Disgusting Che Exploitation

[cormacobear]

'Che' trail paved with tourism promise


Sunday 11 June 2006, 7:55 Makka Time, 4:55 GMT

The spirit of capitalist enterprise is flourishing in the footsteps of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary who died in his unsuccessful attempt to bring communism to Bolivia.
Enterprising Bolivians think the time is ripe to expand tourism by increasing the trickle of international leftists who travel to Bolivia to pay homage to Che. He was shot in 1967, at the age of 39, and became a revolutionary icon.
"There are great conditions now to develop the (Che) business," said Karen Wachtel, who owns the Chaco Guarani Tours travel agency and played a key role in developing the "Che trail" which connects the landmarks of Guevara's guerrilla campaign.
"The left is gaining strength in Latin America and here in Bolivia, there is a much, much talk about Che Guevara."
Bolivia's leftist president, Evo Morales, hung a huge portrait of Che Guevara in the presidential palace after he took office in January and the revolutionary leader is often mentioned in speeches by members of the ruling Movement Towards Socialism.
But it is small entrepreneurs, not a socialist state, who are looking to profit from Che Guevara.
Leftwing pilgrimage
The way to do that, tourism operators say, is to offer tours that combine leftwing pilgrimage with adventurous eco-tourism - on foot, horseback or four-wheel-drive vehicle - through rugged mountain areas which have barely changed over the past 40 years.
One project, started with a $436,000 grant from the Bank for International Development, aims to turn haciendas (ranches) along the "Che trail" - which stretches 800km from Camiri in the South to Vallegrande in the North - into Che museums and way stations for travellers.
"This is a work in progress," said Alvaro de la Quintana, director of Haciendas del Chaco. "It includes recreating the central camp from where Che directed his campaign."
Not even the most optimistic entrepreneurs dream of anything resembling mass tourism, but they do see a glint of tourist gold in a remote region that has never attracted visitors in great numbers.
In Camiri, a town of cobble-stoned streets, Che-related sites yet to be developed include the cell where the French intellectual Regis Debray was held during his trial for having been part of Che's guerrilla group. The case attracted world-wide attention and drew scores of international correspondents to Camiri.
"We are trying to track down the papers and notebooks Debray had in his cell and restore it to how it looked in 1967," said Wachtel.
Another sight she wants to turn into a tourist attraction: The hotel room where Haydee Tamara Bunke, the flamboyant Cuban spy known as Tania the Guerrilla, stayed before her cover was blown and she became the only woman to fight alongside Guevara.
No admirers
Ironically, some of those involved in establishing a tourism infrastructure for Che nostalgia tours are no admirers of his revolutionary philosophy, an attitude they share with the Bolivian peasants he vainly tried to turn into anti-government guerrillas.
A week before his death, after his 50-odd Cuban and Bolivian fighters were surrounded by 1,800 army soldiers, Guevara complained in his diary: "The peasant population does not help us at all and are turning into informers."
Middle-class Bolivians were equally wary. "I grew up in Camiri," said Wachtel, "and I never forget the sight of the helicopters with bodies of young soldiers strapped to their skids flying over our house on their way to burial. We attended a wake practically every day."
Wachtel says she realised the potential of Guevara tourism after a she had a public spat over his Bolivian activities with Roberto Robaina, then-Cuban foreign minister, at a Latin American tourism conference in Havana in 1994.
"I disagreed with his version of history and afterwards people came up to me and talked about it, and I realised we could use Che for our benefit."
The Bolivian Che trail, officially inaugurated in 2004, has a serious Cuban rival, the Ruta Guerrillero, a 1,480km haul for hardcore fans. The route retraces the advance of Column 8, the rebel unit Guevara headed, from Bayamo in eastern Cuba to Havana.
No precise numbers
Neither Cubaism, the Cuban company that offers trips covering the route, nor the Bolivians involved in Guevara tourism have precise numbers of tourists or overall revenues.
Both are in competition for Che dollars with website thechestore.com, which says it has "the largest collection of Che Guevara merchandise found anywhere in the world".
Its offers "Che T-shirts, Che tank tops, Che club shirts, Che hoodies, Che headwear, Che military wear, Che collectibles, Che clearance, Che new titles, Che top sellers, Che books, Che DVDs/videos, Che music, Che posters."

Reuters

Aljazeera.net english

[Martyr]

Well at least he is doing something right

[theraven]

isn't it funny that even commies feed the capitlist system? anyway what do you think of all those che shirts and hats and toliet paper you (well i guess the toliet papers more for me...) come from? CAPITILISTS!

