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<h1 id="reader-title">What did Che Guevara Fight For?</h1>
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<article id="post-14795" class="post-14795 post
type-post status-publish format-standard hentry
category-analysis category-argentina category-cuba
tag-aleida-guevara tag-che-guevara
tag-cuban-revolution tag-revolutionary-struggle
tag-revolutionary-thought tag-santiago-maldonado
tag-youth">
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<p><b><i>Che Guevara’s daughter reminds us of
the reasons behind his revolutionary
struggle</i></b></p>
<p><span>By: Aleida Guevara March / The Dawn
News / September 26, 2017</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_14796"
class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a
href="http://www.thedawn-news.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Ernesto-Guevara-de-la-Serna-Che-Guevara-Argentina-Cuba-Headline-News.jpg"><img
class="size-full wp-image-14796"
src="http://www.thedawn-news.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Ernesto-Guevara-de-la-Serna-Che-Guevara-Argentina-Cuba-Headline-News.jpg"
alt="" height="500" width="1000"></a><figcaption
class="wp-caption-text">Photo credit:
Politico Scope</figcaption></figure>
<p><span>In order to speak about the Che
Guevara we need time and space, but in
order to explain his existence in our
times we just need to look around us. If
we ask what he was fighting for, the
immediate answer is: for a better world.
But what does this mean? Decent houses for
everyone, free and high-quality education
in equal conditions, accessible healthcare
for all of the population, peace that
would enable us to destine the available
resources to research how to have better
life. But, what do we really have?</span></p>
<p><span>To Che Guevara, youth is the clay
with which we can model the New Man. But,
what are we actually doing to youth? What
kind of life are we offering them? What
example are we setting for them? Who can
inspire them to perfect their conduct?
These are many questions and there are
practically no answers—at least not the
answers that youth need.</span></p>
<p><span>He said: “How long will we continue
to have this order that is based on an
absurd sense of caste—that is a question I
can’t answer, but it is time for our
rulers to dedicate less time to
propagandizing their virtues as a regime
and destine more money—much, much more
money—to fund works for the benefit of
society”.</span></p>
<p><span>What do you think about that? We
could say the same thing to many rulers
who do a bad job at governing many of our
peoples, to begin with.</span></p>
<p><span>“… but those people who tackle things
head on, who lead by example—to follow or
to get others to follow you is a difficult
task at times, but it is enormously easier
than to push other to get them walking…”</span></p>
<p><span>Where do we want to go? What do we
need? If we don’t fight for what we need,
who will do it for us? It is undeniable
that we have strength and courage, but we
need unity, we need to organize that
strength in order to conquer what we need
to modify what doesn’t work, at least for
the majority of the people.</span></p>
<p><span>“… to be quintessentially human, to
be so human that we approach the best
qualities of humanity, to purify what’s
best in mankind through work, study, the
exercise of continuous solidarity with the
people and with all the peoples in the
world…”</span></p>
<p><span>“… to develop sensibility to the
maximum, to the point that we feel
distressed when a man is killed in any
corner of the world, and to feel
enthusiasm when in any corner of the world
a new flag of freedom is risen”.</span></p>
<p><span>That’s what we want for our youth,
and it is very important to keep it in
mind it now that we’re raising our voices
to claim for the life of a young man like
Santiago Maldonado, who recently
disappeared in Argentina for being on the
side of the Mapuche people and defending
their rights. What message are they trying
to send with the forced disapparition of
this young man? Fear, that’s what they
want us to feel in order to paralyze us,
to silence us.</span></p>
<p><span>I remember the first time I was in
Brazil. Imagine this young woman arriving
in Sao Paulo and being told to not roll
down the window of the car she’s
travelling in, who feels fear for her
driver whenever the car has to make a stop
at a corner, which is when they assault
you, who sees the eyes of a child high on
drugs asking for something to eat—my
reaction was immediate and I repeat what I
said back then: it is better to die trying
to change that reality than to avoid dying
of hunger. But then I remembered that I
come from a different culture, a different
people, where the life of a human being,
and especially of a child, is sacred, it
is the most important thing. I thought I
was reacting like this because I am Cuban,
and I was raised by the socialist
Revolution that we have, but I was wrong.
Later on in my journey I met Mrs. Rosa, in
Rio Grande do Sul. She’s a member of the
Landless People’s Movement of Brazil. This
humble peasant not only said what I was
thinking, but she died defending a piece
of land with which to feed her children.
Mrs. Rosa proved to me that we indeed can
and must fight for that better world, no
matter where we come from, or which
culture we carry with us—what matters and
what prevails is the need to live.</span></p>
<p><span>“Let me tell you, at the risk of
sounding ridiculous, that the true
revolutionary is guided by great feelings
of love. It is impossible to think of a
true revolutionary without this virtue” .</span></p>
<p><span>A virtue that is indispensable to be
able to give our best for a just cause,
even risking our lives. I truly believe in
this and I have seen it in the dedication
of many men and women, luckily, in many
parts of the world.</span></p>
<p><span>“And we, the exploited of the world,
what role do we play? The peoples of three
continents are watching and learning their
lesson from Vietnam. Because, with the
threat of war, imperialists blackmail the
entire humanity: not fearing war is the
right answer”.</span></p>
<p><span>“Under the slogan ‘We Won’t Allow
Another Cuba’ there’s a hidden possibility
of widespread aggressions, such as the one
perpetrated against Dominican Republic or,
previously, the Panama massacre, and the
clear sign that yankee troops are willing
to intervene anywhere in Latin America
where the established order is altered and
their interests are threatened”. </span></p>
<p><span>“This policy has almost absolute
impunity: the OAS is a comfortable mask,
however discredited; the UN has a degree
of incompetence that borders ridicule or
tragedy; the armies of every country in
Latin America are ready to intervene to
crush their peoples. The internationale of
crime and betrayal has been formed </span><i><span>de
facto</span></i><span>”. </span></p>
<p><span>Luckily for us, it is not like that
anymore for all the peoples, but
unfortunately in many the army is still a
tool to crush the just claims of our
people and one wonders where these men
come from, who attack their own people.
We’ve seen pictures of these uniformed men
repressing demonstrations, attacking
youth, women and even children without
vacillation, and what do the Magna Cartas
say about this? Because I know for a fact
that many of them state that the army
exists to defend the people and what
happens in fact is exactly the
opposite—so, whose side is violating the
law?</span></p>
<p><span>When reading the Che’s words today,
50 years after his death, many things
still resonate with what we see day to
day, the relevance of his thoughts is
strong and we should turn to him for
answers more often.</span></p>
<p><span>There’s plenty to do, and the road is
long and difficult, but we can and we must
change many things to achieve the full
dignity that human beings require in order
to live. I always remember something that
an Argentine mother had written on the
tombstone of her daughter when she found
her remains: “if I die, don’t cry for me;
do what I did and in you I’ll live”. That
is exactly what we owe to the men and
women who have given their strength to us
through their example, and encourage us to
take action. Go on comrades, let’s live in
such a way that, when our days come to an
end, we don’t feel pain for the years that
passed in vain, let’s feel the joy of
leaving something beautiful for those to
come.</span></p>
<p><span>Until Victory Always!</span></p>
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