“Che Guevara, Exaggerated Legend”

755 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on che guevaras impact on the cuban revolution

Guerrillero Heroico, the well-recognized image that would be placed ironically on millions of t-shirts and posters and sold to those who believed Guevara to be a hero. Guevara was popularized due to his attempts of exporting revolution. His motives for revolution were to overthrow capitalist governments; he believed that they were responsible for “corruption and tyranny”. (1) Guevara would be remembered as a revolutionary and as a hero to the Cuban people. He would overthrow the Batista government and improve the way of life of the poor. During this process Guevara would end up executing 216 people on his own. (2) Some might even argue that Guevara was evil, or a terrorist; “We don't need proof to execute a man. We only need proof that it's necessary to execute him. A revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate”. (3) Nevertheless Che Guevara is not the same noble hero that has been embraced by the Cubans, and popularized throughout the world, he blurs the lines between hero and terrorist. Since his death, his flaws have been hidden and his image as a revolutionary hero, exaggerated.

Che Guevara had developed an “affinity for the poor” from a very young age. (4) During his medical studies he made two motorcycle trips, and wrote an account called The Motorcycle Diaries which would become a The New York Times best-seller. During this time he witnessed vast poverty, and especially in Chile he became enraged at the working conditions of the miners describing them as “the shivering flesh-and-blood victims of capitalist exploitation”. (5) When Guevara began working in a general hospital in Mexico his first wife Hilda noted that he considered going to work as a doctor in Africa and that he continued to be de...

... middle of paper ...

... York: Knopf, 1997.
Corzo, Humberto. "Cuba: Che Guevara: The Fish Die by the Mouth." Cuba: Che Guevara: The Fish Die by the Mouth. http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y09/enero09/23_O_3.html (accessed February 17, 2014).
Fontova, Humberto. Fidel: Hollywood's favorite tyrant. Washington, DC: Regnery ;, 2005.
Gadea, Hilda. My life with Che: the making of a revolutionary. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
Grant, Will. "CIA man recounts Che Guevara's death." BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7027619.stm (accessed February 16, 2014).
Kellner, Douglas. Ernesto "Che" Guevara. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1989.
Minster, Christopher. "Biography of Fidel Castro." About.com Latin American History. http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/historyofthecaribbean/p/08fidelcastro.htm (accessed February 15, 2014).
Spider-Man: amazing fantasy.. New York, NY: Marvel Comics, 2005.

Show More
Related

  • Fidel Castro Dbq

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born on August 13, 1926, near Birάn in Cuba’s Eastern Oriente Province to a wealthy sugar plantation owner and a mother who was a domestic servant to his father’s first wife (Source A). Castro was the third of six children and was raised in prominently wealthy circumstances that allowed him to attend well known and well revered schools like Belen Jesuit Prep. (Source A). He was a man that could not be just labeled solely by one phrase or one convenient definition, he was loved by supporters of communist rule and he was also a face feared by many Cubans. He held multitudes of titles to countless different people, ranging from honorable military leader to a protruding symbol of the communist revolution in Latin America that was feared by the Cuban people and Americans alike.

    Read More

  • Cuban Revolution Outline

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    One mission by Che Guevara was he, “strove to create a proper industrial base and to diminish the economy’s dependence on sugar,” (515). To improve the milk and meat production in Cuba efforts were made to breed a new kind of cattle. This effort failed which resulted in a famine because of this and with the U. S trade embargo the Cuban government began to give rations of daily necessities to citizens, (The Caribbean: A History of the Region and Its People). Guevara efforts were too expensive for Cuba causing a crisis. The government, “decided to resolve its crisis by means of a “revolutionary offensive”: first, the nationalization of all services, restaurants, shops, and petty commercial iinstallations... witha production goal of 10 million tons of sugar (516). That goal did not work causing Fidel Castro to offer to resign. Cuba started to become a communist society. In terms of who was in charge and their role in, The Caribbean: A History of the Region and Its People state, “Castro was the visible head, the spokesman, and the international strategists while his brother Raul would become more and more the chief of personnel, the head of the armed forces and secret services,”

    Read More

  • History of Religion in Communist Cuba

    1969 Words  | 4 Pages

    Kennedy, John W. "Cuba’s next revolution: how Christians are reshaping Castro’s Communist stronghold." Christianity Today. 42.1 (1998): 18-33.

