Guevara is supposed to be a selfless, caring, heroic individual who fought valiantly for the betterment of mankind. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
In reality he was a fanatic, murdering coward. Furthermore, he failed on everything he tried to do on his own.
No less a figure than British historian Hugh Thomas, while granting that Guevara was “brave and sincere,” called the revolutionary “obstinate, narrow and dogmatic” and a man who became “convinced of the virtues of violence for its own sake.”
Alvaro Vargas Llosa, of the libertarian Independent Institute, describes Guevara as a “Marxist Puritan” and a “cold blooded killing machine.”
But, those are just opinions of scholars. The facts, however, point us in the same direction.
In the following sections we will take the myths, one by one, and set the record straight.
Myth #1. Aside from Fidel Castro, Guevara was the only other rebel leader with the rank of “comandante.”
Fact: There were various “comandantes.” Among them, Camilo Cienfuegos, Raúl Castro, Juan Almeida, Huber Matos, Rolando Cubela and others.
Myth #2. Guevara led the offensive out of the Sierra Maestra range into the central part of Cuba.
Fact: The incursion out of the mountains was a three prong attack with columns under the command of Guevara, Cienfuegos and Jaime Vega. The overall leader of the effort was Cienfuegos.
Myth # 3. Guevara won a great battle at the city of Santa Clara.
Fact: There was hardly a battle. The demoralized governmental troops gave up at the first sign of trouble. Furthermore, the armored train taking reinforces to the forces of dictator Fulgencio Batista in the city had been sold by its senior officer, Colonel Florentino Rossell, for either a third or a full million dollars. By the time the train got to Santa Clara, Rossell had left Cuba.
Myth#4: Guevara was an M.D.
Fact: There is no record anywhere that Guevara ever got his medical degree or even practiced medicine.
Myth #5: Guevara was a talented guerilla leader.
Fact: Famous as a guerilla strategist he is, but talented...No. Guevara felt short on every single guerilla action he took outside of Cuba; he failed miserable in the Congo and, of course, in Bolivia. In both places, he not only failed militarily, but his attempts to win support among the locals also proved unsuccessful.
The Cuban campaign offers no proof to his military talents either. The disheartened, corrupted Batista army would have been an easy prey for any opposition, and the strategy that won the rebel’s victory was planned by several of the ‘comandantes.”
Myth #6: Guevara was a humanitarian.
Fact: Numerous statements made by Guevara himself and his involvement in punishing those that opposed him testify against such an opinion.
He said: “A revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate.”
And, “To send men to the firing squad judicial proof is unnecessary…These procedures are an archaic bourgeois detail.”
There is documented evidence that Guevara is responsible for the death of 144 individuals; the first ones while still fighting in the highlands of Eastern Cuba. At the time of the insurrection, Guevara himself executed some of his prisoners.
What is more, he was in favor of a nuclear holocaust if it advanced his beliefs. During the October 1962 Missile Crisis, Guevara said: “What we affirm is that we must proceed along the path of liberation even if this costs millions of atomic victims.”
Even his famous soiree at a leper’s hospital in Brazil is open to question. It should be pointed out that he was there only for a little time, while the nuns and other religious workers that he despised so much, continued helping the sick.
Myth#7: Guevara was a brave fighter
Fact: When captured in Bolivia, the “heroic fighter” wanted to make a deal with the CIA agents and Bolivian military for his life.
While there is a report that he made some heroic remark when he realized he was going to be shot, the only known statement by Guevara after his adventure in Bolivia failed was when he was seized. Then, according to an article in The Miami Herald of September 19, 1997, Guevara said: “Do not shoot! I am Che Guevara and worth more to you alive than dead.”
Finally, there is nothing significant about the nickname of Ernesto Guevara. Che is a unique Argentine slang word for friend or dear. Throughout Latin America, many an Argentine living away from his/her homeland is called Che.
Sources
- Berman, Paul. The Cult of Che -Don't applaud The Motorcycle Diaries
- Documented Victims of Che Guevara
- The Death of Che Guevara; Declassified
- Fontoya, Humberto. The Real Che Guevara: And the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him. Sentinel HC, New York, 2007
Ivan Castro - Ivan Castro, a former reporter for The Miami Herald, is a free lance writer specializing in History and Archeology.
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