Ernesto Che Guevara, the renowned Marxist revolutionary from Argentina, is known worldwide. Born to a middle-class family, he completed medical school. During his student years, he extensively traveled through Central and South America. He became interested in Marxism and, upon witnessing poverty and inequality in the regions he visited, he concluded that revolution was the solution to South America's problems. In 1953, he first came to Guatemala and joined revolutionary movements, but after a CIA-backed coup led to a change in government, he became convinced of the United States' imperialistic influence in Latin America.
In Mexico in 1954, he met Castro and joined the Cuban leader in his struggle against dictator Batista. Together, they successfully carried out the Cuban Revolution and played significant roles in the movement. After cleansing Cuba of American influence and establishing a communist regime alongside Fidel Castro, Che served as the President of the Cuban National Bank and later as the Minister of Industry. He traveled the world on behalf of the Cuban state, meeting leaders like Gamal Abdel Nasser and Tito. He played a crucial role in land distribution to peasants and nationalizing industries.
However, the Cuban regime they established soon faced challenges due to the American embargo and failed reforms, causing hardship for Cuba. Che and other Cuban leaders grew apart, and Che expressed his longing for his days as an active revolutionary. Fidel Castro announced that his Argentine comrade had left to support revolutionary movements in other countries. While there are claims of ideological disagreements and a rift between Castro and Che, they have not been definitively proven. Che Guevara believed in Chinese communism, while Fidel Castro leaned towards the USSR. Especially after the Cuban Missile Crisis, Che criticized Khrushchev for giving too many concessions to the Russians, which was cited as a reason for their separation.
Che spent some time in the Congo, providing aid and training to rebel forces in their guerrilla warfare. However, his efforts were in vain, leading him to later describe his days in the Congo as his greatest failure. Che then secretly returned to Cuba and subsequently moved to Bolivia. In Bolivia, he joined the rebel forces fighting against the government. When the Americans learned that Che Guevara was supporting the communist rebels, they provided extensive assistance to the Bolivian government. Che Guevara was killed by the Bolivian army on November 9, 1967. Initially, his body was buried in a secret location. In 1997, what remained of his remains were brought to Cuba and reinterred there.
Witnesses to Che Guevara's death claimed that he was executed without trial by the Bolivian army. One of the factors that made Che Guevara an iconic figure in recent history was the photograph taken by the photojournalist Alberto Korda at a memorial event. Che's image has been used on shirts, tattoos, hats, posters, and even bikinis. Ironically, his image served the consumer culture he despised. Korda, the photographer, filed a lawsuit against the famous Russian vodka brand Smirnoff in 2000, and he donated the $50,000 settlement to the Cuban healthcare system.
While practicing medicine, Che Guevara focused particularly on leprosy. He was married twice and was a father of five. The years when he left Cuba and went into hiding remain a subject of great controversy. In addition to his native Spanish, he was fluent in French. After his execution, his hands were amputated, and his fingerprints were sent to Argentina for verification. Although he is remembered for his struggle for Cuba, he was never a Cuban citizen. In his homeland of Argentina, he is the second most popular figure after Maradona.
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