Che_Guevara_Movie

In the movie “Che,” to begin with Che Guevara himself was firstly interviewed by Lisa Howard who asks him if reform throughout Latin America might not blunt the “message of the Cuban Revolution.” The first part of the movie focuses on the Cuban revolution. To discuss the main reason why he did what he did, we have to look at his experience in Guatemala. In 1954, he witnessed the socialist government of president Jacobo Abenz overthrown by an American backed military coup. It was the real aggression of the State Department of the US which angered him the most because the Guatemala people had not reached the same degree of maturity and intelligence that the Cuban people had. From that day he wanted to become a revolutionary doctor however to be revolutionary at all, there had to be a revolution. He wanted the whole population of Guatemala to mobilize and learn how to use arms and fight together. He had a meeting with Fidel Castro to discuss plans to sign on as a member of the July 26th Movement which was lead by Castro himself. It was a revolutionary organization that, in 1959, overthrew the Fulgencio Batista government in Cuba. Guevara intended to join this movement in order to bring across his idea of communism and to fight against the capitalist and imperialist idea that Batista moved on. During the film, it returns to 1964 for Guevara’s address before the United Nations General Assembly, where he makes a speech against American imperialism and defends the executions his regime has committed. He claimed that the war was “a battle to the death.” He wanted to make sure that he was able to get his point across to everyone that Cuba was one of the main agricultural producers sugar cane and cattle in pastures which at the same time, served as reserve areas for the sugar plantation owners. This raised the issue of unemployment in Cuba which became a constant feature of life in rural areas resulting in the migration of agricultural workers to the cities. However, their industry did not develop either, only some public service undertakings under American control. Guevara was displeased with the outcome of his speech and so went on to deal with his ideologies in a more forceful way. Later on in the film, Guevara deals with difficult sessions of asthma as his group of revolutionaries meet up with Castro’s group and together, they attack an army barracks in the Sierra Maestra on May 27th, 1957. The Sierra Maestra is a mountain range that runs westward across the south o the old Oriente Province from what is now Guantanamo Province, to Niquero in southeast Cuba. There is a long history of Guerrilla warfare here run by Che Guevara himself. On October 15, 1958, the guerrillas approach the town of Las Villas. Here is where the Battle of Santa Clara began. It was depicted in the film with Guevara demonstrating his tactical skill as the guerrillas engage in street-to-street fighting and derail a train carrying Cuban soldiers and armaments. The battle was eventually a decisive victory for the rebels fighting against the regime of General Fulgencio Batista. Within 12 hours of the city’s capture Batista fled Cuba and Fidel Castro’s forces claimed overall victory. Near the end of the first part of the film, the Cuban Revoltion ends and Guevera heads to Havana with his head held high in victory from his win against Imperialism and Capitalism. The second part of the film focuses on the rise of Guerrilla warfare. It begins with Guevara arriving in Bolivia disguised as a middle-aged representative of the Organisation of American States coming from Uraguay, who subsequently drives into the mountain to meet his men. Coming in disguise would assure that he would not be seen by anyone around him because at this time, Guevara’s reputation was very well known and he was one of the most recognisable men in the world at the time. The film was organized by the days that he was in the country. On Day 26, there was solidarity among Guevara’s men despite his status as foreigner. By day 67, Guevara was set up for betrayal. He tries to recruit some peasants to join the Guerrillas with him only to be mistaken for a Cocaine smuggler. On day 100, there was a shortage of food and Guevara exercises disciplinary action. He does this to try and resolve his conflicts between his Cuban and Bolivian followers. The film continues to outline the route that the Guerrilla’s took in order to get Guevara’s ideas across. His ideology promoted exporting revolution into any country who’s leader was supported by the United States an has had its citizens go against him.