Ernesto Che Guevara
Che went to Sierra Maestra, whose people were considered to be amongst the poorest of Cuba’s poor. These poor peasants living in Sierra Maestra didn’t have the opportunity of visiting doctors and getting treated. Thus, Che made all the efforts he could to help these people live a better life. When Che came here he was simultaneously playing two roles; one of a fighter and the other of a doctor. Initially, Che had been the medical leader and then became the leader of a small band. In spring of 1957, Che was deemed as the most trusted man of the leader (Castan-eda, 1997).
In 1958, when Batista sent a of 10,000 to trap the revolutionaries in their mountain stronghold, Fidel and Che’s army along with help of local people was able to defeat Batista’s men. Che always had the support of people around him. People admired him as a leader. After declaring the attack on Havana, which is Cuba’s capital he won a victory and Santa Clara. On January 3, 1959 Che entered the fortress that guards Havana and became a Cuban revolutionary hero. While entering Havana Che also became the city’s military ruler. This young man of only thirty years of age had come very fast in his life. People of Cuba considered Che as the new revolutionary hero as his duty was now to guard the fortress of Havana.
Che was a good father when he was home as he took out time to play with his kids and also read to them. However, due to his time consuming business of helping to run a new communist country these moments were rare. He was a family man and cared about his family. After his grandmother passed away Che was determined to become a doctor and he started conducting research and in depth analysis on remedies to cure allergies. His mother suffered from allergies and asthma thus, after losing his grandmother whom he was really attached to he didn’t want to lose his mother. People admire Che for his love of helping others and being there for them. Che even gave up his personal life at times just to fulfill his duties.
People admire Che as a hero as in the Cuban Revolution, he is considered to be an important player. Che’s personality was dedicated, determined, tough and he was very clever as he knew how to get his ways out. Although, his health issue of asthma was a constant torture for him he still went on to work and never gave up. From his men he always wanted them to be organized and be disciplined with their work. The goodness of Che can be found through his intellect and the passion that he had for liberty.
Che was a man who believed that freedom doesn’t come cheap. Although, he may have been a leftist, he died believing that freedom comes with a price and those beset repeatedly have got to take their fight to the gates of the oppressors. Che disliked the division between the North and South. Countries including U.S. In the northern hemisphere and Soviet Union have been dominating the poor people of South. Che believed that the people from North took what they wanted from people of South and in order to maintain their agendas they would set up puppet regimes.
More than 900,000 Cubans were taught to read by Che, also he fought against the dictatorship of Batista. Through his life Che made efforts that would improve the lives of the poor and make things better for them. In order to do so, Che treated the sick, helped build schools. Che Guevara is listed amongst the revolutionaries in Cuba, together with Fidel Castro and other leaders. He spend most of his life travelling, giving speeches and preaching his ideals of equality by socialism and guerilla warfare. Che was a Marxist who wanted freedom for the peasants. He will always be remembered for starting off the Bolivian guerilla campaign during which he died in an abandoned schoolhouse shot down by CIA trained Bolivian officers. Although, after his death he appeared as something greater as he has become an icon of the revolution in the 20th and 21st centuries. All through his life, Che Guevara took several actions that help him define as a hero. He never gave up on his life and always kept going on in search of more. Determinations and vision are the qualities of a leader which Che practiced frequently. He will always be remembered by people as the man who overthrew the past government of Cuba and instilled communism into the lives of the people there (Coltman and Sweig, 2003).
However, people didn’t admire their leader as much when he attained the power and shocked people by this ruthlessness. After taking over Havana, people noticed a change in Che’s behavior over the period of next three months. People began to consider him to be an abuse of his new found might. During this time, Che supervised numerous trials and hearings which sent 500 people to firing squads. In the Sierra Maestra, people deem Che as the leader who would abruptly as for execution for guerrillas and local peasants who weren’t up to his criteria. On the other hand, according to Coltman and Sweing, Fidel was said to be more tolerant and in majority of the cases reversed many of the execution orders made by Che. Che’s strict and ruthless nature as a leader made people hate him and dislike him. During the guerrilla campaign the executions occurred frequently. People know Che as the man who would give extremely severe punishments to people. At one time, he threatened to shoot many guerrillas who had decided to go on a hunger strike over the bad provisions. People of Cuba also consider him as merciless as after the fall of Batista when Che was made in charge of removing the government bureaucracy and army he mostly arrested the minors and executed them (Coltman and Sweig, 2003).
Even Che’s parents were surprised by his tough new attitude when they visited him after taking control of Havana. Things became ironic when Fidel made Che the new financial minister of Cuba. Che was a man who had no love for social distinctions, class or money however, now he was in charge of the country’s wealth (Castan-eda, 1997)). Furthermore, as the head of Cuban economy he was the one responsible for abolition on worker’s rights. Late in the 1960s, the workers even lost the rights to strike, sick leaves were eliminated, job security issues, paid vacations had been cancelled, even workers were forced for voluntary labor and the week hours extended to 44. People consider him to be a terrorist because there wasn’t heroic about killing children and women on purpose. People often confuse him as being a freedom fighter but, when he got power into his hands Che turned into a murderer. He started to take advantage of his power and people who didn’t come up to his standard he executed him (Crompton, 2009).
People honor Che Guevara for his stand against imperialism and continuous struggle for liberation. Nevertheless, many people also hate Che for his militant ways as well his anti-capitalistic ways. He can’t be really considered as a hero as he is known to execute people brutally and also he mostly failed at everything he laid his hands on. In South America, he attempted to lead armed resistance however was spanked by the Panamanian national guard and then Trujillo in the Dominican. After these instances, Castro made him the leader or national bank although, yet again Che failed here as well. When we compare Che with other revolutionary leaders it just seems really irrational.
It was in October 1963, when Che encouraged a course of action whose purpose was to end life on earth basically (Crompton, 2009). He entreated the Soviet Union to place nuclear missiles on Cuba. Che was aware that his act would be construed as an act of aggression and probably retaliate with nuclear weapons. Reasons behind the change in his behavior are unknown as during his early years, Che was a man known to care for others. He wanted to become a doctor just so he could help poor people and help cure their diseases. When Che got power and control in his hands he started to make use of them in an inappropriate manner and took away lives of many innocent people. Often Cuban people consider him familiar to a terrorist for the reason that taking lives away of people is not something a hero would have done. People will always remember Che as the leader of the Cuban Revolution’s first firing squad.
References
Castan-eda, Jorge G. And Marina Castan-eda.Compan-ero. New York, N.Y: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997. Print.
Coltman, Leycester and Julia Sweig.The real Fidel Castro. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. Print.
Crompton, Samuel. Che Guevara. Pleasantville, NY: Gareth Stevens Pub., 2009. Print.
