Hey,

I was in school Thurs. when a few kids in class got on a discussion of Che Guevrara (or however youy spell it) One said that he was a columbian drug lord, but I thought he was more of a rebel figure? Could someone please expand? And how tha' flip do you pernounce his name?


-Ethereal

Che Guevarra was never a Drug Lord. He was born in Argentina and studied to become a Doctor. Che left his profession(Doctor) to become a guerilla. I believe he was with Fidel Castro that invaded Cuba against the Dictator Batista. he became second in command to Castro and turned Cuba into Communist Country. hope this helps DonEthereal that's all i remember . . .

GoodFella

aight, so he's a commy? That's all cool. I thought he was a rebel, not a drug lord. Kids in my school assume anyone with a foreign name is either a drug lord or a terrorist. Well, thanks a million. Anyone know where I can get some Che Guevarra gear? I know RATM uses him as their "mascot" (for lack of better word), but I wantr jus' a couple T's of him, not rage stuff. Thanks in advance.


-Ethereal

that's what also interests me, i saw lots of shirts of Che Guevarra. i was curious on his background, search to the internet to see who he was. after reading that he was with Castro and he left his profession to become a guerilla, i find it cool wearing a shirt of Che and bought one for me.

GoodFella

hehehe, someone else is with me on that. I think eMerechandise.com has some. But they're small sizes.


-Ethereal

Hi,

The name is Ernesto "El Che" Guevara and he was a revolutionary that along with Fidel, overhtrowned Cuban dictator Batista.
El Che intended to liberate South America from the power of the U.S. which controlled (and still does)many of the resources. He was captured in Bolivia and shot.
He was originally a doctor. His nickname "El Che" comes from the Argentinian slang, equivalent to "Pal" or "Friend". Argentinians are known for their use of this word on almost everybody they come across.

I hope this helped.

Giorgio Luigi Gambino

Guevara's life had many ironies. For one thing, this Communist came from an upper-class background: his parents were Argentinian aristocrats (his father was an officer of a yacht-building company!). For another, he was a Marxist long before Castro. Fidel made him Minister of Economics, and he turned the Cuban economy into a Marxist mess well before Castro "came out" as a Marxist. Guevara waged unsuccessful guerilla actions in the Congo before going to Bolivia, where he was betrayed by a CIA agent, shot, and turned into an international martyr.
Castro wasn't exactly a proletarian, either: his father was the biggest privatge landowner in Oriente Province--the sweat of his canecutters paid for Fidel's education at Cuba's finest private schools. His first wife was the daughter of one of Cuba's wealthiest families--and Fulgencio Batista, the dictator that Castro later overthrew, gave the happy couple a $1,000 cash gift as their wedding present. They blew it, and $10k more that her father gave them, on a lavish honeymoon in the US in 1948--Castro bought a new Lincoln Connie to take him and his bride around Miami and NY.

Che Guevara, was indeed from Argentina and he was a doctor over there. I too am noticing an "overabundance" of Che shirts at my high school. I would say 90% of the people wearing them are just doing it as a fashion statement, which is alright with me, but it goes against his belief, where his image is being exploited for the use of capitalists.

Che Guevara is considered to be a folk hero in Cuba. His face adorns a coin in Cuba (of which I have one) and the slogan, "Viva Che!" (Che Lives!) is plastered everywhere in La Habana.

That statement is true, as i had the opportunity to travel to Cuba, and saw many a statue dedicated to Mr. Guevara. I was just referring to many people that wear a shirt with his face on it, mostly as a fashion statement because they dont know who he even is.

Che Guevara was a great man.

I wear his face not because it's "fashion", but because I believe in what he did.

And he wasn't just shot, he was tortured brutally.

-Penguin

At a quick glance, nobody has answered DonE's question on pronouncing it:
Its: Shay (rhymes with play) Ger-var(like car)-rah (the end of career).

Mick

Anton,
i agree with the reason with why you wear the shirts, because YOU do understand what he's about. I have asked many ppl why they wear the shirt, or who Che was and they dont know.

as for the "correct" pronunciation Capo, your version is the anglisized(sp?) version.

The way I and the rest of the hispanics pronounce his name is
Che = Chair without the "ir"
Guevara = Gue is pronounced like guess without the ss..... and vara is pretty self explanatory.....

but i say tomato and you say tomahtoe right?

"Che Guevara was a great man.

I wear his face not because it's "fashion", but because I believe in what he did.

And he wasn't just shot, he was tortured brutally."

I just wanted to respond to your comments......

1) I also believe Che was a "great" man. He was pretty violent but at the whole was his "love" for Cuba if not for communism. Granted, Che wasnt the greatest military leader ever, as evidenced with the failures in Africa and Bolivia, but perhaps that is part of his imperfections. The thing i didnt really like much about him is his tendency to kill anyone, friend or foe. A quote of his i find very ironic is, " Cruel leaders are replaced only to have new leaders turn cruel!" this fits Batista being overthrown by Castro who in turn can be considered a "cruel" leader by some.

2). I already commented on that point

3) He was shot and killed by Bolivian soldiers who were aided by the CIA and the Green Berets while trying to organize leftist guerilla movements in that country. Che was shot in the leg and calf area several times while trying to escape from the bolivian forces, is later captured and has to lie in the dirt, nude with his hands and feet tied up. He is later executed with his last words being, ""I know you've come to kill me. Shoot, you are only going to kill a man." , which is possibly a romanticized version of the story, but nonetheless he was shot various time and treated inhumanely while captured.

sorry i wrote so much, its just Che Guevara is such a complicated and interesting individual.

Yo,

Thanks to all for the info. I agree with anton. Once I get my shirt I'll be tha' only person in my school with one...that I know of. Anyway, thanks again to all.


-Ethereal

I don't know how "great" a man Che was. He was responisble from running Castro's death camps, though they were called something different.

Right! Guevara was a dedicated, self-sacrificing revolutionary. But he was a disaster as a Cuban official. As Minister of Economics, he ran Cuba's economy right into the ground, even before the US boycott. He also launched a series of disastrous overseas military actions that came to naught, save for the deaths of his comrades (and himself).

"I don't know how "great" a man Che was"


interesting point, but a person can't be judged on one action alone. The good he did outweighed the bad that he did, but just like Kennedy is remembered for many of his White House exploits Che could be remembered for the various people he killed.

A funny story, I eating at a fast food place and a cop saw I had a Che patch on my backpack and yelled out to me, "so you support terrorists?" and I said, "no sir, i dont support what the crew of the Enola Gay did in Japan by dropping the bomb when diplomacy would have worked"........that shut him up real quickly

Che and Fidel were not supported nor endorsed by the USA.
I'm not going to waste my time teaching history. If you're all interested, please study these facts(or use google).

The US did support:

• Papa Doc and Baby Doc Duvalier of Haiti
• The Marcos' of Philippines
• The Shah of Iran
• Batista of Cuba
• Trujillo of Dominican Republic
• Noriega of Panama
• Leopoldo Galtieri of Argentina
• Pinochet of Chile
• Present day China

This is not a debate. Simply study who the US has supported and now supports, compare them to Che, and come to your own conclusions. Read. It does a body good.