CHE GUEVARA'S LEGACY: Myth, Symbolism, and Historical Memory

AKANKSHA SHARMA

M.A 4TH SEM.

READINGS IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF

RESISTANCE AND LIBERATION

ABSTRACT:
This research paper aims to explore the fascinating life of Che Guevara, looking at the stories people tell
about him, what really happened in his life, and the lasting impact he had. We will use different sources
like books, original documents, and expert opinions to learn about Guevara's life, including his time as a
revolutionary in Cuba and other places, his beliefs, and how he fits into the bigger picture of left-wing
movements in the 1900s. We will also look at why people still care about him today. By carefully looking at
both the exaggerated stories and the true facts, this research wants to give a detailed understanding of
Che Guevara's importance in history and politics.
A memory more lasting than my name Is to fight, to die fighting

- Ernesto Guevara, January 17, 1947

1. INTRODUCTION:
A champion of the working poor and oppressed, Che Guevara was a Marxist revolutionary and an
instrumental player in the Cuban Revolution. Although Guevara became famous as a daring guerrilla leader,
his real significance lies in the ideological field. As Marxian theorist of a particularly militant proletarian
internationalism, as strategist and tactician of guerrilla warfare in Latin America, and as a reformer in Cuba,
his was without doubt the most prominent and ablest intellect of Cuban Marxism besides Fidel Castro, and
he had great influence on the thought and actions of the young revolutionary forces. Che Guevara held
various positions in the Cuban government, including Minister of Industry, and he was also involved in
revolutionary movements in other countries such as the Congo and Bolivia. He was captured and executed in
Bolivia in 1967 by the Bolivian army with the assistance of the CIA.
Guevara remains a highly controversial and polarizing figure, revered by many as a symbol of resistance
against oppression and imperialism, while criticized by others for his role in violent revolutionary activities.
His image has become an iconic symbol of rebellion and idealism worldwide.

2. ORIGINS AND EARLY LIFE:

Ernesto "Che" Guevara was born on June 14, 1928, to a middle-class Argentine family. Even in his youth
Guevara was a passionate and restless spirit, so much so that his father announced the first thing to note
about his son was that "in [his] veins flowed the blood of Irish rebels.” In school, he not only excelled in
athletics despite his asthma but also displayed an astounding natural affinity and passion for philosophy,
mathematics, engineering, poetry, history, and political science. Decades later, in fact, a patronizing,
declassified CIA report took note of this and described him as "quite well read" and "fairly intellectual for a
Latino.
In 1951, Guevara — now a medical student at the University of Buenos Aires — took a nine-month
expedition through South America with his friend Alberto Granado. He later reflected that this trip brought
him into close contact with "poverty, hunger and disease...to the point that a father can accept the loss of a
son as an unimportant accident,” instilling him with the beginnings of his revolutionary ideals.
3. REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES IN CUBA:
Guevara found himself in Mexico City in September of 1954, where he met brothers Raul and Fidel Castro. A
political exile at the time, Fidel was the head of the revolutionary 26th of July Movement that sought to
overthrow the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in Cuba. Seeing a chance to strike a blow back at the right-
wing tyranny he so detested, Guevara joined their cause immediately.
Che went on to play a major role in the Cuban Revolution that followed. Tracked down and attacked by
Batista's military forces, the initial team of 82 revolutionaries fell apart, leaving Guevara and the small band
of survivors to regroup in the Sierra Maestra. Guevara — initially only the army's medic — was soon
promoted to Castro's second-in-command. Led by his guerilla tactics, the team of at times less than 200
revolutionaries waged successful battles against Batista's army of 37,000. Near the end of the war, Guevara
was assigned to capture the strategic city of Santa Clara. Outnumbered nearly ten to one, he and his men
pulled off the single largest victory in the Cuban Revolution, ousting Batista on January 1, 1959, to bring an
end to the revolution. During his time in government, he spearheaded a successful national literacy
campaign, instituted various agrarian land reforms, travelled as a Cuban diplomat, and played a central role
in the instruction of Cuban armed forces, including those that repelled the American Bay of Pigs Invasion in
1961. Some argue Castro deliberately sent Guevara away on a "mission impossible, others believe Guevara
himself simply grew disillusioned with government work and saw his ultimate role in life as a guerilla in the
field. Either way, in 1965, Guevara resigned from all government positions and dropped out of public life,
traveling to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in hopes of spreading the revolution.

