Ernesto Che Guevara - 81st Birth Anniversary
tomorrow:
Ernesto Che Guevara A model Revolutionary
Ernesto Guevara de La Serna was born in Rosairo, Argentina on June
14, 1928. He was the brilliant son of a Buenos Aires Architect. After
passing out as a medical student, he could have easily carved out a
professional life with unlimited comforts but young Guevara who had the
opportunity to study teachings of Marxism and Leninism, took a bold
decision to dedicate his life for the emancipation of mankind from the
yoke of capitalism and imperialism. He joined the just cause of the
oppressed people.
After earning his degree as professional doctor, he travelled
throughout Latin America and saw the suffering of the people, under
colonialism and imperialism. Living in Guatemala during 1954 - then
under the elected government of Jacoba Arbenz, he got actively involved
in the political movements there and was an eye witness to the forcible
overthrow of that government manipulated by a CIA led military
operation.
Che Guevara |
The military regime that came to power in Guatemala was hunting for
the militants, combatants and revolutionaries. Therefore, under the
threat of death, Guevara left for Mexico which gave shelter and
inspiration to young revolutionaries.
In Mexico, Dr. Guevara first met Raul Castro who introduced him to
his brother, Fidel. Fidel Castro who had the time to have a penetrating
dialogue with Guevara enlisted him into the guerrilla expedition he was
meticulously planning to overthrow the tyrannical rule of Batista. The
Cubans nicknamed him 'Che', popular form of address in Argentina.
The months of November and December - 1956 was a critical period for
the Cuban revolutionaries. It was during this time that they undertook
the expedition to Cuba aboard the cabin cruiser GRANMA to launch the
revolutionary armed struggle in the Sierra Maestra mountains. At the
beginning of the expedition, Dr. Guevara served as the troop Doctor and
became a rebel commander in July 1967.
In September 1958, he joined hands with Camilo Cienfuegos and led the
guerrilla columns westward from the Sierra Maestra to the centre of the
island. Through intensive and fierce fighting, they successfully
extended their power base to other parts of the country.
As the next target, Fidel instructed him to invade the central
province of Las Villas. After completing this assignment, he then led
his rebel column to the Escambray mountains and from there coordinated
the efforts of the anti-Batista forces.
At the end of December 1958, Guevara led the revolutionary Armed
Forces to significant victory in the battle of Santa Clara, one of the
decisive engagements of the revolutionary war. He was the strategist of
the Battle of Santa Clara, the Capital of Las Villas. The imminent fall
of Las Villas, precipitated the flight of the tyrant-Batista.
January 1, 1959, Guevara became a key leader of the new revolutionary
government.
In September 1959, he was appointed as the head of the Department of
Industry of the National Institute of Agrarian Reform; in November 1959,
he assumed duties as the President of the National Bank; and in February
1961, he assumed duties as the Minister of Industries. Guevara led
numerous Cuban delegations all over the world raising the voice of the
oppressed people.
In April 1965, Guevara left Cuba to participate directly in
revolutionary struggles in other lands. In his farewell letter to Fidel
and the Cuban people, he said "I am leaving for other lands that claim
the recourse of my modest efforts."
He spent several months in Congo, returning to Cuba secretly in
December 1965. In November 1966, he arrived in Bolivia where he led a
guerrilla detachment fighting that country's military dictatorship.
Wounded and captured by US trained Bolivian troops on October 8, 1967,
he was murdered the following day under the direct instructions of the
CIA.
Che Guevara is recognized as a symbol of revolutionary struggles even
by the new generation of young people in Latin America and all over the
world.
His works 'Guerrilla Warfare', 'Episodes of the Revolutionary War'
and the Complete Bolivian Diaries of Che Guevara and other captured
documents, edited by Daniel James will certainly enlighten the
revolutionaries all over the world in their pursuits for social justice
and dignity of life.
Che was a man of ideas and also a man of action. He was a model
revolutionary. |