Che Guevara: A False Idol for Revolutionaries

In the mid-1960s, Ernesto “Che” Guevara de la Serna, was a clear threat to American foreign policy in Latin America. His role in Cuba’s Revolution, his outspoken criticism of the United States, and his proponency for armed Communist insurgencies in the Western Hemisphere, made him one of Washington’s top intelligence and military targets. “This asthmatic … who never went to military school or owned a brass button had a greater influence on inter-American military policies than any single man since the end of Josef Stalin.”1 Che’s part in establishing the first Communist government in Latin America was legendary in the region. In essence, the U.S. Government was concerned by, not just Che the man, but what he proselytized on insurgency and instability. He was the Osama Bin Laden of the 1960s.

Che Guevara’s parents, Celia de la Serna and Ernesto Guevara Lynch, visited him in Havana shortly after the revolution succeeded.

Che’s image has transcended reality to that of a romantic hero. But ask any Cuban exile in the United States today and they will say that Che was simply a ruthless Communist revolutionary.2 Best known for his brutality in Cuba, he was deeply involved in unsuccessful insurgencies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Bolivia. While not a thorough account of his life, this article summarizes Che’s youth, idealism, and the revolutionary path that led him to Bolivia.

Che Guevara and Fidel Castro were the architects of the Cuban Revolution. Guevara’s proponency for exporting the revolution throughout Latin American made him a dangerous enemy to democracies in the region. — Che Guevara (left) and Fidel Castro (right) were the architects of the Cuban Revolution. Guevara’s proponency for exporting the revolution throughout Latin American made him a dangerous enemy to democracies in the region.

Ernesto was born on 14 May 1928 in Rosario, Argentina, to Ernesto Guevara Lynch and Celia de la Serna.3 The first of five children, he was raised in an upper middle class family. His father was related to one of South America’s most established families. While he squandered an inheritance, his wife, Celia, had her own and an estate that provided a small yearly income. Ernesto’s upbringing was bohemian; as a boy he was free to do as he wished. But he was born with a serious, lingering ailment.

From the age of two Ernesto suffered from severe asthma, forcing the family to live in a dry region. His father complained that “each day we found ourselves more at the mercy of that damned sickness.”4 The asthma made the often-bedridden Ernesto a voracious reader. He was also determined to lead an active life.

Ernesto played sports and engaged in daredevil antics to impress his friends. Although of slight build, he was especially good at rugby. His bohemian eccentricities earned him nicknames, the most unflattering being “Chancho” (pig), because Ernesto did not bathe regularly and wore unwashed clothes for weeks. Despite his nonconformity, Guevara chose to study medicine at the University of Buenos Aires and explore the country.

Ernesto Guevara’s travels showed him the disparity of the living standards between the urban middle class and the rural poor, fostered his Pan-Americanism.

On his trips Guevara noticed the vast differences in living standards between the rural population and his social class. These forays into the countryside manifested a feeling of pan-Americanism, a desire to help the poor, and reinforced his hatred of the landed aristocracy in South America and the U.S. Despite being bourgeois, he held them responsible for Latin America’s oppressed indigenous population. The adventure that most influenced the 24-year-old Ernesto began in January 1952. Partnered with Alberto Granado, he traveled through Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, and the United States.5 After nine months of travel and discovery, Ernesto was infused with a newfound sense of direction. He returned to Buenos Aires and completed his medical studies in April 1953.

The newly minted doctor once again took to the open road. After observing firsthand the results of the 1952 Bolivian Revolution in La Paz, he left for Guatemala to support the socialist president, a former Army officer named Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán. There, Ernesto met his future wife, Hilda Gadea and got the nickname, “Che,” from Cuban political exile Antonio “Ñico” López who made fun of him for constantly using the Argentine expression che [hey!].6 The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) orchestrated overthrow of President Arbenz in 1954 had a profound effect on Che Guevara. Afterwards, he looked back on Guatemala as a revolution that could have succeeded if those in power had been more forceful.

Arbenz’s populism, especially land reform and cooperation with Socialists, attracted international attention. In 1954, two percent of Guatemala’s population owned 72 percent of the arable land. Since only 12 percent of that land was being used annually, Arbenz wanted to redistribute the rest. This did not please the powerful and influential U.S.-based United Fruit Company (UFC), which was Guatemala’s largest landowner. In the midst of a “Red Scare,” Washington responded to the UFC’s pleas for help, in part because America was not keen on a left-leaning government in the Western Hemisphere. Thus, the CIA trained a force in Nicaragua to overthrow Arbenz.

On 18 June 1954, nearly 500 men commanded by Carlos Castillo Armas crossed the border in four groups. Although the CIA-trained rebels were dealt severe blows, the revolt of the Guatemalan Army enabled final success. Arbenz was forced into exile. Those suspected of Socialist sympathies were arrested. Che took refuge inside the Argentine Embassy before fleeing to Mexico City.

Che’s revolutionary colleagues from Guatemala joined him there. Ñico López introduced him to Fidel Castro, whom Che thought was “intelligent, very sure of himself and of extraordinary audacity; I think there is a mutual sympathy between us.”7 When Castro invited him to join the 26th of July Movement, Che accepted.

