How did Che Guevara become a leader?

Answer 1

I am not an expert, but in my opinion Che Guevera was never a leader; he was a strong and dominant follower who wanted immediate change and was not averse to violence to achieve that change.

He was a medical doctor who saw the suffering of the poorer people in many South American countries and wanted to alleviate that suffering; at the same time he was disgusted by the ruling class and those in power because he felt they were callous and insensitive and only interested in maintaining their own situations, which was probably true.

At this point he could have gone many directions: serving and assisting the poor as a physician, becoming a political activist, teaching, whatever, but his nature was impatient and he had the hot blood of a revolutionary and on a trip to Mexico he met Fidel Castro, who was in exile, and the direction of his life was set.

He had found someone to follow and he went with Castro to Cuba and was an active and dominant participant in that revolution, but a follower of Castro. When the revolution was won Che was unable to be an adminstrator or politician or plain Dr. Guevera and looked for other worlds to conquer.

He went to Africa in a short lived attempt to initiate revolutions there and when that failed he went to Bolivia and was betrayed and killed. Because he was a follower he didn't see the difference in a revolution in a country where people were committed to change by any means and a revolution initiated by outside agitators without the support of the people for whom the revolution is planned.

The internal support in Cuba is why that revolution succeeded and the lack of it was why his other efforts failed.

He was beautiful and charismatic and intelligent and deadly and violent. I liked him, but then, I never met him.

I don't think he was a leader, but he was a man and a good soldier, who deserved better than what he got.

Answer 2

I'm not sure if I can explain without using way too much information but here goes. Guevara grew up in Argentina and really got into the whole socialist movement. He did a lot of roaming of South and Central America as a teen (If you've seen or read the motorcycle diaries it's about him.) and attended a lot of youth movements throughout the region for Socialism. At one of these events in Mexico Che met Raul Castro, who then introduced him to Fidel. When Fidel told him of an upcoming attempt at a Cuban revolution to oust Batista, Che signed on as the group's doctor. After their invasion landing of Cuba a few years later, Che showed that he was an Intense fighter and Quickly gained the respect of Fidel and the others, eventually making him the leader of his own column of troups. At the end of the war, Castro appointed Che to be in charge of the new government's economy, and was one of Fidel's top advisors. Along with Raul, he convinced Fidel (who at the time was undecided on whether to become a Capitalist or Communist nation) to ally with the Soviet Union and eventually become Communist as well. After a few years of this, Castro asked Che to help spread revolution to other countries. First going to Algeris and then Bolivia, Che's Impact reached all over the world, and his legend only heightened after his execution by CIA operatives when captured in Bolivia.

Sorry I know that was really in depth but his rise to leadership was complex and I wanted to explain it as best as I could. If you have the time pick up the biography Che by Jon Lee Anderson, that's where I got all of my information on him from, but the books is upwards of 700 pages so be ready for heavy reading. Hope that helped.

Answer 3

Che Guevara started off as a medical student and this brought him into contact with the terrible conditions the poor were living in during his travels and job. His experiences and observations led him to the conclusion that the region's socio-economic inequalities could only be remedied by socialism through revolution, prompting him to intensify his study of Marxism and travel to Guatemala to learn about the reforms being implemented there by President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán. While in Mexico in 1956, Guevara joined Fidel Castro's revolutionary 26th of July Movement, which seized power from the regime of the dictator Batista in Cuba in 1959. Having proved himself during the revolution, Guevara was assigned the role of overseeing the trials and executions of hundreds of suspected war criminals from the corrupt and vicious regime. During this time, he also wrote a number of influential books on guerilla warfare. While he commanded units and fought beside Castro Guevara was not a leader in the sense that Castro came to be. But he was very charismatic and inspiring. In 1965 Guevara left Cuba to assist with the revolutions in Congo-Kinshasa, and then in Bolivia. There he was captured in a military operation supported by the CIA and the U.S. Army Special Forces. He was tortured and killed by the Bolivian army under orders from the CIA.

Answer 4

Simple really. He was a communist mercenary with good terrorist skills and a knack for survival. He survived while his "competitors" just "accidentally" perished or were arrested by Batista's people after being set up...

Nothing unusual in these circles- the careers of Ho Chi Minh and Mandela began exactly in the same manner

The one difference being that Che Guevara became a pain in the a.... whattnot of his masters and so was sent off to Bolivia (supposedly to spread the "revolution") and promptly not only abandoned but also set up for elimination. After which a bit of propaganda effort made him into a "saint" of the communist movement.

In reality he was a nobody. Just a pretty face which looks good on a poster.