Asad Ismi: Che and the International Revolution

Graham Greene described the significance of Che Guevara's death best when he asked: "Was this the end of forlorn hope, the fight against odds? But the circumstances of Che's death begin to give us comfort. That he was shot after capture demonstrates the fear that the Bolivian authorities felt even of an imprisoned Che. They were afraid to bring him to trial; afraid of the echoes his voice would have aroused from the courtroom; afraid to prove that the man they hated was loved by the world outside. This fear will help to perpetuate his legend, and a legend is impervious to bullets."

Che has indeed defied death as the universal symbol of revolution. From Peru to Pakistan he is admired for his relentless opposition to U.S. imperialism which continues to oppress and impoverish the Third World today; this, more than anything else, explains why Che's legend remains powerful thirty years after his death.

Radicalized by the CIA's overthrow of the Arbenz government in Guatemala in 1954, Che joined Fidel Castro's revolutionary band, becoming one of his top commanders and winning the most crucial battle against the Batista dictatorship. But for Che,the liberation of Cuba from U.S. control was just the beginning. Imperialism was "a world-wide wide system" that had to be "beaten in a world-wide confrontation". The revolution was indivisible and all of the Third World had to be freed from U.S. domination; otherwise individual countries could be isolated and crushed which is what Che felt the U.S. was doing to Vietnam in 1965. In going first to the Congo in that year and then to Bolivia in 1966, Che was attempting to open a second front against the U.S. to distract it from Vietnam. He wished to build a common front of African countries opposed to U.S. domination and to launch a continental revolution in Latin America, based in Bolivia which borders five countries. One can argue that Che was trying to achieve the impossible, but that is the essence of revolution: the fight against overwhelming odds. Death, for Che, was "welcome if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear and another hand reaches out to take up our arms..."

This internationalization of resistance to imperialism is Che's greatest legacy. Twelve years after his murder in Bolivia, the Sandinista revolution, led by the "Guevarist" FSLN, triumphed in Nicaragua. In El Salvador, supporters of the recently victorious FMLN candidate for mayor of San Salvador, sported Che buttons and Subcomandante Marcos of the EZLN in Mexico invokes Che's memory "as the true inspiration of the struggle against oppression". If today the revolutionaries of Central America have a place in the political system it is because they were revolutionaries to begin with. But politics has failed to uplift a Latin America drowning in poverty and armed struggle remains a viable option in Mexico, Peru and Colombia where guerrillas control half the country.

In Africa, Guevarism helped free a continent from the crippling aggression of the South African apartheid state. Following in Che's footsteps, Cuban troops landed in Angola in November 1975 and routed a South African column which was two hours away from taking the capital, Luanda. Over the next 15 years, Cuban steadfastness in Angola helped force South Africa out of Namibia and hastened the demise of apartheid. For this, Fidel Castro received a standing ovation at the inaugration of Nelson Mandela. When the MPLA (People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) government requested Cuban help to fight South Africa, Havana did not hesitate. As Fidel Castro explained it : "We simply could not sit back when the MPLA asked us for help. We gave MPLA the necessary assistance to prevent a people fighting for their independence for almost 14 years from being crushed. It was our elementary duty, our revolutionary duty, our internationalist duty to give that assistance to MPLA regardless of the price."

Castro was also aware that behind South Africa stood the United States and Britain. Fifty thousand Cuban troops fought in Angola and 3,000 were killed. With the addition of 15,000 Cuban soldiers, Angolan and Cuban forces decisively defeated the South African army at the battle for the town of Cuito Cuanavale in 1988. It was Africa's greatest battle since El Alamein and resulted in South African withdrawal from Angola and Namibia. The survival of three revolutionary regimes (Mozambique being the third) and the end of Africa's most vicious reactionary state was thus assured. The continental revolution Che wanted did, then, take place and it was his example that made internationalist duty the highest honour for those serving in the Cuban armed forces. As Che put it: "Let the flag under which we fight be the sacred cause of benefiting all humanity, so that to die under the colours of Vietnam, Venezuela, Guatemala, Laos, Guinea, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil...is equally glorious and desirable for an American, an Asian, an African and even a European."

