Ernesto “Che” Guevara, [1928 - 1967], was born in Argentina and trained as a medical doctor. Guevara became involved in politics in turbulent Guatemala in the 1950s and joined the Castro brothers in Mexico in 1955. He landed with the Castro brothers in Cuba in late 1956. In the guerrilla campaign, Guevara earned a reputation as a capable but ruthless commander.Made a Cuban citizen after the triumph of the revolution, Guevara was at the center of the application of revolutionary justice against Batista’s supporters and involved in early communist economic planning. He frequently traveled abroad to represent the new Cuban government.
Guevara envisioned the formation of an anti-capitalist, “New Man,” endowed with political consciousness, anxious for moral rewards, and willing to live free of markets and material incentives. He also believed the Cuban revolution could be replicated by creating centers of resistance [focos] in other under-developed countries.
In 1965, Guevara’s relations with the official Havana-Moscow line communism faltered and Guevara left Cuba to participate in a civil war in Congo, fighting unsuccessfully beside Marxist rebels. By 1967, Guevara was operating with a band of guerrillas in Bolivia. Again failure dogged his efforts. Guevara was captured by Bolivian forces and executed in October 1967.
Despite significant ideological divisions between the Castro brothers and Guevara, “El Che” became an iconic martyr for the cause of the Cuban and Third World Revolutions. Guevara’s posthumous reputation as an humanistic, anti-capitalist rebel must be balanced by the memory of his life-long addiction to violence and ruthless revolution, his deep misunderstanding of ordinary human psychology, and his adherence to the outdated tenets of Marxism.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário