mzalendo
6th March 2006, 06:44
Here's what some of the crictics say;
>opposers of Guevara including Cuban exiles think of Che as a killer and terrorist
>as quoted in an article by Alvaro Vargas Llosa.For example, in his "Message to the Tricontinental" he writes of "hatred as an element of struggle; unbending hatred for the enemy, which pushes a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him into an effective, violent, selective, and cold-blooded killing machine"
>New York Sun writer, Williams Myers, labels Che as a "sociopathic thug".
>Other US newspaper critics have made similar remarks. They point out that Che Guevara was responsible for the torture and execution of hundreds of people in Cuban prisons, and the murder of many more peasants in the regions controlled or visited by his guerrilla forces
>critic Alvaro Vargas Llosa states "His greatest military achievement in the fight against Batista—taking the city of Santa Clara after ambushing a train with heavy reinforcements—is seriously disputed. Numerous testimonies indicate that the commander of the train surrendered in advance, perhaps after taking bribes
>They believe that Che murdered individuals on dubious grounds and took their property, seized private manors for himself, and distributed property among communist bureaucrats rather than the peasants.
>these critics believe that Che was a major failure at managing the Cuban economy as he "oversaw the near-collapse of sugar production, the failure of industrialization, and the introduction of rationing—all this in what had been one of Latin America’s four most economically successful countries since before the Batista dictatorship
>In addition, some critics believe that because there is no physical evidence of Che earning a medical degree that he was not actually a doctor
>Although much criticism of Guevara and his legacy emanates from the political center and right, there has also been criticism from other political groups such as Anarchists and Civil libertarians, some of whom considered Guevara an authoritarian anti-working class Stalinist, whose goal was the creation of a more bureaucratic state-Stalinist regime
But I tend to digress based on the following facts:
>It was after his tour around his native argentina that he first began to take notice of the poverty of others.
>.even after training as a doctor he chose to forgo the luxuries that came with his career "Guevara got money by writing archaeological articles every now and then but basically he was in rags. This is essentially where he decided how he wanted to live his life and how he was going to overthrow governments. He also developed his disdain for the United States government because he saw them trying to stop socialism (the group that overthrew Arbenz was led by the CIA). "
>but even his most vocal critics attest to the fact that Che Guevara is one of the greatest revolutionaries and greatest Latin Americans to ever live
>soon after the cuban revolution was accomplished he introduced the agrarian reforms program:Che's agrarian program was simple. It was the Zapatista line of "Land for those who work it." This seemed simple to him and was justified by the reality of the countryside, where those who worked the land had nothing and it caused all sorts of problems
>Che leading the Rebel Army, felt that the Rebel Army should be the guarenteeors of the agrarian reform, since the army was made of those who were peasants and those peasants were fighting not only for the Revolution, but indeed that they were fighting for a better way for the peasants of Cuba.
> Che also instituted a principle known as Voluntary labor, which consisted of men doing work for free during a day. It was the beginning of Che's philosophy of "a new man", where people worked for the benefit of society and from that an individual received his reward. This "moral" incentive (as opposed to a material one, where the worker receives a monetary incentive or a house or something for working hard) was far more important to Che's "New" man because it involved improving the lives of the many over the life of the individual.
> all were equal in his eyes In March, rationing was declared for milk, meat, shoes and toothpaste (Taibo, 322). Che insisted that even ministers of the government obey the ration.
>its inconceivable that anybody after fighting his way into the "ideal" life would abandon all he had for a life in the middle of uncertainty He resigned all his offices and renounced his citizenship of Cuba and gave away all his property. Guerilla was the vocation he decided he would return to and this is the vocation he had when he died.
