World

Che remembered 40 years after death

by urbano411 | October 6, 2007 at 06:31 am

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The omni present figure of the romantic revolution reminds us of how different the world could have been, if only the revolution had succeeded. No rich class, no musicians, no religion, no homosexuality, no individuality. What a grand world this could have been! Instead we can only worship the image of a man who ordered the death of his enemies without petty compassion. Among the stories of his great revolutionary focus, is the one in which the teenage son of a man murdered by Che confronts his fathers murderer and is summarily shot in the back of the head by Che personally. Obviously, Che believed in keeping families together. Revolutions are no longer romantic and murder is no longer as compassionate. But at least we have this great image to remind us of how pitiful we all are living with hope. 24 hours before his own execution Che said to his capture, "I am Che Guevara, I'm worth more to you alive then dead", fortunately his executioner knew better, that he would truly be worth more dead. Obviously, Che was not a good PR man. Feliz Cumpleaño Che!

Fidel Castro insists Ernesto "Che" Guevara could never have been taken prisoner 40 years ago if his gun hadn't malfunctioned. But the retired Bolivian general who led the mission to capture him says the Argentine revolutionary was hardly a heroic figure in his final moments.

The man that Gen. Gary Prado remembers - sad, sick, hungry, dressed in rags and alone in the jungle - simply dropped his gun and surrendered, saying, "Don't shoot, I'm Che."

"He wasn't the figure of the heroic guerrilla," Prado recalled in an interview with The Associated Press Thursday night.

Decades after he gave up a comfortable middle class life in Argentina to foment armed rebellion, Guevara still inspires and infuriates people around the world.

He is an icon for fans who have made his death scene a tourist trap. His face is instantly recognizable, a one-dimensional image on posters and T-shirts that either celebrate or mock his revolutionary ideals.