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Che Guevara's Influence On The Cuban Revolution

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The hardest part in understanding Ernesto “Che” Guevara is deciding if the actions he took made him a villain or a hero. I have found most authors have struggled with this same question and most times result in being bias one way or another. The more accurate analysis of these stereotypes is to set in the middle of the two. Future revolutionaries of the world could learn a great deal from Guevara’s persona by embracing the ideology of both villain and hero and that is the formula to becoming a successful revolutionary. Che Guevara, like any revolutionary, was thirsty for change and he did just that as he was a great influence on the Cuban Revolution. To further understand why revolutionaries should show qualities of both a hero and villain, …show more content…

In Guevara’s speech to a group of medical students he says, “I came into close contact with poverty, hunger and disease; with the inability to treat a child because of lack of money; with the stupefaction provoked by the continual hunger and punishment” (167). Guevara claims this as a pivotal moment in his life because seeing those underdeveloped countries and how if effected the citizens living there, changed his aspirations of becoming a research scientist to a “revolutionary doctor”, but says there “has to be a revolution first” (171). I personally believe this experience fueled Guevara in wanting a revolution. Also, during Guevara’s motorcycle journey he came into contact with a woman who had a heart condition and was dying of severe asthma. A main contributor to her illness was the lack of medical treatments available. Understanding her pain, Guevara says, “I [had] a few Dramamine tablets left and I [gave] them to her” (71). Many find this as a heroic act from Guevara because he knew those tablets wouldn’t cure her, yet he still gave them to her. Michael Lowy, an author who believes Guevara to be a hero, describes him as, “the true communist, the true revolutionary who regards the greater problems of mankind as his own personal problem” (??). This is referring to when Guevara left Cuba because he felt he needed to help other underdeveloped countries become revolutionized. This …show more content…

Guevara had many roles during the revolution because the people listened to him; a main role being an important lieutenant to Castro during the Cuban Revolution. Castro ordered Guevara to lead many missions that would help achieve their goal of having a better, more just society. In Saul Landau’s Poster Boy of The Revolution, he says Guevara’s teenage lieutenant recounts the time he had been wounded in battle and said Guevara “Ran out to me, defying the bullets, threw me over his shoulder, and got me out of there. The guards didn't dare fire at him ... later they told me he made a great impression on them when they saw him run out with his pistol stuck in his belt, ignoring the danger, they didn't dare shoot” (??). This is another example that shows Guevara was someone who was willing to put their life on the line to save someone else. This was during one of the missions Castro had ordered, so Guevara fought and saved as many of his own as he could. Henry Butterfield Ryan, a supporter of Che, says, “Guevara suffered from a life-long asthmatic condition that might have prevented any other man from participating in guerilla warfare as he did, but he was determined to not let his ailment interfere with his ideals for a just society” (676). This goes to show nothing, not even an illness could stop Guevara for fighting for what he believed in. After the Cuban

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