.> But no matter what, one fact remains that no capitalistic critic of Che Guevara or the Cuban revolution will ever be able to erase. The people of Cuba enjoyed a better life after the revolution than before it. Illiteracy was wiped out. Unemployment was eliminated. Cuba became somewhat of an industrial power
i rest my case
>opposers of Guevara including Cuban exiles think of Che as a killer and terrorist
>as quoted in an article by Alvaro Vargas Llosa.For example, in his "Message to the Tricontinental" he writes of "hatred as an element of struggle; unbending hatred for the enemy, which pushes a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him into an effective, violent, selective, and cold-blooded killing machine"
>New York Sun writer, Williams Myers, labels Che as a "sociopathic thug".
>Other US newspaper critics have made similar remarks. They point out that Che Guevara was responsible for the torture and execution of hundreds of people in Cuban prisons, and the murder of many more peasants in the regions controlled or visited by his guerrilla forces
>critic Alvaro Vargas Llosa states "His greatest military achievement in the fight against Batista—taking the city of Santa Clara after ambushing a train with heavy reinforcements—is seriously disputed. Numerous testimonies indicate that the commander of the train surrendered in advance, perhaps after taking bribes
>They believe that Che murdered individuals on dubious grounds and took their property, seized private manors for himself, and distributed property among communist bureaucrats rather than the peasants.
>these critics believe that Che was a major failure at managing the Cuban economy as he "oversaw the near-collapse of sugar production, the failure of industrialization, and the introduction of rationing—all this in what had been one of Latin America’s four most economically successful countries since before the Batista dictatorship
>In addition, some critics believe that because there is no physical evidence of Che earning a medical degree that he was not actually a doctor
>Although much criticism of Guevara and his legacy emanates from the political center and right, there has also been criticism from other political groups such as Anarchists and Civil libertarians, some of whom considered Guevara an authoritarian anti-working class Stalinist, whose goal was the creation of a more bureaucratic state-Stalinist regime
But I tend to digress based on the following facts:
>It was after his tour around his native argentina that he first began to take notice of the poverty of others.
>.even after training as a doctor he chose to forgo the luxuries that came with his career "Guevara got money by writing archaeological articles every now and then but basically he was in rags. This is essentially where he decided how he wanted to live his life and how he was going to overthrow governments. He also developed his disdain for the United States government because he saw them trying to stop socialism (the group that overthrew Arbenz was led by the CIA). "
>but even his most vocal critics attest to the fact that Che Guevara is one of the greatest revolutionaries and greatest Latin Americans to ever live
>soon after the cuban revolution was accomplished he introduced the agrarian reforms program:Che's agrarian program was simple. It was the Zapatista line of "Land for those who work it." This seemed simple to him and was justified by the reality of the countryside, where those who worked the land had nothing and it caused all sorts of problems
>Che leading the Rebel Army, felt that the Rebel Army should be the guarenteeors of the agrarian reform, since the army was made of those who were peasants and those peasants were fighting not only for the Revolution, but indeed that they were fighting for a better way for the peasants of Cuba.
> Che also instituted a principle known as Voluntary labor, which consisted of men doing work for free during a day. It was the beginning of Che's philosophy of "a new man", where people worked for the benefit of society and from that an individual received his reward. This "moral" incentive (as opposed to a material one, where the worker receives a monetary incentive or a house or something for working hard) was far more important to Che's "New" man because it involved improving the lives of the many over the life of the individual.
> all were equal in his eyes In March, rationing was declared for milk, meat, shoes and toothpaste (Taibo, 322). Che insisted that even ministers of the government obey the ration.
>its inconceivable that anybody after fighting his way into the "ideal" life would abandon all he had for a life in the middle of uncertainty He resigned all his offices and renounced his citizenship of Cuba and gave away all his property. Guerilla was the vocation he decided he would return to and this is the vocation he had when he died.
.> But no matter what, one fact remains that no capitalistic critic of Che Guevara or the Cuban revolution will ever be able to erase. The people of Cuba enjoyed a better life after the revolution than before it. Illiteracy was wiped out. Unemployment was eliminated. Cuba became somewhat of an industrial power
i rest my case