4. IDEOLOGY AND POLITICAL THOUGHT:

A fully established Marxist-Leninist, Guevara advocated for individuals to take on the values of the "El
Hombre Nuevo," or "New Man," to become ultimately selfless, hard-working, gender-blind, non-
materialistic and anti-imperialist members of a socialist society. Che's personal legacy as a leader and a man
has been intensely polarized in the decades following his death. As a commander during the Cuban
Revolution, Che was notoriously feared for his ruthless brutality: a harsh disciplinarian, he often shot
defectors and other men suspected of being informers, spies, or deserters without restraint.
Simultaneously, he was irrefutably loyal in combat and action; Fidel Castro described him as an exemplary
leader who held "great moral authority over his troops," while his lieutenant noted that Che's behaviour in
combat drew admiration from even enemies. It is estimated anywhere between 55 to 105 people were
executed during Che's term at the La Cabafia prison. Conflicting views exist of his attitude towards the
executions; some accounts report that he relished in the shootings, whereas others claim he pardoned as
many prisoners as he could. Some are quick to point out the discrepancies between his personal ideology
and the failed systems established under his leadership. Che has been widely lauded as a hero, with Nelson
Mandela calling him an "inspiration for every human being who loves freedom" and Jean-Paul Sartre
referring to him as "not only an intellectual but the most complete human being of our age." However,
while many adore, idolize, and even sanctify him for his beliefs, others despise him for precisely the same
reason. They deplore his inability to carry out successful reforms, categorize him as a murderer
representative of a failed communist ideology, and criticize his handling of the Cuban economy, which
collapsed in 1961 as a partial result of Che's failed "structural factors and management errors" as Minister
of Industry. Nonetheless, whatever his failures and successes were as a leader during his lifetime, Che' s
icon has long transcended his personal and political roots. The rise of the "Che myth" in the 1960's and 70's
led to a wave of revolutions, rebellions, and reforms all around the world in no small part because of his
death and martyrdom. Although Guevara became famous as a daring guerrilla leader, his real significance
lies in the ideological field. As Marxian theorist of a particularly militant proletarian internationalism, as
strategist and tactician of guerrilla warfare in Latin America, and as a reformer in Cuba, his was without
doubt the most prominent and ablest intellect of Cuban Marxism besides Fidel Castro, and he had great
influence on the thought and actions of the young revolutionary forces. Radicals such as Tariq Ali also
admired Che because they saw him as an idealist who acted on his principles. Though Che occupied
ministerial positions in Cuba’s post-revolutionary government, he forfeited a comfortable post to fulfil what
he deemed the ‘most sacred of duties,’ that of fighting imperialism.

5. INTERNATIONALISM AND GLOBAL IMPACT:

In the realm of foreign policy, Che saw the road to attainment of Latin American socialism through the
unremitting waging of revolutionary warfare. He rejected the path of collaboration with the national
bourgeoisie, and he argued that "only a socialist revolution based on an alliance of the workers and
peasants can accomplish the democratic tasks of the Latin American revolution." Che Guevara's writings on
guerrilla warfare found a receptive audience not only in Latin America, but throughout the world. In the
United States, during the I96os, several groups went beyond simply quoting Che Guevara, as Stokely
Carmichael often did, and put his theory into practice. The 'Weathermen' during their 'Days of Rage' in
Chicago legitimised their actions through Guevara's doctrine of dividing United States forces through the
creation of 'one, two, three ... many Vietnams'. Further, the Black Panthers operated a guerrilla training
centre in Cuba, and, as leader Eldrige Cleaver commented, seriously considered adopting the foco theory:
'Trained and equipped forces would be dropped into the mountain areas of North America. The plan here
was to have small mobile units that could shift easily in and out of rural areas, living off the land, and tying
up thousands of troops in fruitless pursuit.' In February I965, Guevara spoke at the Second Economic
Seminar of Afro-Asian solidarity in Algiers, where his ideas took on a truly international perspective. The
theme of the speech was not confined to international revolutionary solidarity, but also represented Third
World nationalism.
In January 1966, Guevara's proposal was adopted at the Tricontinental Conference in Havana where the
Organisation for Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America (OSPAAL) was founded.116
The I2-member secretariat of OSPAAL included representatives from Syria, Guinea, North Korea, Venezuela,
Pakistan, the Congo and other countries and colonies. The Latin American delegates to the conference, in
addition, founded the Organisation for Latin American Solidarity (OLAS) to deal specifically with issues
pertaining to the western hemisphere. OLAS, however, had a short life. Its only conference was held in
August 1967, and after Guevara's death it became absorbed by OSPAAL.1