1997 has been declared the "Year of the Heroic Guerrilla" in Cuba where school children are taught to be like Che. Che is the subject of five new biographies and four films and is celebrated in song by rock musicians born well after his death. But the focus on Che's person misses the point. He was a product of his times which have not fundamentally changed. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, (Che predicted that the USSR would become capitalist), U.S. domination of the Third World has become even more destructive and for Che it was the continuation of the struggle against this that was important not the veneration of any particular individual. However, by leaving no gap between conviction and practice, Che has provided the perfect example to follow in this struggle and the power of his legend is a warning to those who would control humanity.

Che Guevara: A Chronology, 1928-1967

1928: Ernesto Guevara de la Serna is born on June 14 in Rosario, Argentina. His parents were aristocrats of Spanish-Irish lineage.

1930: He is afflicted with chronic asthma which develops his legendary willpower and love of reading.

1946: At University, Ernesto decides to become a medical doctor to find a cure for his asthma and "make a discovery that could serve humanity".

1950, 1952: While a medical student, Ernesto travels through Argentina and then Latin America. He is exposed to the oppression and injustice suffered by the poor especially Indians. In Chile and Peru, U.S. responsibility for the continent's poverty becomes clear.

1953: After graduating as a doctor, Ernesto travels through Bolivia to Guatemala to serve its budding revolution which is crushed by U.S. intervention. This critical event catalyzes his commitment to armed struggle.

1954-1956: Ernesto joins Fidel Castro's July 26 Movement in Mexico City. He lands on the Cuban coast in December 1956 with 85 other guerrillas. All but 12 men are killed by Batista's soldiers.

1957-1959: As one of Castro's leading officers, Comandante (Major) Guevara builds a rural guerrilla army in the Sierra Maestra mountains. He wins the battle of Santa Clara against Batista's forces on January 1, 1959. On January 9, the Cuban Revolution triumphs over the U.S.-backed military dictatorship.

1959-1964: Guevara serves as Minister for Industries and head of the Central Bank as well as roving ambassador to the Third World. His trips to developing countries aim at creating an anti-U.S. alliance.

1965-1967: Che goes to fight in the Congo and Bolivia to extend the international anti-imperialist struggle. He is assassinated in La Higuera, Bolivia on October 9, 1967.

Published in:

