Ernesto “Che” Guevara

Throughout history, civilizations have experienced many leaders of revolutions.

For example, Martin Luther King Junior’s activism has lead to equal rights for African

Americans..Mahatma Gandhi rebelled against the tyranny in his country via civil

disobedience. Finally, Vladimir Lenin was a communist politician who helped his country

during the Russian Revolution. Among all these people, Ernesto “Che” Guevara was one

of the most famous revolutionaries of the twentieth century. This was due to his great

persuasiveness, amazing warfare abilities, and his overall love for humanity.

Ernesto Guevara was born in Rosario, Argentina on the date of June 14, 1928. He

was of Spanish and Irish descent. His father was Ernesto Rafael Guevara Lynch and his

mother was Celia de la Serna de Guevara. He was the oldest of five children in the

household. At birth he suffered from asthma. This would become troubling in his later

life.

For fun, Guevara would often go golfing and swimming. Another activity he did

was work in a vineyard. Guevara would also run around town with street gangs and

watch fights. Aside from physical activities, Guevara would read books and poetry. He

was deeply inspired by the communist poet Pablo Neruda. His love for reading was also

due to his family’s large library which included over three-thousand books.
 Guevara was given a proper education and worked hard. He went to elementary

school and even made it through high school. He graduated when was nine-teen and

enrolled in the University of Buenos Aires Medical School.

As a teenager Guevara had already begun to show his expression against the

government. From his teen years and through out the rest of his life, he considered

himself a Marxist. Marxism is a form of communism created by Karl Marx. Guevara’s

activism was usually affiliated with local groups. As mentioned before, he would hang

out with street gangs. This often got him into fights against supporters of the Argentinean

dictator Juan Peron. He also joined the youth group Patrido Union Democratica.

After medical school Guevara was asked to join Peron’s army. Rather than fight

for what he didn’t believe in, he fled the country. He settled in Guatemala only to see a

country in the middle of a civil war. This was his first time seeing such a thing. When the

Guatemalan leader that Guevara supported was killed, he helped fight back. The people

who had murdered him were supported by the United States government, which made

Guevara hate the United States. Guevara started a reform and was also a supporter of the

Jacob Arbenz regime, both because of the assassination. The regime was later overthrown

in 1954 and he sought asylum in the Argentinean embassy.

The moment he was able to leave, Guevara went to Mexico. Upon arriving he met

a few of the Cuban exiles he knew from Guatemala. Among the men, Nico Lopez

introduced Guevara to Raul Castro who presented Guevara to his brother Fidel. Fidel

gave Guevara the nickname Che which is now recognized worldwide.

After talking to Fidel for a night, the newly named Che agreed with all of his

political thoughts and signed up for Fidel’s Twenty-Sixth of July Movement. For the rest
of his life Che would work alongside Fidel, both wanting to take down Cuba’s central

government.

During this time, he was sent on many missions in many different places. One of

these missions took place on December 2, 1956. Che was sent out to invade Cuba’s

Oriente Province. Che’s total group consisted of 82 men. Upon arrival he and his group

were attacked by the soldiers sent by the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Che survived

alongside 11 others, the rest were killed or executed.

In 1957 after his defeat, Che met with Fidel again in Cuba’s Sierra Maestra

Mountains. At this time, Che became Fidel’s chief advisor and later became his major.

Most of Che’s soldiers couldn’t read nor write and they had little stamina. In response to

this, Fidel put Che in charge of training the soldiers. Che would often put them through

intense physical training during the day and read to them at night. Most of the men stayed

because the were so influenced by his speeches and persuasiveness. As a medic he would

also heal people that were injured or ill. While in the mountains he even established a

weapons plant, a bakery, a shoe shop, and his own newspaper. He also started a radio

station and a network of schools.

In 1958 Che organized the military campaigns that defeated Fulgencio Batista

thus letting Fidel gain control of Cuba. By 1959, Che held several posts in Castro’s

government. This included being commander of La Cabana Fortress, president of the

national bank, and minister of industries. Che also traveled around the world to meet the

leaders of other communist countries such as Russia, China, and places in Africa along

with other South American countries. In February 1960, Che made a treaty with the

Soviet Union. The treaty gave Cuba oil, machinery, and other essential products in
exchange for Cuban sugar. In 1964, he addressed the United Nations General Assembly

and then once again went on a journey to Europe, Africa, and Asia

When Che finally returned from his long trip, few people knew who he was for he

had faded from the public’s eye. The first thing he did was search for Cuban army

officers to accompany him to his next battle area, Bolivia. Che expected that spreading

guerilla operations into Bolivia would force a United States intervention thus creating

“two, three or many Vietnams.” Che also planned on making it a wealthy country but it is

now one of the poorest in South America. He finally entered Bolivia in 1966.

The Bolivian army quickly tracked him down. The Bolivian soldiers then killed

Che’s generals and held him captive in an abandoned schoolhouse. The soldiers that

captured him were trained, equipped, and guided by U.S. Green Beret and the CIA. The

U.S. had been tracking Che’s movements for nearly two years and kept thousands of

records, releasing only a few. Che was finally killed on October 9, 1967. The orders were

given out by Bolivian president Rene Burrientos. The executioner was told to make it

look like Che was shot in battle to cover what had truly occurred. Che’s body was then

flown by helicopter to Vallegrande and displayed. Military doctors amputated his hands

and preserved them for fingerprint identification. He was buried in Buenos Aires next to a

nearby landing strip.

When Fidel found out Che had died, he announced to over a million people that

there would be three days of mourning throughout the island. In 1997 Che’s bones were

dug up by Cuban researchers and flown back to Cuba. Che was reburied in Santa Clara.

His second ceremony had Fidel Castro and many others as guests.
 To this day people still celebrate Che’s Life. Most people that like what he stood

for wear a shirt depicting his face. In other places like Cuba, his death is celebrated as if a

holiday. In Bolivia there has been a trail that follows his journeys through the country.

Not all of Che’s life was about warfare. At home he had a wife. Together they had

three children. They later divorced and Che remarried. He and his second wife had

another child.

Early in his life during medical school, Che took a break from his studies. He and

a friend went on a trip throughout all of South America. This included motorcycling

through Chile, taking a plane to Florida, and even riding a raft in the Amazon river. When

he tried to visit the United States, he was turned back by immigration officials in Miami,

Florida. For a short while on their trip, he also worked for a leper colony as a male nurse.

Many books and movies have been made about his trip. One movie was The

Motorcycle Diaries which covered Che’s entire trip. A book was written by Che himself

and was titled Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey.

Many revolutionaries have changed Earth’s history. For instance, Martin Luther

King Junior helped African Americans get equal rights. Additionally, Mahatma Gandhi’s

activism stopped the tyranny in his country. Finally, Vladimir Lenin’s hard work helped

his country during the Russian Revolution. However, the actions of Ernesto “Che”

Guevara have left a greater impact on the world and are still celebrated in our modern

culture. Che’s love for humanity, great battle tactics, and persuasive speeches made him

the icon that he is to many people today. In the words of Che himself, “Hasta la victoria

siempre.”