Che

Although I disagreed with Che, that revolution is only possible if violence and weaponry are involved, I believe in things he desired – justice for the poor, rights for the indigenous to have land, and a fair and social order. Communist or not, I believe Jesus would have wanted these things and still does. However if we live by the sword, ultimately we die by it. If only Che believed that Another World Was Possible….
The following is the BBC article on this week’s anniversary of his death.
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This week marks the 40th anniversary of the death of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Argentine-born doctor who fought alongside Fidel Castro during the Cuban revolution.

He died in Bolivia trying to foment a similar revolution there.
To this day he remains one of Cuba's leading "heroes of the revolution" whose image can be seen on posters and walls across this communist island in the Caribbean.

Gen Villegas told me of his first encounter with Che Guevara. At the time he was a young peasant farmer living close to the Sierra Maestra mountains and had decided to join Mr Castro's guerrilla fighters who were hiding from government forces."Che was already a legend in the villages here. He was known as a formidable fighter, who took the art of guerrilla warfare to new levels."

"My first impressions were of admiration and respect for a man who was capable of giving his life for a people he didn't know, us Cubans."

But once Che had got to power why did he give it up? Had he become hooked on guerrilla fighting? No….

"I think Che was a revolutionary at heart much more than a guerrilla fighter," Gen Villegas said.

"For Che it was about social change and justice. A revolutionary fights to change the whole structure of society at once, not some gradual change. Given the conditions in Latin America at the time, Che considered the only way to achieve this was by the armed struggle.

"It was imperialism which defined Che. He wasn't a violent man, or one who liked to assassinate or kill. On the contrary, he was a loving man who wanted build socialism. That's something very difficult for capitalists to understand"

In the West Che image has become largely de-politicized. For many he has turned into an almost rock star like figure, a romantic rebel icon, far removed from a committed Marxist revolutionary fighter.

The famous photo of Che with his beard and beret is said to be one of the most reproduced pictures in the history of photography. I recently saw a doctor in Britain wearing a Che badge; on it the words "Join the stop smoking revolution". For cash strapped Cuba, Che's image has become a much needed hard currency earner. Havana is full of tourist shops and markets selling everything from T-shirts to posters, calendar key rings and fridge magnets.

"I don't think its right to commercialize his image but we shouldn't criticize it," said Gen Villegas. "I think the really important thing is that tourists want to use Che's image, whether they know much about him or not. If young people look up to him, there's more chance they will go on to learn about who he was and what he fought for, a more just society."