[emma_goldman]

I hate what they've done with Che. It's like the anarchy symbol being sold at Hot topic.... :(

[bezdomni]

Originally posted by [email protected] 14 2006, 03:57 PM
isn't it funny that even commies feed the capitlist system? anyway what do you think of all those che shirts and hats and toliet paper you (well i guess the toliet papers more for me...) come from? CAPITILISTS!
I think it was armchair socialism who had "The Printing Press - brought to you by feudalism" in his sig...but it might not have been.

Regardless, just because you use something that came from a certain economic, social or political timeperiod doesn't mean you agree with it. I'll bet you have tons of stuff that was made in China...does that mean you "support" China?

Ever played Tetris? Guess where that game was made!

Anyway, it's impossible to live in capitalist society and not "feed" the capitalist system, unless you move into the woods and mail bombs to people or something...which is innately counterrevolutionary.

Every time someone says something like "revolutionaryleft.com, brought to you by capitalism", I think of "The printing press, brought to you by feudalism".

The point I'm trying to make is... you're being stupid.

[RevSouth]

Originally posted by [email protected] 14 2006, 08:26 PM
Ever played Tetris? Guess where that game was made!
Tetris was invented by Alexey Pazhitnov, a Soviet citizen, in 1985.

Anyway, sadly, I am interested in this "Che Trail". I plan to spend some time in South America after I complete my college degree here in the states, and it seems like the sort of thing I would want to visit.

[theraven]

Originally posted by clownpenisanarchy+Jun 15 2006, 01:26 AM--> (clownpenisanarchy @ Jun 15 2006, 01:26 AM)
[email protected] 14 2006, 03:57 PM
isn't it funny that even commies feed the capitlist system? anyway what do you think of all those che shirts and hats and toliet paper you (well i guess the toliet papers more for me...) come from? CAPITILISTS!
I think it was armchair socialism who had "The Printing Press - brought to you by feudalism" in his sig...but it might not have been.

Regardless, just because you use something that came from a certain economic, social or political timeperiod doesn't mean you agree with it. I'll bet you have tons of stuff that was made in China...does that mean you "support" China?

Ever played Tetris? Guess where that game was made!

Anyway, it's impossible to live in capitalist society and not "feed" the capitalist system, unless you move into the woods and mail bombs to people or something...which is innately counterrevolutionary.

Every time someone says something like "revolutionaryleft.com, brought to you by capitalism", I think of "The printing press, brought to you by feudalism".

The point I'm trying to make is... you're being stupid. [/b]
my point was how your idoelgoical hero made some capolsit pig profit...

[ummProfessional]

well i just saw that there is a new Che movie with Benicio del Toro, he looks just like him by the way...so as you know more publicity and more income going to Hollywood and the actors and so on...ironically i wonder if half of the people who depict Che as this "wonderful" person actually know the truth behind him...i see Jay-Z with a Che shirt and Mike Tyson with a Che tatoo, it's halarious if they actually know that he was nothing more than a totalitarian killer, spreading revolutionary ideas which have caused countless deaths, that he helped create the shit hole of Cuba...its so funny, Che would shoot himself in the head if he knew there was money being made of his image lmao even more when it was being bought by ignorant teenagers who thought of him as an idol when they didn't really know what he stood for..

[overlord]

Che would shoot himself in the head if he knew there was money being made of his image lmao even more when it was being bought by ignorant teenagers who thought of him as an idol when they didn't really know what he stood for..

"NO! Please don't kill me! I'm worth more alive to you than dead!" -Che

[RaiseYourVoice]

Source?



@ topic
We all live in capitalism, there is no reason to not take advantage of it... i mean our goal is a better society, not self restriction. If the cappies want to sell us the guns, banner and whatever needed for the revolution i'd just say THANKS. capitalism is not something you are not allowed to touch... its there and wasting time asking yourself "was this produced by capitalist methods" or actually wasting 95% of your time trying to find something that is not, does not promote the revolution at all.

I think the problem is not about the companies and how they produce (hell how could they produce any other way this is capitalism, its intended this way)
The problem is more about the people who wear it, that because of this production it has become mainstream and people wear it just because it looks good, but have no idea what it represents. capitalism took over our symbols cuz they can't make up good ones themselves (apart from the 0.1 people/square km that wear dollar bill, bush etc. that you only find in the U.S.)

Tell me a good way of buying a tshirt without feuling the capitalist system and i will. (apart from mixing the colors, growing the sheep, spinning the wool with self made wool mashines from self cut trees bla bla etc. you see were i'm getting at)

Its all cappie products that we live on, no reason to not wear our symbols if they want to give them to us.

