Che and Anarchists

[Pogue]

An article in one of their publications published on Libcom and in Resistance said that he persecuted Anarchists in Cuba after the Cuban Revolution. I can't find evidence for this anywhere else. Is it just sometihng made up, inaccurate or what? Where does this view come from?

[Stranger Than Paradise]

An article in one of their publications published on Libcom and in Resistance said that he persecuted Anarchists in Cuba after the Cuban Revolution. I can't find evidence for this anywhere else. Is it just sometihng made up, inaccurate or what? Where does this view come from?

:cursing: if it's true

[Pogue]

:cursing: if it's true

I don't think it is. I haven't found any other evidence for it, and the quote they used to back it up can't be found on any other webpage than where the article is published.

[Stranger Than Paradise]

If it's on LibCom then I wouldn't dismiss because you couldn't find it anywhere else. To be honest I thought this before and that it was know that this happened. It certainly wouldn't surprise me.

[dez]

While it wouldnt surprise me, I dont think it is true.

He didnt persecute the nationalist-bourgeoise movement that attempted to assassinate batista, why would he persecute anarchists.

[Fietsketting]

While it wouldnt surprise it, I dont think it is true.

He didnt persecute the nationalist-bourgeoise movement that attempted to assassinate batista, why would he persecute anarchists.

Its a commie thing maybe? ;)

Just a jest, dont bite my head off.

[dez]

Its a commie thing maybe? ;)

Just a jest, dont bite my head off.

A commie thing?
Really?

What are you, a paleoconservative?

[Pogue]

Stop fighting.

So is there any actual evidence that he did this?

[F9]

Back on the question please, keep this on topic.
I have no idea on the thing, the books i have read on che, and his action, dont mention anything like that, neither anything i have ever read, but dont know, could be...

Fuserg9:star:

[dez]

What I find interesting is that a lot of people oppose che because he was somewhat of a libertarian socialist, and (quote) thought that civil society was eternal freedom and the state oppression.

[manic expression]

I doubt it, but only because I doubt there was any significant anarchist presence in Cuba before or after the revolution.

[Pogue]

I doubt it, but only because I doubt there was any significant anarchist presence in Cuba before or after the revolution.

There was.

[UndergroundConnexion]

I think Che didn't give much of a fuck about anarchists.

[x359594]

I think Che didn't give much of a fuck about anarchists.

There was one anarchist he cared for deeply, Camilo Cienfuegos. Che kept a photo of Camilo in his study at home and at his office at work.

Concerning his persecution of anarchists, the three recent biographies (by Anderson, Taibo and Castaneda , about 1,500 pages taken together) say nothing about it. Nor is there anything in The Cuban Revolution: A Critical Perspective by Sam Dolgoff. I haven't read The Cuban Anarchist Movement by Frank Fernandez yet, so there may be something in there about Che and the anarchists.

It is a fact, however, that Fidel ordered the expulsion of anarcho-syndicalists from the Confederacíon de Trabajadores de Cuba (Cuban Workers Confederation, CTC). He also suppressed anarchist periodicals and eventually jailed many for "counter-revolutionary" activities even though several of these anarchists were veterans of the 26th of July Movement.

Whether Che persecuted anarchists or not, he did nothing to save them from prison or persecution by others.

[PoWR]

That story comes from an incident that happened after the revolution with some who called themselves "anarchists" aligning with and participating in the CIA-backed counterrevolutionary bands in the Escambray mountains.

[Marxist]

Well , anarchists here in central Europe pretty hate Che , so it might be...

[x359594]

...anarchists here in central Europe pretty hate Che , so it might be...

Yet anarchists in Latin America study Che without hatred.

Che's political philosophy was heterodox as has been noted by many commentators. Conservative old-line Cuban Communists accused him of "Trotskyism", and, as noted in The Bolivian Diaries, Czech Communists called him the "new Bakunin."