    Read More

  • Cesar Chavez Literary Devices

    580 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cesar Chavez uses aphorism, allusion, and other literary devices to give more of a lasting influence in this piece of writing. By using these devices, Chavez’ piece about nonviolent resistance is further developed. He also uses devices to help people understand what he is saying and connect it to their own lives/life experiences.

    Read More

  • Fidel Castro, A Cuban Tyrant

    551 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fidel Castro was born on August 19, 1926, in Birán, Cuba. He spent most of his younger years on his father's farm with his brothers and sisters. Then, he attended Belen, a famous Jesuit boarding school, and excelled in sports, history, geography, and debate (Press 11-13). In 1945, Castro began law school at the University of Havana and became very involved in politics. Later, In July 1953, Castro led about 120 men in an attack on the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba. The assault failed and Batista’s troops succeeded. During the course of the battle, Castro was captured an...

    Read More

  • Pancho Villa’s Role in the Mexican Revolution

    828 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although Pancho Villa is known to be a rebel and a bandit, he wasn’t born into a life of crime. Due to an awful circumstance, in which a wealthy man attempted to rape his young sister, Pancho Villa killed the transgressor. Pancho Villa had no choice but to change his name, hide in the mountains, and live as an outlaw. Over the years he gained the public’s attention for being sneaky and cunning towards the wealthy, and generous amongst the poor. His popularity as a modern day Robin Hood caught the attention of Francisco Madero who promised change to the lower class if they fought alongside him. Azuela recounts some of the problems the poor people faced “…Government people who've declared war to the death on us, on all the poor.”(p7). Many soldiers were w...

    Read More

  • Cuban Writer: Reinaldo Arenas

    1506 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1961, Fidel Castro, Cuba’s dictator, introduced the Marxist-Leninist ideology to the Cuban people, “by grafting it onto the images, symbols, values, and concepts of Cuban nationalism” (Medin 53). This ideology was promoted through what Medin describes as a world where there are no "in-betweens," but instead only "good and evil", and any straying from that perceived norm was seen as counter-revolutionary and must be removed so they wouldn’t corrupt the process of developing a “homogenous revolutionary social consciousness” (Morales-Diaz 1). “The notion of ‘counter-revolutionaries’ and the connection to capitalist nations epitomizes the revolutionary government's contempt for anyone who is not on the side of the communist revolution" (Medin 40). In that way, Castro was creating enemies of any Cubans who weren’t up to his standards. According to Arenas, this new idea of unifying Cuba came at the expense of the persecution of a large segment of the population an...

    Read More

  • The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela as a Reflection of the Mexican Revolution

    2162 Words  | 5 Pages

    In 1910, the first social upheaval of the 20th century was unleashed in Mexico. Known as the Mexican Revolution, its historical importance and impact inspired an abundance of internationally renowned South American authors. Mariano Azuela is one of these, whose novel, "The Underdogs" is often described as a classic of modern Hispanic literature. Having served as a doctor under Pancho Villa, a revolutionary leader of the era, Azuela's experience in the Revolution provides The Underdogs with incomparable authenticity of the political and social tendencies of the era between 1910 and 1920. The Underdogs recounts the living conditions of the Mexican peasants, the corruption of the government troops, and the revolutionary zeal behind the inspiring causes of the revolution. In vivid detail and honest truth, Azuela reveals the actuality of the extent of turmoil that plagued Mexico and its people during the revolution. However, before one can acknowledge The Underdogs as a reflection of the Mexican Revolution one must have an understanding the political state of Mexico prior to the Revolution and the presidents who reigned during it.

