Che GuevaraEssay Preview: Che GuevaraReport this essayErnesto “Che” GuevaraErnesto “Che” Guevara, a doctor and revolutionary in Bolivia, was assassinated by the American CIA for many political reasons, thus becoming a legend and idol after the Latin American Revolution. In the United States Che is remembered only as a relic of the 1960 revolution. In Europe he became a pop icon among the youth with little or no historical reference. Only in Cuba does his legacy stand for the hope and faith of the Latin American people.
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna was born June 14, 1928, in the town of Rosario, Argentina. His fathers name was Ernesto Guevara Lynch, and his mothers name was Celia de la Serna. He had two sisters, Celia and Ana, and two brothers, Roberto and Juan Martin. Early in Ches life he developed a severe case of asthma from which he suffered for the rest of his life. Later as he grew up, he learned to hurtle past pain, leaving it behind in some half-helpless disarray (Franklin 13). His primary education was accomplished mainly at home with his mother teaching him. During this time, he became an avid reader of Marx, Engel and Freud, which he found in his fathers library.
After he graduated from high school, Che went to Buenos Aires University, showing interest in the medical field. His interest in the medical field was the result of his wanting to better understand his asthma; but also he had a more personal reason. His mother had developed breast cancer, and he wanted to find a cure. During his second year at college, he entered the medical college surprising his father. His father said, “Id hoped, Ernesto, that you might be an engineer.” (Franklin 10) In 1951, Che dropped his studies temporarily to go on a journey with a friend, traveling to Argentina, Chile, Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, and finally Miami. He did this against his teachers will. He returned home and finished his degree at Buenos Aires University in 1953.
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During his final year at school, he was able to continue the study of biochemistry, surgery, statistics theory, and biology in his spare time.\
Following his second year as a professional biologist, Che spent his final year of college in Mexico. At one of these studies he returned to Mexico. He spent one day there helping to educate the students regarding the anatomy and physics. He spent over a year there before coming over to study with Dr. Gujralta at the Medical University of Sinaloa in Mexico City in 1954. Gujralta was at a loss for what to do. In the summer of 1956, he and Che spent more of their time at the medical center and were able to meet with one of their students, Dr. Hernán Marán Sánchez. They came to understand the way of medicine. In 1956, they met with a few of Sánchez’ students about what was going on at the center. Marán Sánchez told Sánchez that he needed more time to learn about physics and medicine, but that he needed to move on. A few days later he received a phone call from Marín, of the International Organization for Experimental Biology in Geneva. He asked if he could help him with teaching in the laboratory, where he worked, with which his Ph.D., in experimental genetics, came from. He was honored to have worked on that project. When asked if he would like to study medicine at Mötlsteran University or at another U.S. college for example, Sánchez said that he would like to. He made his wish in Mexico. After the initial years in the school, he started exploring the international community. In 1957 he made his first visit to the United Nations in Rome, and in 1959 traveled to Uruguay, Cuba, and Argentina. In 1961, he traveled to Peru in the hope of finding some sort of cure that might work with cancer. He met Dr. Walter Weich for the first time and made a promise to him, and had him in his office by August of 1960, to “help cure me of my ailment, to take me home and move me from Argentina to Mexico to help alleviate my symptoms of cancer and to help me heal.” The three of them stayed at the office where they worked to find support for Sánchez and others. It seemed like a simple matter, though eventually Sánchez was healed in the doctor’s office, and his cancer was taken care of. During this time, Sánchez traveled to Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, where he was at the same meeting and meeting places with members of the community. He met with the young Brazilian writer, José Pablo Mora, who had been diagnosed with cancer. After his diagnosis, Sánchez began to travel again, to Mexico City, where he met
From his mid-college trip, he decided that only a revolution could aid Latin America with all its problems. When he arrived in Guatemala, it was during the Arbenz presidency where he refused to join the communist party.
When Arbenz fell, he went to Mexico City in September of 1954. There he married Hilda Gadea and had one daughter; Hilda Beatriz Guevara Gadea. He worked in the general hospital and became a president of the class at a farm for Cuban revolutionaries. At this camp, he met Fidel Castro and began to train with Castros forces in guerilla warfare. During this time Guevara fought alongside Castro during the Cuban revolution; he quickly became Castros main advisor (Ernest “Che” Guevara 1).
In 1959 Castro came to power and offered “Che” a Cuban citizenship, which he accepted. Also at this time, he divorced Hilda and married Aleida March; with her he had Aleida Guevara March, Camilo Guevara March, Celia Guevara March, and Ernesto Guevara March. From this point, he became very involved in Castros government, where he signed and negotiated commercial treatments with the Soviet Union, China, Hungary, Checoslovaquia, Bulgaria, Korea and the German Democratic Republic. He also became the Minister of Industry.
In the 1960s Che became very popular with his leftist movements, and in this time he became a very prominent key in the Cuban government. He represented many missions and delegations to African, Asian, and socialist countries. Then in 1965, Che mysteriously dropped out of society all together. His disappearance was attributed to the relative failure of the industrialization scheme he had advocated while Minister of industry. Pressure was then exerted on Castro by the soviet officials disapproving of Ches pro-Chinese communist outlook. He later reappeared one year later as an insurgent leader in Bolivia.
On what would be his last revolutionary attempt, Ernesto “Che” Guevara completely misjudged the Bolivians potential and paid a high price. In 1964 President Victor Paz was overthrown by his military and replaced by his vice president, an air force general with strong CIA connections (Black 1). Upon arrival the communist party shunned him, and he was mistrusted by the peasants. Despite the Communist dissatisfaction, in November 1966 they bought a piece of jungle in Nancahazu and gave it to Guevara to use for training. He tried recruiting local peasants, but his army only reached 120. The Bolivian Communists did not help him much because he was too “Maoist” in his Communism. When the President of Bolivia, Rene Barriйntos, found out Guevara was there, he immediately ordered his army to capture him. The Guevara-led army actually did quite well against the government troops. Unfortunately for them, the CIA was involved with this fight.
On October 8, Che had gathered his guerillas in the canyon of Quelbrado del Yuro. At 2:00 A.M., Che ordered a stop, and after much tossing and turning, they fell asleep. Che was the first to rise in the morning, and as he looked around the canyon, he saw they had been surrounded. Gunfire began at 1:39 P.M. and continued for two hours. At around 3:00 p.m. he was shot in his leg. The bullets shredded his skin below the knee and went right into his tibia. He crumpled down the canyon, a scarecrow-like figure in jacket and baggy pants. Four soldiers lunged out of a thicket, rifles cocked and aimed at Che. “Dont Shoot!” Che said. “I am Che Guevara, worth more to you alive than dead” (Sinay 98).
From the canyon he was taken two miles away to VallegrandeHigh School. In this old school house, he was fed by an oldwoman and was still badly injured. He could see in themoonlight through the window, a chunk of bone gleamingwhitely from a jagged hole near his ankle. He had noinstruments for extracting bullets. No gun, he thought noscalpel, no adrenaline inhaler. No possibility for writing lastletters to Aleida, Hilda, and the children; to Fidel or to his father,brothers, and sister; to his friend Alberto Granados (Sinay 99).At dawn Sergeant Teran entered back into his room for what would be Ches last minutes. “Well Guevara,” said Sergeant Teran, his gun cocked and shining in his hand, “what do you think on this bright October morning?” (Sinay 100). Sitting against the wall, Che smiled at the Sergeant. “I think,” he said, digging only his fingernails into the