The name of Ernesto “Che” Guevara is among the most well-known names in the world. The Argentinian freedom fighter played a crucial role in the Cuban revolution and institution of a Marxist Communist regime in the country and the deterioration of the diplomatic relationship between Cuba and the United States. This essay will provide a summary of the documentary on the guerrilla leader entitled The True Story of Che Guevara and share my reaction to watching it and learning more about the iconic figure.
Political Life of Che Guevara: From Guatemala to Bolivia
The documentary under consideration is dedicated to the political life of Che Guevara. It recounts his journey from a medical student in Argentina to a prominent leader in the Cuban revolution and an abandoned guerilla fighter in the jungles of Bolivia. The documentary highlights that Che Guevara was born into a middle-class family, and his childhood can be described as relatively uneventful (Discovery Life Channel, 2016). During his early years, he did not face any challenges that could have formed his socialist beliefs.
Che Guevara first developed his communist ideas and a strong disdain for the United States and the country’s involvement in South America in his student years. In 1951, he traveled to Chile, where they visited the world’s largest open mine, Chuquicamata (Discovery Life Channel, 2016). The conditions in which the laborers had to work in order for the American-owned corporation not built profit appalled Che Guevara. His distaste for capitalism and the U.S. was further solidified during his trip to Guatemala. In 1954, due to a CIA-sponsored coup, President Jacobo Arbenz was forced to resign, with his supporters and suspected communists being “hunted down and arrested by the new regime” (McCormick, 2019, p. 6). As Che Guevara openly supported Arbenz, he was forced to flee to Mexico, with his socialist views and animosity towards the United States being formed. Overall, it is critical to point out that the beliefs of the revolutionary were founded on his witnessing the exploitation of the South American countries by the U.S., with the focus being put on undermining the nation’s influence on Latin America.
As Che Guevara left Guatemala a radicalized man, he sought to support Latin countries in establishing political and economic independence from the U.S. In Mexico, he was introduced to the Cuban political exile, Fidel Castro, who shared his plan of returning to Cuba and overthrowing the U.S.-backed President Fulgencio Batista (Discovery Life Channel, 2016). In 1956 Che Guevara left Mexico for Cuba with Fidel Castro, his brother Raul Castro, and a small army of 82 men (Discovery Life Channel, 2016). After two years of guerrilla warfare, the Castro brothers and Che Guevara managed to overthrow the Batista regime and establish a new one, with Fidel Castro as a leader of Cuba. Che Guevara’s participation and conduct during the revolution were highly praised and mythicized. According to the documentary, he was ferocious, persuasive, and inventive regarding military strategy and had no moral objections to killing the enemy or executing traitors among his ranks (Discovery Life Channel, 2016). Thus, Che Guevara was instrumental in the Cuban revolution and the establishment of the communist regime in the country.
Che Guevara was celebrated in Cuba and was granted the post of Minister of Industries and President of the Central Bank of Cuba. Furthermore, he brokered essential deals with the Soviet Union for Cuba, including Cuban sugar being sold to the USSR, and played a critical role in the Cuban Missile Crisis (Discovery Life Channel, 2016). However, the resolution of the crisis by the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was seen as a betrayal by Che Guevara, who criticized the USSR, jeopardizing the economic relationship between the nation and Cuba (McCormick, 2019). Therefore, a decision was made by Castro to allow his ally to travel to Africa to support the guerilla war in Congo (Discovery Life Channel, 2016). As the revolutionary attempts in Congo failed, Che Guevara fled to Bolivia, hoping to start a socialist revolution that would spread throughout Latin America. However, his attempts failed, and he was captured and executed by the Bolivian army in a joint American-Bolivian operation.
Personal Impression
After watching the documentary, my impression of Che Guevara is that he was a man of strong convictions who was unwilling to compromise on his views and beliefs. Although he was convinced his actions would lead to a better future for Latin America, he failed to realize that the Cuban Revolution was a “lightning in a bottle” moment and could not be recaptured. The Batista regime in Cuba had few supporters, with the army deemed highly incompetent, while the urban underground political movements in the country were well developed (McCormick, 2019). When fighting in Cuba, Che Guevara managed to enlist the support of the people. Meanwhile, the Bolivian regime was highly praised due to a recent agrarian reform, and few considered it needed a political and economic upheaval (Discovery Life Channel, 2016). Thus, it can be argued that Che Guevara based his approach to a revolution in Bolivia on his revolution model in Cuba, failing to gauge the difference between the countries. His dedication to his cause is admirable but ultimately can be viewed as the reason for his eventual downfall.
Conclusion
In summary, Ernesto “Che” Guevara is one of the most well-known and admired revolutionaries of the modern era. His popularity is paradoxical because, as a revolutionary who envisioned a united socialist Latin America, he failed, with Cuba being his only success story. Furthermore, the success of the Communist regime in the country cannot be attributed to him alone. Nevertheless, he is revered worldwide due to the strength of his convictions and refusal to sacrifice his convictions.
References
Discovery Life Channel. (2016). History Channel Documentary: The True Story of Che Guevara [Video]. YouTube.
McCormick, G. (2019). Ernesto (Che) Guevara: The last ‘Heroic’ guerrilla. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 42(4), 335–335.