    Read More

  • Cuba's Achievements in Health Care and Public Education

    1748 Words  | 4 Pages

    Perez L, 2nd ed, 1995, Cuba : between reform and revolution, Oxford University Press, New York

    Read More

  • Comparing Joseph Stalin and Fidel Castro

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Fidel Castro(a)." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Student Resources in Context. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • Zapata and the Mexican Revolution

    489 Words  | 1 Pages

    In every field of endeavor, in every activity known to Man, whether sailboarding or physics, hairdressing or chipmunk catching, there are people who excel, people who go far beyond the rest. They reach the epitome while we mere mortals look up from below and marvel. So, when you have read the 526 pages of Womack Jr.'s book [not counting the appendices], you can tell yourself that you have read THE book on Zapata and his role in the Mexican Revolution. The author used every source available, he interviewed all those who were left alive to talk. I wonder if any new printed sources will ever be found ? Certainly everyone who played a role, however insignificant, in those long ago days of 1909-1920 is now dead, making new interviews extremely unlikely. This is a work of art, a work of love, and a vast labor that surely took a few years off the life of the author, not to mention breaking some relationships. It is the definitive work so far on the subject. If you want to know the story of why and how Emiliano Zapata, a once insignificant small town horse trader and farmer, became a legendary rebel whose name resounds throughout Mexico today---a man who fought unwaveringly for the rights of small farmers and villagers to the land they worked---then you have no choice but to read this volume. This is the epitome, this is the story in unbelievable detail; political, economic, social, military. And yet, Zapata himself almost disappears in the vast bulk of detailed historical and interpretive observations. It is not so much a work on an individual as on the whole period in a small area of Mexico.

    Read More

  • Fidel Castro's Impact on Cuba, America, and the World

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fidel Castro was born on August 13, 1926 in Buran, Cuba to the parent’s foreigners Angel, and Lina Castro Ruz. He is the son of a successful sugar cane planter. Fidel Castro was known for his athletic skill and for his smarts. He went to the school for and started studying under the law career at the University of Havana. In 1946, he had been in a few newspapers because of his speeches, and a year later Castro joined the socialist Party of the Cuban People.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Lonely Crossing Of Juan Cabrera

    836 Words  | 2 Pages

    When we think about society, there is often a stark contrast between the controversy projected in the media that our society faces, and the mellow, safe view we have of our own smaller, more tangible, ‘local’ society. This leads us to believe that our way of life is protected, and our rights secured by that concept of society that has been fabricated and built upon. However, what if society were not what we perceive it to be, and the government chose to exercise its power in an oppressive manner? As a society we would like to think that we are above such cruelty, yet as The Lonely Crossing of Juan Cabrera by J. Joaquin Fraxedas recounts the state of Cuba in the 1990’s, we must also remember that all societies and governments view the individual differently as opposed to the whole. Each group has unique expectations that are enforced upon the individual which extend beyond those expectations that are written. What this book brings to light is the extraordinary repercussions of refusing to meet the demands and expectations of those that lead our governments. When we veer from the path well-trodden and into the ‘wild’ as Juan did, we may not face death quite as often, but the possibility of those we once called our own, persecuting us for our choices is a true and often an incredibly frightening danger.

    Read More

  • The Cuban Revolution

    1495 Words  | 3 Pages

    On October 8, 1967, Bolivian soldiers captured Che Guevara in Bolivia. Bolivian President René Barrientos ordered that Guevara be executed. This execution was requested and carried out the next day by Bolivian army sergeant Mario Terán. Terán requested to execute Guevara because three of his friends, all with the same first name of "Mario", had been killed in an earlier firefight with Guevara's band of guerrillas.

    Read More

  • The Effects of the Cuba Missile Crisis

    1671 Words  | 4 Pages

    Castro, Fidel. "Castro's Statement on Soviet Missiles in Cuba." America: History and Life. EBSCO, 14 Dec. 1963. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

More about “Che Guevara, Exaggerated Legend”

Open Document