Karl Marx's Camel
22nd January 2005, 23:56
Guevara fought and died at a time he was 39 years old.
But in his book Guerilla Warfare, written in 1961, he writes:
"All these considerations bring us to ask: what is the ideal age for the guerrilla fighter? These limits are al-ways very difficult to state precisely, because individual and social peculiarities change the figure. A peasant, for example, will be much more resistant than a man from the city. A city dweller who is accustomed to physical exercise and a healthy life will be much more efficient than a man who has lived all his life be-hind a desk. But generally the maximum age of combatants in the completely nomadic stage of the guerrilla struggle ought not to exceed forty years, although there will be exceptional cases, above all among the peasants. One of the heroes of our struggle, Commandant Crescencio Perez, entered the Sierra at 65 years of age and was immediately one of the most useful men in the troop."
The stage of the guerilla movement in Bolivia was at a low point. The guerilla units lived a completely nomadic life. Would Che see himself as an "exceptional case" when it came to physical, mental and moral capability?
But in his book Guerilla Warfare, written in 1961, he writes:
"All these considerations bring us to ask: what is the ideal age for the guerrilla fighter? These limits are al-ways very difficult to state precisely, because individual and social peculiarities change the figure. A peasant, for example, will be much more resistant than a man from the city. A city dweller who is accustomed to physical exercise and a healthy life will be much more efficient than a man who has lived all his life be-hind a desk. But generally the maximum age of combatants in the completely nomadic stage of the guerrilla struggle ought not to exceed forty years, although there will be exceptional cases, above all among the peasants. One of the heroes of our struggle, Commandant Crescencio Perez, entered the Sierra at 65 years of age and was immediately one of the most useful men in the troop."
The stage of the guerilla movement in Bolivia was at a low point. The guerilla units lived a completely nomadic life. Would Che see himself as an "exceptional case" when it came to physical, mental and moral capability?