Castro’s movement was the cause Che had been seeking. The group began to covertly train under the tutelage of Spanish Civil War veteran Alberto Bayo. His paramilitary regimen included revolutionary war theory, physical conditioning, hand-to-hand combat, and marksmanship. Castro did not delay his return to Cuba.

On 25 November 1956, 82 guerrillas boarded the Granma, an old, leaky, cabin cruiser loaded down with weapons and supplies bound for Cuba. After a rough voyage, the small force landed on 2 December at Playa Las Coloradas.8 Their first contact with Batista’s forces on 5 December was disastrous. The Army attacked the guerrillas while they were resting in a sugar cane field. Surprised, the confused group did not put up an organized defense, and many fled through the dense sugar cane. Those who tried to fight were either killed or captured. Che, Castro, and Castro’s brother Raúl, were among the few that managed to escape.

The Sierra Maestras are the highest mountains in Cuba. The rugged, inaccessible terrain allowed Castro’s 26th of July Movement a secure base from which to build support. This later became key in Che’s theories on guerrilla warfare.

The twenty-plus survivors congregated in the safety of the Sierra Maestra Mountains.9 Reunited, they began recruiting anti-Batista farmers. Once the urban underground cells of the 26th of July Movement discovered that there were Granma survivors, arms, supplies, and money trickled into the remote mountain camps. Hit and run attacks on small outlying garrisons garnered more. As the number of successful attacks grew, the group gained sympathy throughout Cuba. Castro capitalized on this by granting an exclusive interview to Herbert Matthews of the New York Times.

A sympathetic Matthews greatly exaggerated the number of guerrillas to “thousands.” “General Batista cannot possibly hope to suppress the Castro revolt.”10 The interview showed that Havana’s claims that Castro was dead were untrue. Recruits and support poured into the mountain retreats. By surviving and sticking with Castro, the Argentine proved his loyalty and dedication.

Che’s fervent belief in the revolution set him apart and added to his credibility among the Cubans as a Granma veteran. Although recruited as a doctor, his leadership and organizational skills prompted Castro to promote him to Comandante and give him command of one of the two rebel columns [at that time, Castro was the only other Comandante]. Fidel needed his skills in the brutal struggle.

Desperate to save his regime, Batista sent large forces into the mountains. While the rebels rarely killed enlisted soldiers who surrendered, captured insurgents expected little mercy. Castro’s men were brutal with deserters. Poor living conditions made that a serious threat. Those caught were summarily tried and executed. The war quickly spread beyond the mountains.

The 26th of July Movement expanded guerrilla operations to assassinating prominent government supporters such as police and military officers. Batista launched “Operation Verano,” into the Sierra Maestra in late June 1958 in response. The six-week offensive was a disaster. It was such a large psychological victory that Castro expanded combat operations into the lowlands. Che took his column down to build alliances with other resistance groups.

Under pressure from the loosely united guerrilla groups, Batista’s forces gave ground in late December 1958. Che’s column secured numerous towns and defeated several garrison elements. The insurgency achieved success after capturing Santa Clara. Joined by Camilo Cienfuegos’s column, the united guerrillas approached the city. Their 300-350 troops faced 3,500 of Batista’s thoroughly demoralized soldiers.

Construction of the La Cabaña fortress began in 1763. At the time of the Cuban Revolution it was being used as a prison. For much of 1959, Che oversaw the trials and executions of “enemies of the revolution” here.

The rebels secured the city after a series of brief engagements. When the Army fled, the way to the capital Havana, was open. Less than twelve hours after the fall of Santa Clara, Batista’s government collapsed. He escaped to the Dominican Republic on 1 January 1959. The victorious rebels rolled into Havana unopposed and took control of government buildings. Che installed himself in La Cabaña, an 18th Century fortress turned prison where he presided over “revolutionary tribunals” of “war criminals” until June 1959.

Several thousand people were tried at La Cabaña. They were either sentenced to prison or executed. Former government officials, police, and army personnel who had served Batista were rounded up. Luis O. Rodriguez, a former platoon sergeant that fought in the Sierra Maestra, was arrested at home. Rodriguez described these dreadful times.

“things were very disorganized … every night they would come in with a list … if you were called in [late at night/early morning] it would mean that you were going to trial. They would tell you not to carry anything with you. [This was] contrary to if they called your name during the day and would ask you to bring your belongings if you had anything. You knew you would be transferred … But if you were called during the night it was a different thing. You knew that your life was almost gone … After they called the names for about an hour or so nothing happened. Then, all of a sudden you heard the discharge of several rifles and after a few seconds … the single shots [coup de grâce], sometimes one, sometimes two … even four. All this time we saw Che … calling us criminals … he would say ‘all you guys will end up the same way. You deserve it.’ We were wondering why is this guy here, he was not even a Cuban … He was very arrogant and cold.”11

Guevara publicly trashed his enemies. His speeches angered the United States, and later, the Soviet Union.

The trials shook the militaries of Latin America because large numbers of officers were summarily executed. The Cuban revolutionaries posed a threat to the professional military social class in the region. Bolstered by the success, Che began making bellicose public statements regarding insurgency and revolution.

