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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/10/17/in-her-fathers-footsteps-an-interview-with-ches-daughter-aleida-guevara/">counterpunch.org</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">In Her Father's Footsteps: an Interview With Che's Daughter, Aleida Guevara</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Nilantha Ilangamuwa</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">October 17, 2024<br></div>
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<div id="gmail-attachment_337963" class="gmail-wp-caption"><p><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-337963" src="https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-15-at-11.22.26%E2%80%AFAM-680x456.png" alt="" width="394" height="264" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;"></p><p id="gmail-caption-attachment-337963" class="gmail-wp-caption-text">Aleida Guevara.</p></div>
<p>It was 1967. In La Higuera, a small village in the Vallegrande region
of the Santa Cruz Department in Bolivia, there was a man leading a
small guerrilla group that had been fighting for months to transform the
Bolivian state. He had arrived in Bolivia from Cuba in November 1966
under the pseudonym “Fernando.” Initially, some members of the Bolivian
Communist Party supported him, but the support was insufficient. At that
time, General René Barrientos, a staunch anti-communist, was Bolivia’s
de facto leader following a military coup that ousted President Víctor
Paz Estenssoro in 1964. Barrientos was then elected president in a
disputed election in 1966. The United States, determined to stop the
spread of communism across Latin America, supported Barrientos. The
harsh reality of the situation sealed the fate of the revolutionist who
had come to Bolivia under the name Fernando. Ernesto “Che” Guevara, as
the world knows him, took his last breath there.</p>
<p>On 8 October 1967, Che and his group hid in a deep ravine near La
Higuera, known as “El Yuro Ravine,” to avoid capture by the military.
However, a battle broke out shortly after. During the firefight, Che was
wounded in the leg and captured by Bolivian soldiers.</p>
<p>Afterwards, Che was taken to a small schoolhouse in La Higuera, where
he spent the night. The next day, 9 October 1967, Bolivian authorities,
with the assistance of CIA agents, decided to execute him. Mario Terán,
a Bolivian army sergeant, was assigned as Che’s executioner. Their plan
was to shoot him and then claim that Che had died in combat, as
executing a prisoner without trial is a war crime. According to reports,
Che faced his executioner without fear and said in his final moments,
“I know you are here to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to
kill a man.” While some accounts suggest that Mario Terán suffered
severe mental distress afterwards and committed suicide in 1974, others
claim he lived a quiet life until his death around the year 2000.</p>
<p>For years, the location of Che’s remains was a closely guarded state
secret. In 1997, after decades of silence, a team of Cuban and Bolivian
forensic scientists discovered a mass grave in Vallegrande that
contained his remains and those of several comrades. His remains were
later brought back to Cuba and buried in a mausoleum in Santa Clara, the
city where he won a decisive battle during the Cuban Revolution.</p>
<p>This year marks 57 years since Che was killed. The mahogany plant he
planted at Yahala Kele Rubber Estate, later renamed Che Park, in the
Moragahahena area of Horana during his visit to Sri Lanka in 1959 has
since grown into a towering tree. Che’s admirers honour his memory by
tending to the tree every year. As in many countries around the world,
some in this country also attempt to co-opt figures like Che to serve
the interests of certain social groups. In some cases, this “blind
adoration” prevents a critical examination of the deep socio-political
ideas that Che sought to convey, leading to subtle distortions of his
thoughts.</p>
<p>This special conversation with Aleida Guevara March, Che’s daughter,
is significant in this context. The eldest of four children born to
Ernesto “Che” Guevara and his second wife, Aleida Guevara is a Cuban
physician. She has worked as a doctor in Angola, Ecuador, and Nicaragua,
and is currently practising at the William Soler Children’s Hospital in
Havana.</p>
<p>I first asked her: Aleida, how did your father’s revolutionary ideals
shape your personal values and outlook on life? What specific moments
from your childhood reflect his influence on you?</p>
<p>“Unfortunately, I lived with my father for a very short time, and I
only have a handful of memories,” she began. Reflecting further on those
memories, she added: “But those times were very beautiful. My father
woke me up early in the morning. I was always surprised by how early he
rose. He would take me with him to do voluntary work. I remember going
with him to work alongside sugarcane workers. Even before entering the
plantation, I can still recall how he interacted with those people. I
remember how he used to cut sugarcane and give me a piece to eat. They
talked about many things. I had a lot of fun at that time.”</p>
<p>“I participated in voluntary services from a young age, but it was my
mother who put me in a position to be a working woman in today’s
society. Without her, we would not have been able to receive an
education like any other Cuban child. Children often lose their fathers,
especially a world-famous guerrilla. It is impossible to fill that gap,
and many people try to address it from a material point of view.