Americas Update, Winter 1998

Briarpatch, November 1997


	"MY DREAMS HAVE NO FRONTIER": Che and the International Revolution

Graham Greene described the significance of Che Guevara's death best when he asked: "Was this the end of forlorn hope, the fight against odds? But the circumstances of Che's death begin to give us comfort. That he was shot after capture demonstrates the fear that the Bolivian authorities felt even of an imprisoned Che. They were afraid to bring him to trial; afraid of the echoes his voice would have aroused from the courtroom; afraid to prove that the man they hated was loved by the world outside. This fear will help to perpetuate his legend, and a legend is impervious to bullets." Che has indeed defied death as the universal symbol of revolution. From Peru to Pakistan he is admired for his relentless opposition to U.S. imperialism which continues to oppress and impoverish the Third World today; this, more than anything else, explains why Che's legend remains powerful thirty years after his death. Radicalized by the CIA's overthrow of the Arbenz government in Guatemala in 1954, Che joined Fidel Castro's revolutionary band, becoming one of his top commanders and winning the most crucial battle against the Batista dictatorship. But for Che,the liberation of Cuba from U.S. control was just the beginning. Imperialism was "a world-wide wide system" that had to be "beaten in a world-wide confrontation". The revolution was indivisible and all of the Third World had to be freed from U.S. domination; otherwise individual countries could be isolated and crushed which is what Che felt the U.S. was doing to Vietnam in 1965. In going first to the Congo in that year and then to Bolivia in 1966, Che was attempting to open a second front against the U.S. to distract it from Vietnam. He wished to build a common front of African countries opposed to U.S. domination and to launch a continental revolution in Latin America, based in Bolivia which borders five countries. One can argue that Che was trying to achieve the impossible, but that is the essence of revolution: the fight against overwhelming odds. Death, for Che, was "welcome if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear and another hand reaches out to take up our arms..." This internationalization of resistance to imperialism is Che's greatest legacy. Twelve years after his murder in Bolivia, the Sandinista revolution, led by the "Guevarist" FSLN, triumphed in Nicaragua. In El Salvador, supporters of the recently victorious FMLN candidate for mayor of San Salvador, sported Che buttons and Subcomandante Marcos of the EZLN in Mexico invokes Che's memory "as the true inspiration of the struggle against oppression". If today the revolutionaries of Central America have a place in the political system it is because they were revolutionaries to begin with. But politics has failed to uplift a Latin America drowning in poverty and armed struggle remains a viable option in Mexico, Peru and Colombia where guerrillas control half the country. In Africa, Guevarism helped free a continent from the crippling aggression of the South African apartheid state. Following in Che's footsteps, Cuban troops landed in Angola in November 1975 and routed a South African column which was two hours away from taking the capital, Luanda. Over the next 15 years, Cuban steadfastness in Angola helped force South Africa out of Namibia and hastened the demise of apartheid. For this, Fidel Castro received a standing ovation at the inaugration of Nelson Mandela. When the MPLA (People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) government requested Cuban help to fight South Africa, Havana did not hesitate. As Fidel Castro explained it : "We simply could not sit back when the MPLA asked us for help. We gave MPLA the necessary assistance to prevent a people fighting for their independence for almost 14 years from being crushed. It was our elementary duty, our revolutionary duty, our internationalist duty to give that assistance to MPLA regardless of the price." Castro was also aware that behind South Africa stood the United States and Britain. Fifty thousand Cuban troops fought in Angola and 3,000 were killed. With the addition of 15,000 Cuban soldiers, Angolan and Cuban forces decisively defeated the South African army at the battle for the town of Cuito Cuanavale in 1988. It was Africa's greatest battle since El Alamein and resulted in South African withdrawal from Angola and Namibia. The survival of three revolutionary regimes (Mozambique being the third) and the end of Africa's most vicious reactionary state was thus assured. The continental revolution Che wanted did, then, take place and it was his example that made internationalist duty the highest honour for those serving in the Cuban armed forces. As Che put it: "Let the flag under which we fight be the sacred cause of benefiting all humanity, so that to die under the colours of Vietnam, Venezuela, Guatemala, Laos, Guinea, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil...is equally glorious and desirable for an American, an Asian, an African and even a European." 1997 has been declared the "Year of the Heroic Guerrilla" in Cuba where school children are taught to be like Che. Che is the subject of five new biographies and four films and is celebrated in song by rock musicians born well after his death. But the focus on Che's person misses the point. He was a product of his times which have not fundamentally changed. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, (Che predicted that the USSR would become capitalist), U.S. domination of the Third World has become even more destructive and for Che it was the continuation of the struggle against this that was important not the veneration of any particular individual. However, by leaving no gap between conviction and practice, Che has provided the perfect example to follow in this struggle and the power of his legend is a warning to those who would control humanity. Che Guevara: A Chronology, 1928-1967 1928: Ernesto Guevara de la Serna is born on June 14 in Rosario, Argentina. His parents were aristocrats of Spanish-Irish lineage. 1930: He is afflicted with chronic asthma which develops his legendary willpower and love of reading. 1946: At University, Ernesto decides to become a medical doctor to find a cure for his asthma and "make a discovery that could serve humanity". 1950, 1952: While a medical student, Ernesto travels through Argentina and then Latin America. He is exposed to the oppression and injustice suffered by the poor especially Indians. In Chile and Peru, U.S. responsibility for the continent's poverty becomes clear. 1953: After graduating as a doctor, Ernesto travels through Bolivia to Guatemala to serve its budding revolution which is crushed by U.S. intervention. This critical event catalyzes his commitment to armed struggle. 1954-1956: Ernesto joins Fidel Castro's July 26 Movement in Mexico City. He lands on the Cuban coast in December 1956 with 85 other guerrillas. All but 12 men are killed by Batista's soldiers. 1957-1959: As one of Castro's leading officers, Comandante (Major) Guevara builds a rural guerrilla army in the Sierra Maestra mountains. He wins the battle of Santa Clara against Batista's forces on January 1, 1959. On January 9, the Cuban Revolution triumphs over the U.S.-backed military dictatorship. 1959-1964: Guevara serves as Minister for Industries and head of the Central Bank as well as roving ambassador to the Third World. His trips to developing countries aim at creating an anti-U.S. alliance. 1965-1967: Che goes to fight in the Congo and Bolivia to extend the international anti-imperialist struggle. He is assassinated in La Higuera, Bolivia on October 9, 1967. Published in: Americas Update, Winter 1998 Briarpatch, November 1997

	Back to Index of Articles and Publications	Back to Main Page