On 27 January 1959 Che made his Social Projections of the Rebel Army speech. It was an ominous view of the future.

ENDNOTES

Andrew St. George, “How the U.S. Got Che,” True April 1969, 93. ^[return]
Luis Rodriguez, interview by Dr. Troy J. Sacquety, 1 December 2008, Fort Bragg, NC, digital recording, USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC. Rodriguez fought with General Fulgencio Batista’s forces against Castro, and with the Brigade 2506 at the Bay of Pigs. ^[return]
John Lee Anderson, Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life (New York: Grove Press, 1997), 3. Che’s mother was three months pregnant when she married. The birth certificate was back-dated to hide her pregnancy. ^[return]
Anderson, Che Guevara, 13. ^[return]
This trip was depicted in the 2004 film, The Motorcycle Diaries, and was based on the book with the same name. ^[return]
The two married 18 August 1955 [they divorced in 1959], and their daughter, Hilda Beatriz, was born on 15 February 1956. ^[return]
Anderson, Che Guevara, 175. ^[return]
Sir Robert Thompson, consult. ed., War in Peace, (London: Orbis Publishing Limited, 1981), 146. ^[return]
Anderson, Che Guevara, 213. ^[return]
Herbert Matthews, New York Times, 24 February 1957; online at http://www.cubanlibrariessolidaritygroup.org.uk/articles.asp?ID=447, accessed 29 September 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/books/matthews/matthews011859.pdf. ^[return]
Rodriguez interview, 1 December 2008. ^[return]
Tony Saunois, “Six In Power, Cuba Vs the Gingos,” http://www.socialistworld.net/pubs/che/six.html, accessed 15 October 2008. ^[return]
U.S. Department of State, “Background Note: Cuba,” found online at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2886.htm, accessed 5 December 2008. ^[return]
Anderson, Che Guevara, 492. When the U.S. cut diplomatic ties, Havana seized all American-owned property. Thousands of Cubans fled to the U.S. as polictical refugees. ^[return]
CIA Intelligence Memorandum, “The Fall of Che Guevara and the Changing Face of the Cuban Revolution,” 18 October 1965, found online at the National Security Archive; http://www.gwu.edu/~nsaarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB5/che1_1.htm, accessed 21 November 2008. ^[return]
The invaders had even brought extra weapons with them to arm new recruits. Rodriguez interview, 1 December 2008. ^[return]
For more on the Bay of Pigs Invasion, see Grayson Lynch, Decision for Disaster: Betrayal at the Bay of Pigs (Washington D.C.:Brassey’s, 1998). The survivors were later ransomed and returned to the U.S. ^[return]
Richard Goodwin, Memorandum for the President, “Conversation with the Commandante Ernesto Guevara of Cuba,” 22 August 1961, found online at http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/bayofpigs/19610822.pdf . accessed 20 November 2008. ^[return]
Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali, “One Hell of a Gamble”: Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy, 1958-1964 (New York, New York: W.W. Norton, 1997), 327. ^[return]
Anderson, Che Guevara, 545. ^[return]
Che Guevara, “At the United Nations,” 11 December 1964. online at http://ils.unc.edu/~michm/Che/unations.html, accessed 1 December 2008. ^[return]
Che Guevara, “At the Afro-Asian Conference in Algeria,” found online at http://www.marxists.org/archive/guevara/1965/02/24.htm, accessed 1 December 2008. ^[return]
Che Guevara, “Farewell Letter to Fidel Castro,” 1 April 1965, located in Ernesto Che Guevara, Bolivian Diary (New York, New York: Pathfinder, 2002), 71-73. ^[return]
St. George, “How the U.S. Got Che,” 93. ^[return]
Ernesto “Che” Guevara (ed. Daniel James), The Complete Bolivian Diaries of Che Guevara and other Captured Documents (New York, New York: Stein and Days, 1968), 14. ^[return]
Ernesto “Che” Guevara, The African Dream: The Diaries of the Revolutionary War in the Congo (New York, New York: Grove Press, 2000), 1. ^[return]
Guevara, African Dream, 226-227. ^[return]
Che Guevara, Guerrilla Warfare (Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1998). Several editions of Che’s book are in print. For more information, see General Alberto Bayo, 150 Questions for a Guerrilla (United States: Panther Publications, 1963). Bayo provided the initial training in Mexico to Che and Castro before they launched their invasion of Cuba in 1956. ^[return]
Che Guevara, Guerrilla Warfare, 8. ^[return]
Robert L. Scheina, Latin America’s Wars: The Age of the Professional Soldier, 1900-2001; Volume Two (Washington, D.C.: Brassey’s Inc, 2003), 265. ^[return]
Sir Robert Thompson, consult. ed., War in Peace, (London: Orbis Publishing Limited, 1981), 148-149. ^[return]
For the Central American foco wars, see William E. Odom, On Internal War: American and Soviet Approaches to Third World Clients and Insurgents (Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1992), 97, 119-120, 122. For the South American foco wars, see Scheina, Latin America’s Wars, 265-277, 293. ^[return]