Article by Christoforos Pittaras, member of the Secretariat of the Cyprus-Cuba Friendship Association
9 October 2022
This year marks 55 years since the assassination of Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, known throughout the whole world as Che. On 9 October 1967, American imperialism, through the CIA, executed in cold blood the already wounded guerrilla in a village in Bolivia. His life, struggles and work has left a rich legacy and to this day are an inspiration and act as a guidance for the peoples of the whole world who are struggling for national sovereignty and class emancipation.
The journey of his life is very well known throughout the world. In brief, he was born in Rosario, Argentina, on June 14, 1928. He studied medicine. His contacts with the poor masses of Latin America (either from his practice as a doctor or from his trips) and his conscious search for the causes of this impoverishment and ways to overcome it were instrumental in shaping Che’s character. It is these experiences that inevitably led him to Marxism-Leninism.
Chesubsequentlyjoined the Cuban Revolution as a doctor and his skills and thirst for struggle soon elevated him to the rank of Comandante, a rank at the top of the Cuban guerrilla hierarchy. With the victory of the Revolution he joined Fidel Castro's government. Consistent with his ideals, he stressed, inter alia,the following in his farewell letter to Fidel: “Looking back over my past life, I believe that I have worked with sufficient faithfulness and dedication in order to consolidate the revolutionary triumph”. After concluding how “Other regions of the world claim the support of my modest efforts" he leaves his duties and actively participates in pre-revolutionary and revolutionary processes, as well as in the anti-imperialist struggle of the peoples from Latin America to Africa (Congo). This militant march ends in Bolivia where he is wounded in battle and taken prisoner.
We could focus on a number of his special characteristics. We must emphasize that, in addition to the revolutionary fire that drove him to always be in the front line of struggle, he also embodied an inexhaustible need to study and deepen theoretical and practical issues.
Internationalism is an element of his actions that can easily be traced in the course of his life. As he wrote to his children, “Above all be sensitive, in the deepest areas of yourselves, to any injustice committed against whoever it may be anywhere in the world." Che demonstrated this in practice on the battlefields, in different geographical areas defending the peoples.
The legacy Che left for the youth is also important. He stressed the importance for a young communist to study, to understand reality in order to be able to change it in the interests of the people. Furthermore, he pointed out the need to express constant, uninterrupted and real solidarity with every suffering people throughout the world. He stressed the pride and honor that they should feel as young communists, fighting tirelessly being at the forefront of the struggle and making themselves a living example and the real vanguard in the struggle to build the new world, socialism.
The terror exerted by the imperialist powers towards the personality of the great revolutionary communist is also demonstrated by the fact that his body was buried in a secret place, which was only revealed on 28 June 1997.
To this day, Che is still giving imperialism nightmares. At the same time, he remains on the side of the youth, the working people and the peoples who are fighting for a dignified life, a life with rights and to move the wheel of history forward.
"Grow up into good revolutionaries.
Study hard to master technique, which gives you mastery over nature…Remember that it is the Revolution which is important and that each of us, taken in isolation, is worth nothing."
From the letter Che addressed to his children