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Che Guevara. Hero or Murderer?

  2. berlich
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Che Guevara. Hero or Murderer?
I love hearing people talk about this. The real human drama of watching your friends be held accountable for their love of T-Shirts, hats, communism, and Gael Garcia Bernal in The Motorcycle Diaries; and then you find out who's spent a Bay of Pigs anniversary with the family of Cuban refugees (regardless of whether you own a "Che's My Homeboy" T-Shirt, it'll be the most fascinating discussion of your life/day/month--dunno, kinda depends on the mean fascination level of your life). This poster, which does that whole photomosaic thing w/ the faces of people Che executed, is distributed by the conservative Young America's Foundation, a conservative group w/ the slogan, "The Conservative Movement Starts Here." I NEED your thoughts. B
berlich

9 responses // Che Guevara. Hero or Murderer?

  • My biggest problem with my fellow Progressives and Leftists (aside from from what I've observed over the years growing up in Berkeley- but that's a long post unto itself) is a tendency to gravitate towards icons and slogans that are easily undermined by the Right.

    Last I checked Trotsky and Marx didn't have anyone executed. Yet Mao and Che sell more posters.

    I know things are far more complicated than this... but I'm approaching this from a perspective of iconography. I often feel that self-defined "radicals" are more interested in pissing people off than actually changing the world.

    That said, I gotta admit that on a visual level alone the "logos" of Che and Mao are compelling (I remember thinking they "looked cool" as a kid, long before I knew who they were) and that from a propaganda point of view this "victims" photomosaic is a brilliant piece. Not that I'd ever want to be a Young Nationalist... oh, I'm sorry, I meant Conservative.

    What was that about long posts...?
    noahjn
  • "I often feel that self-defined "radicals" are more interested in pissing people off than actually changing the world."

    Perhaps the Rage Against the Machine contingent in the West, but Che and Castro fought a just war in Latin America against the morally bankrupt clientist regimes, which systematically persecuted the poor, oppressed indigenous communities and ruthlessly put down dissent.

    War is a bloody thing. I am much more infuriated by the kind of sand wearing liberals in the West, who cannot conceive of any genuinely revolutionary change.

    " Last I checked Trotsky and Marx didn't have anyone executed."

    I would check your facts on Trotsky. In regard to Marx, he was an intellectual not actively involved in the struggles committed in his name.
    Nathan_Coombs
  • And another thing - you wouldn't even have enough pixels to do a montage of all the people Reagan, Bush etc. have killed in their wars of aggression!
    Nathan_Coombs
  • guevara was an extremist, he had this obligation, given the time in which he lived and the concern about what he was foreseeing, him and many others knew this capitalist world was not the most fare solution to social problems and they adhered to another system, which they thought was the best ideology. right or wrong, there are many things to understand from what he thought was right, and also many that should not be applied nowadays, it simply would not work for better good.

    now, did he murder all those people? i have no clue. regardless, at this point in history, i think that who killed who is not the way to find a solution to the deep shit we are all in as a global community. like nathan said, many other organizations, governments, regimes, killed many people. there is no point in going back and tracking every single person down, tracking down nazis did not help us to find a proper solution to extreme regimes, they are everywhere, we are still in deep shit.
    lfm
    • lfm
    • 11 months ago
  • Che is a legacy for cubans to decide. Those who buy the T-shirts without knowledge are mocking the culture of Cuba just like thsoe who get tribal tatoos or jewlery without thinking of its significance. Aesthetics and cultural reverence unfortunately don't always go hand in hand.
    ocanada
  • The problem with Leftists in the states is not their inability to understand iconography. Its their inability to remember history. Most heroes are embattled. Martin Luther King Jr has been accused of being a womanizer. Malcolm X has been accused of racism. That doesn't make them less important for their symbolism as historical figures or as great social actors when symbolism isn't considered.

    Che Guevara had problems. Most notably his misunderstanding of Bolivian Terrain, and culture, as well as his machismo and sexism, but the murderers who executed him were no better. The CIA in Latin America has the distinct honor of financing death squads, and propping up dictators like Pinochet, Batista, Videla, Martinez and others. Resistance to this sort of bloodshed and disregard for autonomy and democracy is heroism plain and simple.

    The Young Americas foundation is a tax shelter for the fascists who make up the American ultra-right. Phyllis Schlafley, Ed Meese, William F. Buckley Jr. (who incidentally seems to have been everywhere a mass grave appeared in Latin America since the late sixties) are often paid to speak at colleges and universities from the same coffers that they "donate" to every year.

    I have spoken with Anti Castro Cubans in Miami and some have even chased friends of mine with baseball bats, or made death threats. They have killed Chilean Compatriots of mine (Orlando Letelier) and worked with Nixon to infiltrate the DNC. They've also hijacked airplanes. They bomb art galleries that display art from the island. They have spit in the face of Nelson Mandela, and rioted at the Latin Grammy awards. These are the same people who have something to say about human rights? Ok... I'm not listening.
    heliarc
  • damn good points heliarc
    lfm
    • lfm
    • 11 months ago
  • I agree w/ Brett on how interesting it is to hear people's opinions about the subject. Whether it be Che or communism or the related conspiracy theories. Personally, Che has always been a hero. Set aside from the 'it's cool to be a revolutionary' mentality, he did begin a revolution. I think it's somewhat sad that the very enemy he had, capitalism, is what is practiced when you can find 100 different che t-shirts, bags, hats, etc. Usually people who wear the gear know little to nothing about the man, other than the fact he helped the people. The people is what's important and the people are those who wear and continue to support him and his ideas. I gotta stop, this could go on forever..... la la la la la....
    MaRibElfalcon76
  • http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=576271470901458...
    this is kind of a long video but it really gives good insight on his beliefs and past. It kind of cleared everything up for me. It has interviews with Jon Lee Anderson, the leading che researcher, and many friends and comrades of che. it is a documentary from the history channel. (90 min.)
    jdpowell

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