6. THEORETICAL – POLITICAL OUTLOOK:

Lowy treats Che Guevara not as a romantic adventurer but as a serious revolutionary militant; as a Marxist
who sought to develop an anti-dogmatic body of Marxist theory that would transcend both reformism and
Stalinism and return Cuban Marxism "back to the living sources of revolutionary communism." Che sought
to develop a Marxism that related to the human goal of a communist society: a Marxism applicable to regimes
in transition to socialism; as well as a theory that would be an adequate guide to strategy for revolution in
the Third World. His ideas are found scattered in a great number of speeches, interviews, official documents,
and other publications. Despite this somewhat splintered character, his ideological legacy does not lack a
certain coherence. Guevara was a staunch anti-imperialist who believed that the inequalities and exploitation
perpetuated by capitalist systems were due to the imperialist domination of the developed world over the
developing world. He saw imperialism as a form of neocolonialism that needed to be resisted through armed
struggle. Guevara developed the concept of "foquismo" or foco theory, which emphasized the role of small,
dedicated guerrilla bands in sparking and leading revolutions in underdeveloped countries. He believed that
a committed vanguard of revolutionaries could inspire and mobilize the masses to revolt against their
oppressors. He envisioned a future socialist society in which individuals would be motivated by a sense of
collective duty and solidarity rather than individual self-interest. He believed that the transformation of
individuals into "New Socialist Men" was essential for the success of the socialist project. He was critical of
the Soviet model of socialism, which he viewed as bureaucratic, overly centralized, and lacking in
revolutionary zeal. He advocated for a more decentralized and participatory form of socialism that
empowered workers and peasants at the grassroots level.

Overall, Che Guevara's theoretical and political outlook can be characterized by his commitment to
revolutionary struggle, anti-imperialism, international solidarity, and the creation of a more just and
egalitarian society based on socialist principles.

7. IMAGE, ICONOGRAPHY AND POPUAR CULTURE:

On 8 October 1967 the famed guerrilla leader Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara surrendered to US-trained counter-
insurgency forces in Bolivia. The following day, the Bolivian military executed him. Che failed to gain the
support necessary for a socialist revolution in South America, but his death had global reverberations. After
learning of Che’s execution, demonstrators in Turin descended on the US Consulate, while protesters in
Milan took to the streets with cries of ‘Che lives!’ Arab, African, Asian, and Latin American students at
Moscow’s Lumumba University defied their Soviet hosts by picketing the US embassy. Che admirers
gathered at London’s Mahatma Gandhi Hall to remember the fallen revolutionary, and in the United States
demonstrators marching on the Army’s Oakland induction centre scrawled ‘Viva Che’ and ‘Che lives’ on
streets, sidewalks, and walls. Soon thereafter, tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters paused for a
moment of silence on the National Mall in Washington DC, to pay tribute to Guevara.
By early 1968 he was one of the most celebrated figures of the global Left. His image hung, as Richard
Holmes recorded, ‘like an icon in a million bedsits, apart, pads and communal kitchens, in London, New
York, Hamburg, Paris and Rome.’ A poll conducted in the United States revealed that a greater percentage
of university students identified with Guevara than with any of the current presidential candidates.
Demonstrators from Tokyo to West Berlin and Mexico City marched under placards bearing his image and
slogans attributed to him, such as ‘Hasta la Victoria sempre’ (‘Always onward to victory’) and ‘Venceremos’
(‘We will win’). At the same time, many proponents of ‘revolutionary violence’ in Latin America, the West,
the Middle East, and much of the decolonizing world embraced Guevara as a guerrilla archetype. Che’s
heady allegory of internationalism and self-sacrifice led many to see him as the ultimate icon of revolution,
and Heroic Guerrilla came to signify these attributes more plainly than any other image of him.
Heroic Guerrilla circulated widely within European radical networks in late 1967, but it was in Ireland that
the image was transformed into the stencilled version that gained global notoriety. The Irish artist Jim
Fitzpatrick was a great admirer of Che. Che gained admirers around the world in the late 1960s, but
nowhere was his image and example as important as in Cuba. The Castro government believed that Che’s
selfless example could be a valuable moral guide for the post-revolution generation. Thus, even before
Che’s death, the Cuban government began to promote him as a symbol of individual and collective
aspiration. In a speech memorializing his fallen comrade, Castro predicted that Che would live as a lodestar
for revolution: ‘If we wish to express what we expect our revolutionary combatants, our militants, our men
to be,’ Castro bellowed, ‘let them be like Che’!

