Che Guevara: Revolutionary Hero

A man. A revolutionary. A Hero.

What defines a hero? Is it their ability to live longer than the common man? Is it their ability to pick themselves and others up when they've fallen? Is it their belief? That they will shed blood? That they will die for their cause? Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna, commonly known as Che Guevara, was a Cuban guerilla leader and a Marxist revolutionary who lived from June 14, 1928 to October 9, 1967. He died fighting for the revolution, for the ordinary man, for the ordinary peasants, for the ordinary people.

During the 1940s to 1960s, Che Guevara was among the revolutionaries in Cuba, including Fidel Castro and other leaders. He traveled broadly, giving speeches and preaching his ideals of guerilla warfare and equality by socialism. He was a Marxist and wanted freedom for the peasants. After fighting to a position of power though, Che Guevara began to see Cuba, like the USSR, as simply another situation where some had power and others did not. Renouncing his citizenship and his rank, Che Guevara traveled to South America and to Vietnam, continuing to preach his message of revolution. (Wikipedia "Che Guevara" 1-7) He began a Bolivian guerilla campaign, during which he met his death in an abandoned schoolhouse. He was gunned down by CIA-trained Bolivian officers. (Kornbluh Declassified Che 1) However, through his death, he emerged as something greater. Che Guevara has emerged as or has become an icon of the revolution in the 20th and 21st centuries. Through the course of his life, through the many obstacles, Che Guevara's actions defined him as a hero.

Overcoming many obstacles, from childhood bouts of asthma to the Mexican police to the CIA-trained operatives in Bolivia, Che Guevara simply kept going. (Bourne "Latin Leaders" 52) At the end of his letter to Fidel Castro, when he renounced his citizenship, Che stated "Ever onward to victory! Our country or death!" (Guevara "Che Lives" 7) There was many times when a hero is given the chance to quit. Che Guevara did not take any of those chances. He would not stand down from his ideals, even at the end.

There are many times a hero has an epic quest. Though, nowadays, most stories with such definite endings are only written in fairytales and myth collections, there are still a few left. Who raise their banner to fight, battle the jungle, and face enemies greater than themselves. There are likely several tales of that nature, but few in real life make it out alive.

Che Guevara had a questÐ'...an unending quest for revolution and equality for the common man. In 1951, Ernesto "Che" Guevara left Cordoba, his hometown in Argentina, on a motorcycle to a tour to Central and South America. Seeing the poverty in the small Spanish and Portuguese towns strengthened his previous Marxist theologies Ð'- a belief that he would carry with him for the rest of his life. After graduating in 1953 from medical school, he traveled to Cuba. There he met Fidel Castro's followers and also volunteered to fight the newly elected president, Jacobo Arbenz Guzman, whom the CIA did not want in power. Meeting up with Castro in Mexico City after leaving jail, Che joined the July 26 movement to overthrow the Cuban leader. In November 1956, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara left Cuba, by ship, only to be attacked by Batista. (Wikipedia "Che Guevara" 1-7)

Castro, Che and others who had joined the cause departed Tuxpan, Mexico, aboard a cabin cruiser on November 1956 to invade Cuba and start the revolution. However, almost immediately after disembarking they were attacked. Che barely escaped, and he became a combatant instead of a doctor, afterwards. Within a few months, he commanded a march on Santa Clara, a crucial point in the revolution. Derailing a train filled with Batista's troops, Che took over the city, and Batista simply fled. Afterwards, Che was appointed commander at the Cabana Fortress Prison, were many political prisoners were executed for warcrimes. Then, he was appointed to an economic advisor, where he remained for several years. About that time he began to separate both from Fidel, the USSR, and other powerful allies, as his ideals of Marxism and equality turned out to be very different from theirs. (Crain "Che Guevara")

Disappointed, Che Guevara renounced his citizenship and left for