[ummProfessional]

"NO! Please don't kill me! I'm worth more alive to you than dead!" -Che lmao

fair enough, NOW PUT THIS NIKE SHIRT ON!! and GET YOUR ASS OUT IN THE STREETS!!

[Forward Union]

Originally posted by [email protected] 14 2006, 03:57 PM
isn't it funny that even commies feed the capitlist system? anyway what do you think of all those che shirts and hats and toliet paper you (well i guess the toliet papers more for me...) come from? CAPITILISTS!
Now this is a revelation!

[Miolnir]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2006, 11:29 AM

Che would shoot himself in the head if he knew there was money being made of his image lmao even more when it was being bought by ignorant teenagers who thought of him as an idol when they didn't really know what he stood for..

"NO! Please don't kill me! I'm worth more alive to you than dead!" -Che
Wait, I bet you don't have the slightest idea, why he told the Bolivian soldiers and U.S. Special Forces, not to shoot him. He was hoping, that if he had not been shot, he would have to be put on trial, which in turn would bring mass attention, from all over the world, to the cause, and people he was fighting for. Before posting something which you obviously don't seem to know too much about, you shouldn't say anything at all. ;)

[ummProfessional]

Wait, I bet you don't have the slightest idea, why he told the Bolivian soldiers and U.S. Special Forces, not to shoot him. He was hoping, that if he had not been shot, he would have to be put on trial, which in turn would bring mass attention, from all over the world, to the cause, and people he was fighting for. Before posting something which you obviously don't seem to know too much about, you shouldn't say anything at all

wow im in tears, that is the most heroic thing EVER!!! EVER I TELL YA!!! :lol:

[The Grey Blur]

Originally posted by theraven+Jun 15 2006, 03:15 AM--> (theraven @ Jun 15 2006, 03:15 AM)
Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2006, 01:26 AM

[email protected] 14 2006, 03:57 PM
isn't it funny that even commies feed the capitlist system? anyway what do you think of all those che shirts and hats and toliet paper you (well i guess the toliet papers more for me...) come from? CAPITILISTS!
I think it was armchair socialism who had "The Printing Press - brought to you by feudalism" in his sig...but it might not have been.

Regardless, just because you use something that came from a certain economic, social or political timeperiod doesn't mean you agree with it. I'll bet you have tons of stuff that was made in China...does that mean you "support" China?

Ever played Tetris? Guess where that game was made!

Anyway, it's impossible to live in capitalist society and not "feed" the capitalist system, unless you move into the woods and mail bombs to people or something...which is innately counterrevolutionary.

Every time someone says something like "revolutionaryleft.com, brought to you by capitalism", I think of "The printing press, brought to you by feudalism".

The point I'm trying to make is... you're being stupid.
my point was how your idoelgoical hero made some capolsit pig profit... [/b]
Pig-dog, pig-dog

[theraven]

Originally posted by Miolnir+Jun 15 2006, 09:13 PM--> (Miolnir @ Jun 15 2006, 09:13 PM)
[email protected] 15 2006, 11:29 AM

Che would shoot himself in the head if he knew there was money being made of his image lmao even more when it was being bought by ignorant teenagers who thought of him as an idol when they didn't really know what he stood for..

"NO! Please don't kill me! I'm worth more alive to you than dead!" -Che
Wait, I bet you don't have the slightest idea, why he told the Bolivian soldiers and U.S. Special Forces, not to shoot him. He was hoping, that if he had not been shot, he would have to be put on trial, which in turn would bring mass attention, from all over the world, to the cause, and people he was fighting for. Before posting something which you obviously don't seem to know too much about, you shouldn't say anything at all. ;) [/b]
no it was because he was a coward he didn't like the guns being pointed in his face for a change. you can make the excuses all you want, but it doesnt' cahnge the fact that he was a little boy playing rebel.

[ummProfessional]

no it was because he was a coward he didn't like the guns being pointed in his face for a change. you can make the excuses all you want, but it doesnt' cahnge the fact that he was a little boy playing rebel.

how dare you say that King Raven!!! he was a true fighter of freedom, hence why he took personal charge of prision camps and executions against the "enemies" of the REEEVOLUCION!!!! in CUBA!! :rolleyes:

[theraven]

Originally posted by [email protected] 16 2006, 01:01 AM

no it was because he was a coward he didn't like the guns being pointed in his face for a change. you can make the excuses all you want, but it doesnt' cahnge the fact that he was a little boy playing rebel.

how dare you say that King Raven!!! he was a true fighter of freedom, hence why he took personal charge of prision camps and executions against the "enemies" of the REEEVOLUCION!!!! in CUBA!! :rolleyes:
haha of course..ho0wever when he was cornered by grandfather (the origianl king raven the brave-its an inherited title) and some firends while they were out hunting he wasn't so brave. that whole bit about it being bolivians soliders was commie propaganda..it was really my grandfather edmund and some chaps from yale, and his black sheep cousion who ended up at princeton (don't get me started).....

