Is Che Guevara really worth the hype created around him?

Question

I don't want to hurt any feelings.Just want to know how people feel about it.I didn't even know this guy until one day I noticed his picture in one of my friends' T-shirt.At first I thought he was a pop idol or something.I even found his image beside the likes of Mahatma Gandhi!He was a violent blood-thirsty revolutionary molded by marxist ideals.Infact his 'guerrila warfare' kind of revolution brought more damage than success.Thousand died in bloodbath which were pointless. As a result what he got in the end was inevitable.Gandhi is the father of our nation and he was a strong follower of non-violence movement or satyagraha.Don't take me wrong but Che doesn't even come head-and-shoulders to him.Even the likes of Bhagat singh,Chandrsekhar Azad were far greater revolutionaries because they were not guided by blind ideals of 'blood and iron' but the love for their motherland.Sadly there are many such revolutionaries all around the world but do they get the same attention as Che gets?

Answer 1

Well, I guess, by reading your question, your mind is already made up.

Just because someone holds to Marxist principles (which I don't) does not make him any more likely to be " a violent blood-thirsty revolutionary" than, say a Nicuraguan "contra" or an Afghani jihadist, is a believer in a free market society because they have been at one time or another by the government of the United States.

I agree with you that Che does not stand "head and shoulders" with Gandhiji. However to say that it was inevitable
that he would get what he got (violent death) is a misreading of history.

The hunt for Guevara in Bolivia was was headed by Félix Rodríguez, a CIA agent, who was constantly in touch with the CIA HQ in Langley, Virginia, USA. It was Rodriguez who oversaw his execution at the direction of the CIA

In the last 30 years since the death of "Che," it seems that left and centre-left parties have come to power in Nicaragua, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Venezuala: all countries, except Brazil, in which the U.S. tried to subvert the democratically elected governments.

Answer 2

To me, the simplest testament to Che not deserving his fame and reputation is that he left Cuba after the revolution to start another. He wasn't fighting to liberate the Cuban people, he was fighting to fight. He didn't stick around and help form the government and help run the country. Instead he ran off to foment revolution elsewhere.

Answer 3

Che, Gengis Kahn,Napolean and Brain Brou,Strove 4 1 Thing United For Freedom,SacntatityANDVirtue.Che as a Brother Of Ireland Strove For Freedom 4 Cuban And His Own National Pride (Eire Go Brath)

Answer 4

I happen to admire Che Guevara and think that he was vital to progress in the twentieth century. Now, do I think he should have been converted to a saint or a pop icon? No. But then again, who SHOULD be converted to pop icon? It didn't hurt Che that he was attractive and charismatic.

To better explain my answer, I look at it like the comparison between Martin Luther King, Jr. and the nonviolent approach versus Malcolm X/Black panthers and the revolutionary movement. Both serve certain ends and purposes. Both will continue to exist throughout history. The nonviolent approach DOES NOT work in situations in which there is no chance of change and in which the ruling elites control in TOTALITY. Examples include the Batista regime in Cuba which Che and Fidel overthrew. However, examples in which the peaceful approach works include the civil rights movement in the US in the 60s because there were democratic mechanisms in place to effect change. If there are no democratic mechanisms in place, then change will never occur. Peaceful protests will only be met with more violent oppression, torture and suppression. (Look at South America, such as Chile and Argentina during the 1970s and 1980s - so many tortured and disappeared, and this could have been avoided if a revolutionary force had succeeded). In my opinion, Che was a passionate man who admitted to flaws in execution of his revolutionary principles (look at his own recount of the failed movement in the Congo which he attempted to lead). If he were alive today, I believe he would abhor the fact that his face is plastered on T-shirts to serve capitalist interests.

Answer 5

Once he got his revolution off the ground, Che presided over firing squads in Cuba to eliminate people who disagreed with is ideas. I don't think you can really compare him directly to Hilter because he wasn't as precise, but you can parallel him with Stalin. I disagree with Che, with his methods, with his revolution, with the sadistic government he founded, and with the vapid poseurs that wear his likeness on their empty chests.

Answer 6

No. Absolutely not.

He was a left-wing terrorist who murdered capitalists without compunction, and was given up to die by his fellow communist and buddy Fidel Castro.

The political left in the USA have made Che Guevara some kind of misguided icon.

Answer 7

Not worth the hype, but he did die well. Something many world leaders can't say.