8. LEGACY AND CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE:

Long after Guevarism has withered, Che remains an important anti-establishment reference. Perhaps there
is no better example of the symbolic power that 1960s radicals vested in Che than the fact that their children’s
generation resurrected him as a nostalgic means of critiquing the injustices of the post-Cold War world.80
The most remarkable aspect of Che’s afterlife is that when young radicals thrust him back onto the global
stage in the 1990s his popularity exceeded that of the 1960s. As many analysts have demonstrated, his recent
celebrity is largely the result of the commercialization of Fitzpatrick’s Heroic Guerrilla. Yet it is important to
recognize that, in spite of the gross commodification of Che’s image, many young people revere Guevara as
an inspirational anti-authoritarian figure who links individual struggles with a wider longing for change.81
The discourse of global socialist revolution has faded but, more than four decades after his death, Che was
the only figure championed simultaneously by Greek anti-austerity demonstrators, Yemeni critics of the Ali
Abdullah Saleh government, and Occupy activists in the US. His most important legacy may therefore not be
as a guerrilla tactician or a popular T-shirt design, but as a perennial symbol for alternative social and political
possibilities. This is what makes Guevara unique. For his success in Cuba, he had twice as many failures (the
Congo and Bolivia, where he met his demise). Yet he is still viewed as a wildly successful hero, and, given the
odds, how else could he not be?
Guevara, at that point, became more valuable as a representative of the common cause of revolution than
he could ever have become as a revolutionary force. He was a Messiah, a Jesus of Marxism, even if that fact
embarrassed the Cuban government (“The last person, living or dead, that the Latin American guerrilla would
have wanted to be compared to was Jesus Christ.” The Cuban government insisted). His death, and the failure
of the revolution in Bolivia, however, were not seen as a failing in either his abilities or his character. Rather,
they were both viewed because of American imperialist intervention in Latin America.

9. CONCLUSION:
Che Guevara was a complex figure whose ideas and actions continue to spark debate and admiration. He was
a revolutionary who fought for his beliefs, advocating for social justice and equality. Despite controversy
surrounding his methods, his legacy remains influential, inspiring movements and individuals around the
world to strive for a better future. Che's story reminds us of the power of conviction and the enduring quest
for a more just society. Despite the passage of years since his death, Guevara's legacy remains a potent force,
inspiring movements, and activists across diverse struggles for liberation and equality. Whether as a symbol
of resistance or a divisive figure, Che's influence persists, serving as a reminder of the ongoing quest for a
more just and equitable world.

10.REFERENCES:

✓ Matt D. Childs; An Historical Critique of the Emergence and Evolution of Ernesto Che Guevara's Foco Theory,
University of South Carolina – Columbia.
✓ Smith, M. (2021). Che Guevara’s Politics, Through the Lens of Several Sources. Academia Letters, Article 371.
✓ Michael Lowy, The Marxism of Che Guevara: Philosophy, Economics, and Revolutionary Warfare. New York and
London: Monthly Review Press, 1973. 127 pp
✓ Lipscomb, Thomas H. "The Revised Che Guevara." The New York Times, 26 November 1995: E3
✓ Jeremy Prestholdt, Resurrecting Che: radicalism, the transnational imagination and the politics of heroes
✓ Department of History, University of California, San Diego, USA