A good friend of mine from Argentina has a great Che Guevara t-shirt. Below the iconic image of the revolutionary in bold letters are the words "No se quien era, pero es la moda"; I don't know who he was, but it's fashionable.
El Che has come to be the personification of rebellion and counter-culture, and you can find the world-famous photo "Guerriero Heroico" printed on all things from posters to bikinis. Guevara no doubt would have despised the rampant consumerism built nearby his image having passionately pursued communist principles for most of his adult life.
Irish Names And Meanings
We've all seen the photo, some have watched the movie and a few have even got the t-shirt, but how many of the following facts did you know about Ernesto Guevara?
Che Guevara - How Much Do You actually Know?
1)Foreign Che
Despite being instrumental in the Cuban revolution and possessing saint-like status surrounded by the Cuban population, Mr. Guevara was for real born in Rosario, Argentina. In reference to Che's "restless" nature, his father declared "the first thing to note is that in my son's veins flowed the blood of the Irish rebels", putting him about as far away from Cuban roots as a cup of Starbucks coffee. When you add to the mix that the word Che comes from Argentinian slang meaning 'pal' or 'dude', you'll wonder why you ever opinion our man was ever Cuban.
2) Wheezy Che
Far from superhuman status, Guevara suffered from acute episodes of crippling asthma. In childhood, his fits were so frequent and violent that his house were forced to move from the damp coastal climate of San Isidro to the dry mountain region near Cordoba. His problems didn't stop him from being an athlete, enjoying swimming, soccer, golf and rugby. His asthma frequently incapacitated him on sublime travels, documented in the 2004 film "The bicycle Diaries", and involvement in active disagreement in Latin America and Africa.
3) Freebie Che
Upon capture in Bolivia, Che was reputed to have shouted, "I am Che Guevara, and I am worth more alive than dead!"
He probably knew something we didn't, because Albert Korda, the photographer of the superior "Guerrillero Heroico" shot, never made a cent in royalties from his picture. Snapped at a memorial service, Albert was proud of the photo and hung it on his wall where it stayed until an Italian journalist asked if he could have it. Korda obliged, and the journalist dutifully used the image on a poster after Guevara's death, setting in motion the wonderful popularity that the photo would eventually achieve.
4) Sober Che
Alert Korda for real received ,000 (which he donated to charity) as a supervene of a prosperous lawsuit with a British advertising department who used Guevara's image to sell their vodka. He presumably saw this as the last straw following 40 years of happy-go-lucky abuse of his image because El Che was a teetotaler; despite famously chugging on cigars for most of his life, he never touched a drink.
5) No-votes Che
Before we get all frothy about revolutionary spirit and the romance of rebellion, lets not forget that if we knew the full story about life under Guevara's administration, we probably wouldn't be voting him into a following term in office; during his tenure as minister of industry Cuba was forced to begin food rationing.
Don't expect much in the way of kissing babies and soft policies from Candidate Che either; he stood out from his peers fighting Castro's cause in Cuba and was fast promoted to comandante, where he enforced a zero tolerance course toward deserters by sending execution squads to hunt them down. This was just a warm up for Guevara, and when he got into power he was appointed head of La Cabana, a court in which he played judge, jury and executioner to purge Cuba of loyalists of the old administration. Historians estimation that he did away with as many as 2000 people, and his activities earned him the cheery name of The Butcher of La Cabana.
Love him or hate him, Ernesto Guevara's face isn't going anywhere; he'll be nearby on merchandise for a few years yet. It's all the time difficult to form opinions about a man how became sublime as an image, a ghost linked with anyone population wanted to use him for, but hopefully these facts will have blown away a bit of the Cuban cigar smoke.
Che Guevara - How Much Do You actually Know?
