Che Guevara (1928-1967)

Ernesto “Che” Guevara is one of the founding figures of Cuban Marxism and led the Cuban revolutionary movement. Although originally an Argentinian and starting his career as a physician, Guevara became very committed to revolutionary ideologies as he traveled throughout Latin America at a very young age and witnessed the atrocities of colonial/post-colonial oppression. Joining forces with Fidel Castro and his allies, Guevara led the Guerilla warfare against the Batista government dictating Cuba at the time, bringing a widespread socialist revolution after their victory.[1] Guevara continued to be a prominent leader as he served in the Cuban government until he eventually decided to pursue his broader cause of achieving socialist revolution worldwide.

            Che Guevara’s work directly connects to my project as I look at the origins of Cuban Marxism and compare it with Peruvian Marxism. One of his most prominent works, “Guerilla Warfare”, was a revolutionary text that both inspired oppressed nations worldwide and caused fear in the hearts of the authoritarian capitalist nations. Scholars argue that the radicalism of this text made this possible, as Guevara provokes new thoughts such as challenging the traditional Marxist idea- a revolution can only happen with a proletariat revolution.[2] Rather, he argues that a guerilla insurrection can induce a revolution and provides guidance on weaponry tactics.[3] After the Cuban revolution, we see the continuation of his revolutionary and humanistic ideas in his 1967 letter to the Tricontinental. Here, he states his concerns about the global political issues going on at that time and how the oppressed are going to combat it.[4] He also responds to the backlashes against the Cuban government.[5] Even though he left Cuba in 1965, we still see his solidarity toward Cuba and the Marxist cause.

            Guevara’s life gives us a broader picture of significant Marxist revolutionary thoughts going in late 20^th century Latin America. His work “Guerilla Warfare” raised concerns and controversies in the United States. Some became concerned about the insurgence of Latin American revolutionary movements, while scholars argued his work to be “childish” and too much of a violent variation of Marxism/socialist politics.[6] He did not have much luck in pursuing his global cause either as he was executed by the Bolivian government for his attempt of organizing a Guerilla movement there. Guevara’s broader cause of bringing worldwide socialist revolutions reminds us of the common themes present in many Latin American revolutions- resistance against centuries of colonial oppression and slavery, and a strong sense of nationalism.

Works Cited-

1. “Guerrilla Warfare | The Literature of Propaganda – Credo Reference.” Accessed April 30, 2022. https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/galelp/guerrilla_warfare/0.
2. Guevara, Ernesto Che. “Message to the Tricontinental.” Accessed March 31, 2022. https://www.marxists.org/archive/guevara/1967/04/16.htm.