the same thing you said did - only tell one side of the story? I was telling the story of a man so disgruntled with poverty and freedom of choice of government that he stood up for the people and was eventually murdered by the CIA. What do you think of that? And, once again, as he is dead, I stand here as one of his greatest supporters to apologize for the downsizing of his dreams for, perhaps, political expediency. Necessary? No. Problematic? Yes. Sorry.

[Danny]

I find this extremely offensive. Che murdered many people I should have know including 3 of my grand uncles in the Cuban Communist takeover. He was a ruthless assassin living under the guise of freedom. He imposed and followed laws that would not allow you to speak against the regime. You call him a man of freedom. What about the freedom and right to life of the thousands of innocent people who legitimately just disagreed with him. What about their freedom? You think you know about the Cuban Communist takeover, but you are just ignorant on the subject. I am sorry to be so frank but this is extremely offensive. You only display one side of the story and ignore the side of those who died. Che and Castro attempted to silence dissenters, yet all they did was murder innocents. They attempted to murder my grandfather a poor farmworker because he believed in democracy. Ask me the last time Cuba had a free election. Che is a monster with the blood of thousands on his hands. Read this letter and maybe you will understand: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=p5pruocab&v=001u9MKVAvAK1x-veu_uVCbF2J7xkAl84bGHl6xOLJ5HLY4H_br_H2xugLnNVNEXB1sowXYNnw9kJyBb5PS1r18xeA7aSPQf6BI_ca3NhO8c-6OJM8qjrD9jQ%3D%3D