Personally, based on his actions and written works, I'd say he was a left communist and a creative Marxist not bound by received orthodoxies.

But to return to the original question, so far there is no evidence that Che persecuted anarchists. Again, I'm going by the three comprehensive biographies, two written in Spanish by Mexican writers and available in English translation, and one written in English.

[dez]

Yet anarchists in Latin America study Che without hatred.

Che's political philosophy was heterodox as has been noted by many commentators. Conservative old-line Cuban Communists accused him of "Trotskyism", and, as noted in The Bolivian Diaries, Czech Communists called him the "new Bakunin."

Personally, based on his actions and written works, I'd say he was a left communist and a creative Marxist not bound by received orthodoxies.

But to return to the original question, so far there is no evidence that Che persecuted anarchists. Again, I'm going by the three comprehensive biographies, two written in Spanish by Mexican writers and available in English translation, and one written in English.

dont think he was a left communist, btw.

[Vendetta]

I read (I think) in his biography he debated with some anarchists on his travels round South America, but I don't think he actually went out of his way to persecute them.

[revolution inaction]

An article in one of their publications published on Libcom and in Resistance said that he persecuted Anarchists in Cuba after the Cuban Revolution. I can't find evidence for this anywhere else. Is it just sometihng made up, inaccurate or what? Where does this view come from?

you mean this artical http://libcom.org/history/guevara-ernesto-che-1928-1967 ?

It from Organise! published by the anarchist federation, I don't see any reason to think it is made up. We know the cuban anarchist movement was repressed by the state, and that che was involved with repressing the enemies of the cuban state, so it seems likely even without additional information that che was involved in the repression of cuban anarchist, at the vary least he must have been complicit.

[ComradeR]

It from Organise! published by the anarchist federation, I don't see any reason to think it is made up.
That seems like very dubious reasoning to me, "it came from our publication so it must be true!". Unless some creditable sources are shown I would be very suspicious of things like this. I haven't been able to turn anything up on it and it seems no one else here has ether. So far this is the only place I've seen this.

[danny bohy]

I saw an interview with someone who meet him before the cuban revolution. she said that he was more an anarchist than a socialist himself before the cuban revolution. i cant see him hating anarchists.

[Red Rebel]

I've seen on RevLeft before that there was a small anarchist uprising in 1959 in Oriente/Granma province in Cuba that opposed the M-26-7. Sadly not familar enough with RevLeft to remember where I saw it.

It wouldn't suprise me though; the Cuban Revolution stressed unity as well. Small bands of Trots and anarchists who actually fought against the M-26-7 in 1959 weren't dealt with nicely.

[h9socialist]

Che was described by his friends in Guatemala in 1954 as an "anarchist" when he got there -- and a Marxist when he left. I can see Che punishing those who fought against the revolution BECAUSE they fought against the revolution, not because they were anarchists. By late 1959, Che was far too immersed in his roles of international emissary of the Cuban revolution and economic planner to have time to run off purging anarchists.

[leninwasarightwingnutcase]

In The Cuban Revolution: a critical perspective Sam Dolgoff gives details of anarchists imprisoned for their views by the Castro regime. Not sure how much Che had to do with it. I don't have enough posts to post a link.

[The Feral Underclass]

He wasn't an anarchist in any way, shape or form.

[h9socialist]

That was a characterization by one of his friends in Guatemala, prior to the overthrow of Arbenz. They also downplayed his enthusiasm for politics in that period. To the extent that he was a bona fide true anarchist you're right --he never was. My point was that he was not so opposed to anarchism that he would support the persecution of anarchists.

[Pogue]

He wasn't an anarchist in any way, shape or form.

Thats not what we're talking about.

[The Feral Underclass]

Thats not what we're talking about.

Sorry, I was responding to this: "he was described by his friends in Guatemala in 1954 as an "anarchist""

[Pogue]

Sorry, I was responding to this: "he was described by his friends in Guatemala in 1954 as an "anarchist""

oh ok sorry