Che_Guevara_Hero_or_Villain

Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara Source Analysis Primary Sources (1) Che Guevara, speech (21st August, 1960) This source gives an overview of Ernesto Guevara’s life from his point of view. He tells the audience of his past as a doctor travelling the Americas. Guevara talks about how he saw suffering as a result of hunger and poverty and of his time in Guatemala where he saw a revolution take place but did not take place in it. He reflects on this later saying that you can be a revolutionary but nothing will happen without a revolution where people band together to change something. Throughout the speech Guevara talks about how we are all products of our environment. This links into the reasons why he wants to have a revolution, to improve the lives of people by surrounding them in the correct environments. This source gives us an insight into why Che Guevara wanted to start a revolution and the reasons he had for his decision to change Cuba. (2) Che Guevara, speech (17th October, 1959) Che Guevara’s speech outlines what he considers important for the revolutionary world. He slanders the current university system by saying that they are producing lawyers and doctors for the ‘old social system’ but should be focusing on more important things for a developing country such as agriculture and education not finance or law. Guevara then goes on to say that the university is not outside of the people’s control and should not be seen as something larger than the revolution. This source shows how passionate Che Guevara was about the improvement of education in Cuba and how he thought that anything was possible with the power of the people behind him. (3) Che Guevara, Tactics and Strategy of the Latin American Revolution (October, 1962) This source shows Che Guevara’s attitude towards power and the ties that power has with other social aspects and geographical aspects. He talks about how power is the result of revolution and how Cuba’s global position plays a major part in the way that it can act as an example of communism right next to capitalism and can influence neighbouring Latin American countries. This source talks about Guevara’s ideas and policies when it comes to the idea of power and whether it is possible or not to gain power without force. Guevara comes to the conclusion that it is not and through this decision we can see what Che Guevara is really like in terms of his military mindset. Secondary Sources (4) 'Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life' - by Jon Lee Anderson 'Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life' by Jon Lee Anderson is an extensively researched biography of Ernesto Guevara’s life. It follows the story of his life from his upbringing in Argentina to the battle fields of Cuba to his assassination in Bolivia. The book paints Guevara as a hero who improved the education standards in Cuba, renounced the KKK and apartheid in South Africa and got rid of the Cuban mafia. This source helps the reader to see the positive side of Che Guevara’s life. It helps gather evidence to support the hero side to the argument of whether he is a hero or a villain. (5) The History of Ernesto Che Guevara - A Short Story – YouTube clip This source is a short YouTube covering the basic story of Che Guevara. The video outlines what Che was like and what he thought of individualism. The video talks about many of the negatives of Che Guevara’s life, focusing on the execution that Che put in place for war criminals and spies. Che’s opinion on the rebellious youth is also talked about. Che put the troubled youth in camps and said that “You should learn to think as a mass.” This source is helpful because it outlines the negatives of Che’s life which is useful because it offers alternative views and reflects his nature more accurately. Evaluate Whether Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara is a Hero or a Villain A man. A revolutionary. A hero. What defines a hero' Is it the way they stand out against what’s wrong when the world blindly follows' Is it their ability to soldier on when others have fallen' Is it their philosophy' Or the fact that they are willing to die for their cause' Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna, commonly known as Che Guevara, was one of the leaders of the Cuban Revolution in the 1960’s. Che Guevara died fighting for the revolution, for the ordinary people being oppressed and disadvantaged by the government. In the 1960’s Che Guevara was one of the revolutionaries in Cuba, with Fidel Castro and other leaders. Che travelled all over Cuba preaching his ideals about warfare and equality by socialism. Guevara wanted equality for everyone in Cuba and believed that the power of many hands would help Cuba and its social problems. Che Guevara saw Cuba in the same position as Russia, where some people had social standing and power that others did not and sought to change this by renouncing his citizenship and his rank and travelled South America to preach his message of revolution until he reached Bolivia where he died for his cause in a guerrilla campaign. Through his death however his image has emerged and his legacy still lives on as an icon of the revolution in the 20th and 21st century. Throughout Che’s life he has proven himself as a hero by not only fighting for an improved social system but an improved educational system to match. Che did not only start the revolution in Cuba, he led it. Che lead guerrilla raids against the capitalist society of America against impossible odds. Che’s revolution demolished segregation. This began the trend