Four decades later

The heritage of Che Guevara

He had his own ideas on how a social revolution was to be established. Some claimed that time was needed first, in which the working class would have to be fully formed, so that later capitalism could be overthrown. Guevara however did not agree. Even if capitalism was not at its peak in that time, he felt any injustice to the working class was enough to justify a revolution


By CELINE TE BRAAKE
from Groningen, The NETHERLANDS


Last month, on October 9th, the world remembered the death of Che Guevara. Newspapers published stories about him, documentaries were broadcast, along with, how could it not be, 'The Motorcycle Diaries'. 40 years ago Che Guevara died, shot by the Bolivian army.

His name is well known, but many of us do not really know what for. The personality cult about him has not much to do with his actions or thoughts. It is based on his early death (Che only reached the age of 39) and the famous picture, taken by Alberto Korda, which has been materialized on T-shirts, bags, flags and many other gadgets.

Those gadgets are popular items, even 40 years after his death. But this can hardly be all we inherited from him. There was more to him that just a pretty picture. What were his ideas then? And do they still mean anything to us today?

First, his life in a nutshell: Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna, Guevara's given name, was born in Argentina in 1928. He was the eldest in a family without major financial problems. He traveled around the continent twice, which made him politically aware. He adopted Marxism as the way to establish a better society.

While traveling, he heard that Guatemala's president at the time, Jacob Arbenz Guzman, was making plans for land reforms. Guevara was intrigued and went to see this for himself. He was then an eye-witness of the CIA-directed coup against Guzman, convincing him that the United States would never accept left-winged governments in its backyard.

During both journeys Guevara came in contact with Cuban exiles. At that moment Cuba is being governed by dictator Batista. He joins them in Mexico, where their group, headed by Fidel Castro, prepares for the revolution in Cuba. Guevara is appointed to the highest rank of the revolutionary army, and in this function he was feared and respected. In the end the army succeeds. Batista fled the country and in 1959 Castro takes over power in Cuba. Guevara is given the Cuban nationality and serves for Castro's government for several years. In one of his functions he was responsible for the trial and execution of many members of the Batista-regime.

In 1965 he disappeared from public life. Castro later disclosed he had received a letter from him, saying that he resigned from all his functions in Cuba to offer his services to guerillas in other countries. We now know that when he disappeared, he went to Congo to unsuccessfully support the guerilla-army of Laurent-Desiré Kabila.

With a detour through Europe and a secret stop in Cuba, he then goes to Bolivia, to establish a revolution there. The support from the farmers that Guevara expected failed to come. On top of that the United States kept supporting the Bolivian government. Guevara then is betrayed by a deserter, arrested and executed. His body was buried in a secret grave. In 1997 this was excavated, whereupon Guevara received a state funeral in Cuba.

Che Guevara had his own ideas on how a social revolution was to be established. Some claimed that time was needed first, in which the working class would have to be fully formed, so that later capitalism could be overthrown. Guevara however did not agree. Even if capitalism was not at its peak in that time, he felt any injustice to the working class was enough to justify a revolution. Besides, he did not believe that a broad basis of support in the working class was needed for a successful revolution. In his eyes, small actions against the government would pass on the 'revolutionary feeling' to the working class and farmers, upon which support would be established. The events in Bolivia proved him wrong.

Although there were differences of opinion, Guevara was far from the only Marxist of his time. Still, very few of them are remembered in such a positive way as Guevara. His underdog position and the fact that in the end he lost, may have contributed to that.

Somehow, Guevara's supporters in the West were mostly pacifists, demonstrating against the war in Vietnam. Not surprisingly, also Guevara opposed this war, as he saw it as a manifestation of the United States' imperialism. Due to this 'connection' with the hippie movement, Guevara is sometimes mistaken for a pacifist. However, Guevara has argued that the use of violence is justified, and that hatred is needed to vanquish the enemy.

How about today? Are their still ideologists out there, who extended their affinity towards 'the revolution' to more than wearing Guevara-buttons?

Yes, there are. For instance, last August the Colombian army discovered in a FARC camp the diary of the Dutch Tanja Nijmeijer (the diary is known as Eillen's diary, her pseudonym). She left the Netherlands in 2002 to join the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo).

Nijmeijer had been to Colombia before. During her study Spanish she had stayed in the country for a year, where she said to be struck by the social inequalities. Convinced she could do more than just write out a check, she left in 2002.

The discovery of her diary by the Colombian army caused quite a stir in both Colombia and the Netherlands. Colombians were unsympathetic towards someone, in their eyes, had no business bring a hornets' nest about her ears. They felt that dealing with Colombian problems should be left to Colombians, and a Dutch girl need not search for danger. Besides, during various interviews in Colombia by Dutch media, it became clear that in Colombia, like in Bolivia during Guevara's time, people do not support the FARC. Too many years of unjustified and seemingly random violence, also against the farmers (they are forced to produce coca paste for the FARC), had caused it to be very unpopular.

Also in the Netherlands a discussion arose about Nijmeijers choice. The use of violence by the FARC was, like in Colombia, a frequently used argument. Striving for a revolution is one thing, but joining an organization that is not too selective of where it turns its violence to, is something completely different. Others did not believe that Nijmeijer chose this violence, as she might have been unaware of the FARC's way of dealing with things. This, however, made her not only look innocent, but also very naive.

In the meanwhile, things do not look very bright for 'Eillen'. In her diary she writes about the FARC as 'her family' and the jungle 'her home', but she is also very critical towards the organization she joined. She denounces the sexism and hypocrisy of the FARC's leaders. Some experts believe that by the revelation of her diary, her death sentence was signed. Others claim that the FARC treats its foreign fighters better than the Colombians, and she will get away with a mild punishment.

Either way, by her choice in 2002 Tanja Nijmeijer has altered her life forever. She might never be able to leave Colombia again, should she want to. She is stuck inside the FARC. Because she willingly took this path, she can not count on too much sympathy in both Colombia and the Netherlands. Che Guevara did not get a happy end, and she might not get one either.


(Published: 09.11.2007.)

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