[ummProfessional]

LMAO, hahaha as you wish, although you should tell me more about your grandpa, i always heard great stories of his commie hunting adventures...you should tell me about how he was the one who killed Trotsky...i know this one will piss off the commies here ;)

[theraven]

Originally posted by [email protected] 16 2006, 01:19 AM
LMAO, hahaha as you wish, although you should tell me more about your grandpa, i always heard great stories of his commie hunting adventures...you should tell me about how he was the one who killed Trotsky...i know this one will piss off the commies here ;)
I dunno the detials of the trotsky killing honestly....he always tried to start but could never stop laughing after "so we were out playing cricket one day..." though that itself gives you a good idea of how the story progresses...

(speaking of pisss did i tell you about the family tradition regarding ches grave?)

[Orange Juche]

Originally posted by [email protected] 14 2006, 11:57 AM
come from? CAPITILISTS!
CAPITALISTS.

If you're going to be an idiot, at least spell shit right.

[RaiseYourVoice]

i know this one will piss off the commies here
its just makes me wonder if there people like you out in real life.

for the quote... i didnt get a source yet did I? so i'm not going to discuss it... btw if the source is bolivian soldiers than I will doubt it right away^^. If you have a reliable source feel free to post it here, you cant see the intern of this forum i guess (or can you?) but sources are a basis of argument here :/

[theraven]

Originally posted by [email protected] 16 2006, 07:16 AM

i know this one will piss off the commies here
its just makes me wonder if there people like you out in real life.

for the quote... i didnt get a source yet did I? so i'm not going to discuss it... btw if the source is bolivian soldiers than I will doubt it right away^^. If you have a reliable source feel free to post it here, you cant see the intern of this forum i guess (or can you?) but sources are a basis of argument here :/
consideirng the last people to see him a live where bolivian soliders i beleive there just about the only people it could be....

[overlord]

I think its excellent capitalism has taken over che's image. A just and fitting eternal punishment for the man that wore a rolex given to him by Castro. :lol:

[RaiseYourVoice]

consideirng the last people to see him a live where bolivian soliders i beleive there just about the only people it could be....

K. so its about as reliable as if i shot you and would say your last words were: "I always admired you commies to this day"
thanks you proved my point...


@eternal punishment? che is dead he doesnt give a fuck.

[BobKKKindle$]

I am suprised that noone has brought this up yet - But there is no evidence that Che ever said that at all. If Somone is willing to give up an administrative and economic post in Havana to go and fight for the revolution is Congo and Bolivia - miles from their nearest and dearest - who are you to call that person a coward? When you have been forced to sleep in the rain and mud as a guerilla fighter, then maybe you would have the right to criticize. And no, Ummprofressional and Posse, you have not done that, and starting up a private enterprise is not an act of comparable bravery.

I believe the popuarly accepted quote is "Go on, kill me, You are only going to kill a man." I know, that quote may not be true. But the one you suggest is frankly pathetic. On your part, understand.

@ Dude Who wants to to South America

lol, thats cool, but it might be nice not to purchase any goods from MNCs or take part in any official tourist tours. Sticking to the Indigenous people would be ace.

[theraven]

Originally posted by [email protected] 16 2006, 11:50 AM

consideirng the last people to see him a live where bolivian soliders i beleive there just about the only people it could be....

K. so its about as reliable as if i shot you and would say your last words were: "I always admired you commies to this day"
thanks you proved my point...


@eternal punishment? che is dead he doesnt give a fuck.
sure, but it seems likely. just becuase someone endurs hardships does not mean they like the idea of being killed. and bob kindle your quote is far more basless then mine and comes from the commie fired roumurs the solidrs ahd troubel kiling him

[overlord]

sure, but it seems likely. just becuase someone endurs hardships does not mean they like the idea of being killed. and bob kindle your quote is far more basless then mine and comes from the commie fired roumurs the solidrs ahd troubel kiling him

That's right. They ripped the story of the death of King Pyrrhus of Epyrus and plastered it onto Che. Allegedly he gave them such a booga booga stare of death that they could'nt shoot him. I notice there is no communist history stating that Che had any trouble shooting anyone.