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He may have died 45 years ago, but his pernicious philosophy is still very much under debate in Latin America. On the one hand, even liberals such as Rory Carroll, the Latin American correspondent for the Guardian in Britain, acknowledge that the Cuban model would have been a “debacle” if exported to other countries. “To challenge the U.S. empire, Che dreamed of creating ‘many Vietnams,’ not least in his Argentine homeland,” Carroll wrote. “Who today can seriously wish he had succeeded? . . . Who needs Che?”
But while overt Communism isn’t on the march in Latin America, Che-style thinking is ascendant in the anti-American authoritarians who today rule Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Nicaragua. Che is much more than an image on a T-shirt to leaders in those countries: He is an inspiration on how to seize and maintain power. It’s for that reason that we should push back whenever and wherever Che’s image surfaces. If people wore T-shirts with images of Nazi butchers, most of us wouldn’t let them pass by without comment. The same should be the case with Che, whether his image shows up on college campuses or in EPA e-mails.
Or on d2jsp forums.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/321089/re-branding-guevara-che-butcher-john-fund
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Where exactly did you get these quotes from?
Those quotes are originally from Che's own writings and are widely reported on various reputable sites across the internet.
He also is credited with saying “Mexicans are a band of illiterate Indians.” or something to that effect.
Condemning discrimination by others later in life for political expediency is nice, but it doesn't wash away his views.
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It's difficult to respond to those quoted bits because in all of what I've read about him (three books so far) I've never heard about him being involved with any kind of concentration camps or forced labor camps, so this is news to me.
Here is one of the articles i quoted from regarding forced labor camps:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thor-halvorssen/an-open-letter-to-urban-o_b_1895353.html
He is the founder of the Human Rights Foundation.
Its also widely reported elsewhere.
I wouldnt imagine its included in Pro-Che books tho.
heres another article discussing it
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2004/09/the_cult_of_che.html
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I have tremendous respect for someone who has a belief like that and is willing to put his ass on the line rather than detach themselves from the situation and talk a big game (see any of our leaders, leaders abroad, "armchair intellectuals", etc.) from extreme comfort. After overthrowing Batista he could have taken the chance and lived in luxury but instead he pursued what he considered a global resistance to capitalism even though it landed him in extreme conditions for years leading to his capture and execution.
I have a question for you.
Is Hitler a good role model and idol because he faced adversity and aggressively pursued his goals?
Is violent opposition to capitalism a good thing?
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-- Che never did anything relatively close to what we did when we dropped the bomb on the Japanese during World War II or what we did to the populations in Asia during Vietnam; all under the banner of "nice" phrases you support so much (democracy, freedom, etc.) whereas Che's misdeeds somehow outweigh them because their "bad" words (socialism, collectivism, Marxism, etc.)? Get real.
I don't condone nuking civilians when anyone does it.
What you have there is a red herring.
I also dont praise and idolize Truman for A-bombing Japan.
Che's actions are despicable independent of bad deeds that someone else may have done.
He never did anything relatively close only because he did not have his way.
What he wanted was far worse. He openly advocated nuclear holocaust and the murder of american civilians when it was wholly avoidable and we weren't even at war.
You might understand why he would hate the US, but shouldn't it be hard to idolize a person who wants you dead?
Yes advocating and practicing "bad words" like Marxism, oppression, mass-murder, forced labor, and torture mean he was terrible person.
I dont think that is a stretch on my part at all.
This post was edited by cambovenzi on May 10 2014 01:47pm