However, my mother stood up like an extraordinary fortress and ensured
we had everything that other Cuban children did.”</p>
<p>“We lived in such an environment. We were educated and brought up as
ordinary women and men, with our feet on the ground. Today, we have
become socially useful citizens because of that deep social
understanding and education instilled by our parents,” she stated.</p>
<p>One of the main things that emerge from examining Che’s writings is
that he was not only interested in overthrowing governments but also in
building a new kind of socialist society. He believed that revolution
should create a “new man” (<em>hombre nuevo</em>), enriched not by
material incentives but by moral values. In his view, socialist citizens
are people working for the collective good, guided by deep moral
principles of solidarity, self-sacrifice, and revolution. This idea, he
emphasised, was in stark contrast to the Soviet model, which relied too
heavily on material rewards and failed to cultivate true socialist
consciousness.</p>
<p>In this context, Aleida was next asked how, in her view, her father’s
legacy has evolved over the decades since his death. She was also
asked, “Do you believe that modern interpretations of his life and works
are consistent with his original intentions, or have they changed
significantly?”</p>
<p>In response, she noted, “Some people try to distort my father’s work
and life. They devote their lives to it. But they rarely succeed. Che is
a coherent example.”</p>
<p>She further mentioned, “He said what he thought and did what he said.
He never asked anyone to do what he couldn’t do. His revolutionary
ethics set an example for those around him. Respect for people is very
important. Unfortunately, we have not achieved everything we want, and
not all his works have been studied in depth.”</p>
<p>“But his enemies could not crush him or make him disappear. He was
such a complete person that anyone who learns about him is drawn to him.
My father was a boundary breaker.”</p>
<p>“Che is in faraway places and different cultures. We need to study
him and master his ideas more. He is still a symbol of an extraordinary
life. Our goal is to use his life as a tool to learn and create a more
just world for everyone.”</p>
<p>It is well known that as a young medical student, Che took a
motorcycle trip across the South American continent with his friend
Alberto Granado. In 1952, he travelled with his companion for eight
months, visiting various countries, including Argentina, Chile, Peru,
and Venezuela, covering more than eight thousand kilometres.</p>
<p>The visit gave him a deeper understanding of the true nature of the
social inequalities, exploitation, and poverty afflicting the region. It
was in Guatemala that Che began to solidify his Marxist ideology in
1954, which coincided with the overthrow of the progressive government
of Jacobo Arbenz in a CIA-backed coup in an operation code-named
Operation PBSuccess. Witnessing the violence of imperialist intervention
firsthand, Che determined that the only way to bring about real change
in Latin America was through armed revolution with socialist
consciousness.</p>
<p>Accordingly, Che Guevara played a crucial role in various
revolutionary movements throughout Latin America. I asked Aleida, “What
do you see as the most notable impact of his efforts in these regions?
