Che in Congo

[bubbrubb]

Im not quite to the part where he leaves Cuba and goes tot he Congo and i was wondering what exactly happened? Did his fightters do well? Did the revolution fail because of the Congolese. id like to hear wut you all think and what anderson says

[toastedmonkey]

So far Andersons interpretation is the only ive read, i would appear that there wasnt much che could do and that the parties involved werent prepared to risk all for the liberation of their country.

[bluerev002]

the whole thing was a dissaster

1) he coldnt speak the language and they didnt take him seriously.

2) the congolese didnt want to fight


There wasnt much fighting done and in the end Che just gave up and relunctantly went back to Cuba before going off to Bolivia.

[DEPAVER]

has any1 read the congo diaries im just starting it now

[Thunk]

Ive read the congo diaries (well except like the last few pages which I really need to get around to reading).

Basically because there was no real polarisation between the Proletariat, and the bourgeoisie, as the country was not really in anyway a developed industrial nation, there wasnt enough motivation to support a revolution. :angry:

[Inti]

Im just about finishing reading a book about Che, written by Pacho ODonnell..

There he writes that the Congolese were suspicious because the war was against the white and there he was Che, a white foreigner.. Also its said that the Congolese used some kind of priests that used some kind of magical potion on their soldiers so they would become invulnerable. Also many of them didnt have weapons training, or in combat they closed their eyes shooting way high over their targets, many also fled before the first bullet was shot. These are some of the explanations in the book. Che was also disgusted about the rebel leaders didnt really want to fight, they just wanted to get money and travels from whoever that wanted to give them. Che didnt want Fidel to send money, just well trained men. They had lots of weapons already.. I will have to re read the chapters to go deeper on it, but I seriously recommend the book written by Pacho O Donnell... I dont know if it has been translated to english yet though. It was released 2003 if Im not mistaken!

[Knowledge 6 6 6]

yeah read 'The African Dream' by Che Guevara.

They've gotta picture in there of Che after being executed, with his eyes still open...freaky to say the least.

i just started it as well.

[dannie]

there where many reasons:

-there where no real structures in the liberation army, just a bunch of little groups
-kabila and his following doggies where too lazy to go in the field themselves, they preffered sitting in hotels smoking and drinking
-the soldiers didn't have proper training, the cubans often tried to get them off their asses but they just wouldn't cooperate
-indeed, before evey fight, the congolese soldiers would go to the medicineman to get a -i believe it was called- wada, this would make them invulnerable, tough, if they had sex, or had an argument with somebody, there wehre a couple of reasons, it would fail, often mistakes where blamed on the wada
-every group wanted as much ammunition as possible, tough, they would not take weapons or ammo from the enemy, and if someone fled, they where too lazy to go and take the gun.
-they didn't want to dig them in, cause that would mean they where going to die in their tradition
-they didn't carry their wounded home because the only time a person is ccarried is when he is dead

these are some of the flaws of the congolese
xcuse my spelling and grammar

[SittingBull47]

The Congolese just had no desire for a revolution. In the meantime, the foreigners were busting their asses to help them.

[Stupid Cappie Bears]

I think it just boils down to the lack of organistion within the revolutionary forces. And the fact that the Congolese and the Rwandans wouldnt co-operate with Che and the other Cubans due to their lack of passion for the revolution.

[Neelie The Great]

Thoes facts should be in the Congo Diaries