that Nelson Mandela and even the USA followed by making all social classes equal. Throughout his life, overcoming many obstacles, Che Guevara’s actions define him as a hero. Che Guevara was instrumental in the improvement of the education system in Cuba. “The walls of the educational system must come down. Education should not be a privilege, so the children of those who have money can study.” ( Ernesto Guevara) Guevara was the reason that the literacy rate improved. He introduced new schools all over Cuba that did not follow the social conventions. Guevara talked about how education should be for everyone and not just those who could afford it. He improved the literacy rate from 60 to 90% in only a few years. Che himself was an educated man and an intelligent man. When he travelled throughout South America he saw that the university systems were producing lawyers and financial advisers when they should be creating jobs in education and agriculture. Che renounced this practice because it was much more useful for the country to improve the basic levels of society in the forms of agriculture and producing enough food to feed the country and education to improve the standard of living so that the country could improve from the bottom up. The most famous of Che Guevara’s ideologies is that we are all products of our environment. This phrase was coined by him during his speech to the masses in Cuba in 1960. This was the main reason Che was so passionate about improving Cuba’s educational system. Che believed that in order to improve the lives of the people you had to improve the environment around them. This meant that their education had to be improved and the government’s outlook on segregation and education for the poor had to be changed. Guevara’s actions have improved the lives of the general population and brought the education where one only existed for the upper class to the whole country. This selfless act is the reason why many Cubans have been able to improve their quality of life and regard Che Guevara as their hero. The revolution of Cuba called for men to take up arms against the corrupt, capitalist government which led Cuba and fight for equal rights that the radical world of the 1960’s was desperately calling for. “We cannot be sure of having something to live for unless we are willing to die for it.”( Ernesto Guevara) Che Guevara and Fidel Castro were the ones that brought the fight to Cuba. Not only did they start the revolution and kindle the flame that passion fueled but they led the charge against a corrupt government by banding together a number of teams which were involved in Guerilla warfare. Che’s words show the true spirit behind the revolution. Many people lost their lives in the fight for rights but they were willing to die for the cause. The improvement of the lives of the Cuban population was the ultimate prize and the revolutionary were willing to sacrifice themselves for this noble cause. Che himself was involved in the guerilla warfare aspect of the revolution. He published many books explaining how he saw power as the end goal of any military operation and how power involved many factors like inspiration, social standing and geographical position. These examples of power lead to the inspiration of others and the ideas of revolution spread. This was the goal of Guevara’s military campaigns. Che travelled to Bolivia to continue the fight against corrupt government but during a guerilla raid was captured and executed in an abandoned school at age 39. Guevara’s death proves the lengths he was willing to go to for his country. After his death his voice lived on in the revolution. The iconic image of Che Guevara can be seen all over the world as a symbol of rebellion of society. Through his legacy and reputation he is still, today, regarded as a hero. The most profound impact Guevara achieved was the removal of segregation in Cuba. “Che’s life is an inspiration for every human being who loves freedom, we will always honor his memory." ( Nelson Mandela) When placed in power the first thing that Che Guevara and his team of revolutionaries did was abolish segregation. The new government passed several laws that broke down the walls between those in power and the general population. Rent was cut by up to 50%, phone bills were lowered, new schools were opened in Cuba, land was redistributed amongst the poor and separate facilities between blacks and whites, such as swimming pools and beaches, were abolished. Guevara also denounced racism and the KKK in America as well as apartheid in South Africa nearly 30 years before the west did. These actions began a chain reaction leading the world slowly away from racism into an equal society. Guevara was regarded as a hero in Africa and an activist with good intentions. Social equality was the main goal for the revolution. Equality meant that fairness would finally influence Cuba and spread through Latin America and it did. The world shortly followed Cuba’s example of equality, making Che Guevara’s image spread throughout the globe as a hero. Che Guevara was the most iconic leader in the Cuban revolution. He introduced equality to the whole country and raised education standards to fit the new way of life and introduced education even to those who could not afford it. Guevara led the charge against a corrupt government and scarified his life for the revolution showing his commitment to the cause of bringing equality to the world. Today images of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara are everywhere. His iconic image is a representation of the spirit of revolution and his status as a hero.