Che - Communist firebrand, capitalist brand

"For me, it meant 8,000 days of hunger, of systematic beatings, of hard labor, of solitary confinement and solitude, 8,000 days of struggling to prove that I was a human being, 8,000 days of proving that my spirit could triumph over exhaustion and pain, 8,000 days of testing my religious convictions, my faith, of fighting the hate my atheist jailers were trying to instill in me with each bayonet thrust, fighting so that hate would not flourish in my heart, 8,000 days of struggling so that I would not become like them."
Armando Valladares, one of Che Guevara's thousands of victims Source


1928 Che Guevara (Ernesto Guevara; d. October 9, 1967), Argentinian-born Stalinist revolutionary who fought with Fidel Castro in Cuba, and in Bolivia; commonly extolled as a hero despite his authoritarian and bloodthirsty ideology and crimes against humanity.

Guevara's first position in the ruthless Communist Cuban dictatorship was that of comandante of La Cabana fortress in Havana. There he had jurisdiction over the notorious 'war criminals' trials, which allegedly resulted in the execution of 600 civilian and military officials.

Many individuals imprisoned at La Cabana, such as poet and human rights activist Armando Valladares, who worked in the new revolutionary government, allege that Guevara took particular and personal interest in the interrogation, torture, and execution of prisoners. Guevara also assisted Raul Castro in purging and reorganizing the national army to make it the “principal political arm of the people's revolution”.

The famous ’60s image of Guevara was taken from a photo from March, 1960 by lifelong communist Alberto Korda. The eyes of the revolutionary have been altered by an unknown person to give him a more saintly and courageous look.

Korda said, “As a supporter of the ideals for which Che Guevara died, I am not averse to its reproduction by those who wish to propagate his memory and the cause of social justice throughout the world.” The intention of your almanackist accords with only the second of Korda’s criteria ...

[Next time you see someone wearing a Che T-shirt, ask them if they also have Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot and Saddam Hussein in their wardrobe. If you get a blank look, suggest they do some research.]

Tagged: communism, human+rights, torture, capital+punishment, death+penalty, liberty, che+guevara, leninism