Che Guevara, was an Argentinian revolutionary and author. He was born in Rosario, Argentina in 1928. Guevara, also known as El Che, meaning hey you, became a global symbol of rebellion. His visage has appeared as a stylized logo for the counterculture and leftist revolution worldwide. Che Guevara was a prominent communist figure in the Cuban Revolution the became a left-wing hero.
Che Guevara was born into a middle class family as the eldest of five children in Rosario, Argentina. His family was somewhat aristocratic and could trace their lineage to the early days of Argentine settlement. The family moved around a lot when Ernesto was a young kid. He developed severe asthma early in life but despite of that, he excelled as an athlete, enjoying swimming, football, golf, and shooting.
While traveling throughout South America as a young man Guevara witnessed extreme poverty first hand. After graduating from medical school he embarked on a nine month journey of exploration, and kept a journal that was posthumously published as The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey. His passion to help led him to believe that the poverty was due to United States involvement in Latin America and that revolution was the only way to enact long-lasting change.
In 1953 Guevara visited Guatemala where president Jacobo Arbenz was trying to force social revolution. The next year Arbenz's government was overthrown by a CIA led coup. Guevara was emboldened to fight against what he perceived as imperial US policies.
The guerrilla leader met Mexico's Raul and Fidel Castro in Mexico City in 1954. He rose to second in command after an initial defeat, and became a pivotal force in the successful deposition of dictator Fulgencio Batista's regime. Guevara was an invaluable asset to the government following the Cuban Revolution. His many responsibilities included becoming the minister of industries and overseeing agrarian reform, and reviewing the many appeals of war criminals to be sorted in revolutionary tribunals.
Guevara was also a prolific author. From his influential perch in the revolution he set down history in "Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War" in 1963. He documented the challenges of the struggling Communist government of Cuba in "Man and Socialism in Cuba" in 1965.
Guevara was heavily influenced by Marxist-Leninism dogma. After a lifetime of rebellion Guevara was executed in Bolivia by CIA mandated Bolivian forces in 1965. In 1997 his remains were discovered, exhumed and returned to Cuba, where he was reburied.
By
Brent Tan