Are there specific countries or events that exemplify his contribution
to the fight for social justice?”</p>
<p>In response, she said, “Che broke boundaries. He wasn’t just in Latin
America; he still lives on in Africa, Asia, and Old Europe. Che was
guided by ideals. Consider, for example, what is happening in Palestine
today.</p>
<p>“My father went to Palestine in 1959. When he arrived, the
Palestinian leaders explained the situation. Many people mistakenly
think that this is a new problem. In fact, the Palestinians had already
been expelled from their lands. They were forced to migrate from their
territories. Most of the Gaza Strip was full of people.”</p>
<p>“Dad didn’t want to see this suffering. He wanted to know where
people were preparing to resist that abuse and where they were building
weapons to support it. Today, the Palestinian people are fighting for
the right to have their own land and culture. Che is relevant today.
That’s right. Don’t you think so too?”</p>
<p>Decades after Che’s death, we are experiencing a different world. The
world is more fragmented than ever before. The Western military
alliance, led by NATO, is expanding, via proxies, into Asia, Africa, and
Latin America. At a time when nearly nine hundred American military
bases are located around the world, many aspiring nations are rallying
for an alternative. I next asked her: Given the complex political
context in Latin America today, what are the biggest challenges to the
ideals your father presented? How should current and future generations
work to achieve his vision of equality and social justice?</p>
<p>In response, she said, “As you mentioned, the political landscape in
Latin America is complex, but it’s even more intricate in Asia, the
Middle East, and especially Africa. Che’s influence is not limited to
one region; as I said before, he transcended borders.”</p>
<p>“New generations should study him more. They should learn how to use
his ideas as tools for life. Reading Che fosters unity among social
movements seeking a better world. We must never lose respect for the
people, for freedom and sovereignty. We must always affirm the necessity
of these inviolable principles.”</p>
<p>“Che taught us something else. Anyone who calls themselves a leftist,
anyone who aspires to a better world, must have a strong revolutionary
ethos. It’s not just about talking or urging people to act; it’s about
walking in Che’s footsteps and leading by example. This is especially
important today, when many claim that these long-held principles will be
lost on future generations.”</p>
<p>“But the real question is: how do we educate them (this younger
generation)? How do we instil in them respect for other people and for
nature, for cooperation and love? They can help create the changes
needed for a fairer world for everyone. How actively involved they will
be depending on how we educate the new generations.”</p>
<p>Another important point to note is that Che often emphasised the
significance of women in revolutionary movements. I finally asked
Aleida: As the daughter of an influential figure like Che, how do you
see the role of women in your father’s work and in the broader context
of the Latin American Revolution? What lessons can be learned from their
contributions and struggles?</p>
<p>In response, she said, “Before Che, the apostle of the Cuban
Revolution, José Martí, highlighted the role of women in revolutions. He
stated that even women who send their children to the battlefields to
fight for freedom and sovereignty should be involved in a true
revolution.”</p>
<p>“Martí said something very beautiful: Motherly love for the
motherland is not the absurd love of the earth or the grass under our
feet. It is the invincible hatred of those who oppress us and the
eternal resentment towards those who attack us. My father studied Martí,
respected him, admired him, and followed his ideas.”</p>
<p>“There are very beautiful things that are repeated among great men.
Respect for women, the right of all women to be considered equal to our
comrades, is very important. He always said that a true revolutionary
defends their ideas to the last consequence. But a woman defends her
ideals. Not only does she defend a province or a nation; in her
configuration, there should be 50% women. They understood that the
participation of women in the whole process is essential; the tenderness
that comes from a woman is important to fill it with energy. Therefore,
I think we have to work a lot more on that side.”</p>
<p>Finally, she said, “There are many parts of the world that are still
referred to as so-called first-world societies where women are not
respected or allowed to have equal rights to education. The social
acceptance we need is not yet established. We need to work on this. A
culture that treats women as inferior even to cattle has existed for
centuries. It makes it difficult to change the social injustice that we
all aspire to. Che’s real struggle was based on this need.”</p>
</div><p>
<i>Nilantha Ilangamuwa is a Sri Lankan born author. He was
the-editor of Sri Lanka Guardian, an online daily newspaper. He was also
the editor of the Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives, bi-monthly
print magazine, co-published by the Danish Institute Against Torture (
DIGNITY) based in Copenhagen, Denmark.</i>
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