In Memoriam of a Good Man Ernesto CHE Guevara ~ 45th anniversary of his murder

Tuesday 9 October happens to be the 45th. Anniversary of the slaughter of this honest man who stood up against the United States capitalistic and neo-imperialistic pretensions; and on whose death he became the symbol to all progressive persons worldwide who now consider US foreign policy not much more than an arrogant, blatant hypocritical excuse to throw their weight around.

Especially more so, when, on the other hand, they have serious internal problems of their own.... gross inequalities.... the death penalty in several states ... savagery in the streets even perpetuated by the police.... Las Vegas and all it stands for.... and several other items of dirty laundry. Even if one is to momentarily stop to consider that for two consecutive terms they recently had to make do with a president of dubious intellectual worth, solely this fact should give rise to grave concern!!

Is it remotely possible, that in the perverted US psyche, the death of the unlucky 52-year-old Christopher STEVENS, a diplomat who was in a hot spot, is to be considered of greater bearing than that of Commandante CHE? 

Ernesto Che Guevara said: “If you tremble with indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine”, and on another instant: “At the risk of sounding ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by feelings of love”, these noble sentiments cannot be those of a barbarian, but of a scholar to great stature.

Indeed, there is no difference whatsoever, in my mind's eye, between the untimely death of an American envoy in Benghazi and that of Ernesto CHE Guevara, the hero of the Cuban Revolution, who met his end on the information and instigation of infamous US secret service operatives. Both are a disgraceful and hideous crimes and what is more disquieting is Mr. Obama's call for vengeance, which amply goes to prove that he hasn't yet realised that by so doing he is furthering a conflict to no good end.
 
Ernesto fostered no delusions. He was fully aware of the risks he was running. He was a first rate, hands-on guerilla leader living continually with death breathing down his neck. He was not a five-star general surrounded by his smartly dressed staff-officers on parade in their fort.   

Ernesto lived thirty-nine years, to the full. He was born an Argentinean, on the 14th. May 1928, and graduated as a doctor; he specialized in Dermatology. In 1952, together with his friend Alberto GRANADO, he traveled throughout Latin America and was radically transformed by the endemic poverty and alienation he witnessed.(*) His experiences and observations during these trips led him to conclude that the region's ingrained economic inequalities were an intrinsic result of capitalism, monopolism, neocolonialism, and imperialism, with the only remedy being world revolution.

After a brief period in Guatemala, he met the Castro brothers in Mexico City and joined the << 26th.July Movement >>. He sailed for Cuba where he was instrumental, as second -in-command, in the victorious two-year guerrilla campaign which ousted the lackey Batista regime. As matters normalized, he was everywhere. He instituted Agrarian land reform. He was the driving force behind comprehensive Literacy campaign. He was the Instructional Director for the Cuban Armed Forces. In April 1961, under his leadership the Cuban militia successful repelled an invasion force of US trained mercenaries in 72-hours (**). This, in self-defence, obliged Cuba to install Soviet Nuclear-armed ballistic missile facilities in 1962.
 
He addressed the United Nations 19th. General Assembly, on the 11th. December 1964; where as a start, he welcomed Malta, together with Zambia and Malawi, as new member States on attaining Independence from the Colonial Yoke. He gave an exhaustive review of the World situation at the time. He showed a crystal clear grasp of the current problems; and univocally claimed that this was due to the greed of the capitalists lead by the United States. 

Brief extracts of his monumental speech, full of deep heartfelt meaning, run thus:
“.... imperialism wants to turn this meeting into a pointless oratorical tournament ...... 
at present, the peaceful coexistence to which we aspire is often violated .... 
The philosophy of plunder ... is stronger than ever ..... 
“Western Civilization” disguises behind its showy facade a picture of hyenas and jackals ... 
all free men of the world must prepare to avenge the crime of the Congo ... 
the United States ... tried to get the UN to inspect our territory. But we emphatically refuse .... 
Cuba reaffirms once again the right to maintain on its territory the weapons it deems appropriate, and its refusal to recognize the right of any power on earth – no matter how powerful – to violate our soil, our territorial waters or our airspace ..... 
Our prime-minister laid out the five points necessary for the existence of a secure peace ... halts the economic blockade .... Halt the subversive activities ..... Halt the pirate attacks .... Halt all the violations of our airspace and our territorial waters ..... Withdrawal from Guantánamo ..... 
Suffice it to say that the number (of provocations) amounts to 1323 in 1964 alone ..... 
Second Conference of Nonaligned Countries held in Cairo noting concern that foreign military bases are in practice a means of bringing pressure on nations and retarding their emancipation and development ... it is the United States that intervenes .... covert interventions are carried out through military missions that participate in internal repression, organizing forces designed for that purpose in many countries, and also coups d'ètat ...... 
there is neither small enemy nor insignificant force, because no longer are there isolated peoples .... no nation in Latin America is weak – because each forms part of a family of 200 million brothers, who suffer the same miseries, who harbor the same sentiments, who have the same enemy, who dream about the same better future, and who count upon the solidarity of all honest men and women throughout the  world .... 
this new will of a whole continent, of Latin America, is made manifest in the cry proclaimed daily by our masses as the irrefutable expression of their decision to fight and paralyze the armed hand of the invader ..... that cry is: PATRIA o MUERTE ! (***)

In 1965, Che left Cuba to further the revolution in The Congo and later in Bolivia where he was betrayed by ignorant peasants. Driven to extremity by ultra right-wing elements within the Bolivian military, on information supplied by the CIA, he was cornered and murdered on the 9th. October 1967.

Che lives on today, not as much as the result of that world famous, widely diffused picture of him done by Alberto KORDA; but even more so, on the strength of his convictions thus instilled in unassuming people, the rank and file of the proletariat. His words, coming from a much suffered, generous heart, are relevant today as when he first pronounced them. His tell-tale analysis of the modus operandi of the USA holds true today as it did back in 1964; they haven't learnt anything since!

To crown it all are his daughter's words: 
“My father knew how to love, and that was the most beautiful feature of him - his capacity to love. 
To be a proper revolutionary, you have to be a romantic. 
His capacity to give himself to the cause of others was at the centre of his beliefs; 
if we could only follow his example, the world would be a much more beautiful place ....
[on another occasion] 
my father's writings are like those of José Marti, the values they encapsulate are everlasting”

Ramon Borg-Bartolo 14/09/12