Che Guevara - biography. Ernesto Che Guevara: “The Soldier of the World Revolution Che Guevara who is he

On June 14, 1928, in the third largest city in Argentina, Rosario, the boy Ernesto Guevara was born, who was saddened in history as a statesman, a revolutionary.

Che Guevara (the prefix-nickname "Che" was used by Ernest to indicate to society the roots and Argentine origin) lived a bright, rich and at the same time dangerous, difficult life having done much for the nations different countries.

The temperamental revolutionary was born into a bourgeois family. His father was an architect, and his mother was a descendant of planters. The origin of the spouses is associated with Argentine Creoles (European settlers), but there were also Creoles from California in the Che Guevara family.

Initially, the parents of the future Comandante lived in Buenos Aires, after which they moved to Misiones, where Celia (mother) inherited a plantation. Trying to earn honestly and fairly, paying wages to workers, which at that time was considered a “curiosity” among planters, they caused a flurry of indignation from competitors. As a result, the Ernesto family had to go to Rosario, where their son was born.

Che Guevara (left) with family

Other children were also brought up in the Guevara family - two sisters (Celia and Anna Maria) and two brothers (Roberto and Juan Martin). Despite the difficult years, the economic crisis in the country, the children of the architect's family subsequently received higher education.

Tete (that was the name of Che Guevara in childhood) grew up as a sickly child. When he was two years old, he faced the most difficult disease, bronchial asthma, and conscious life tried to fight it. Ernesto's parents decided to move again to a new place of residence in search of ideal climatic conditions for your baby.

Che Guevara's childhood passed in the province of Cordoba. Due to his illness, the boy could not go to school with his peers for some time, but already at the age of four he learned to read.

Ernesto graduated from high school in Alta Gracia, then went to college. After graduation (1945), the future activist decided to become a doctor by submitting documents to the Medical University in Buenos Aires. At the university, Che Guevara acquired the specialty of a surgeon and dermatologist.

According to biographical data, the young man was interested not only in medicine, but also in other sciences.

A great impression was made on the young Ernesto by the works of Bakunin and other theoreticians. Che Guevara was fluent in French, knew many poems by heart, and was engaged in writing his own lines.

Asthma periodically bothered Guevara, but this did not stop him from playing sports. In his youth, Ernesto was listed as a reserve football team, enjoyed visiting the equestrian club, had good golf skills, and also greedily traveled by bicycle. In the biography of the Cuban figure, information has been preserved about how the young Che Guevara gave his bride a photo, signing on it "the king of the pedal."

Trips

Ernesto began to travel in his youth. As a university student, he decided to test himself as a sailor by hiring on a cargo ship (1950). So he visited British Guiana, Fr. Trinidad. Further, Che Guevara became a participant in an advertising campaign by the Mikron company, which invited the young man to travel on a moped of its production.

To get to know the world, get new impressions, Ernesto visited various countries. A lot of interesting places were told by a young man with his faithful friend - Alberto Granado (Doctor of Biochemistry). With him he traveled around Chile, Peru, the ancient cities of India, etc.

The question arises, where did the young student get the money for travel? Partners earned in different ways: they worked as loaders, washed dishes in catering places, provided veterinary services, etc. Sometimes inspired guys spent the night in the forest or just in the field.

During one of his travels in Colombia, Che Guevara first saw the horrors that swept the country during the civil war. The character of a revolutionary was gradually awakening in him.

Ernesto made trips to attractive places for a guy in parallel with his studies, and in 1952 he managed to adequately defend a diploma on the topic of allergic diseases. When he received the specialty of a surgeon, fate sent the “export of the revolution” to Venezuela, where there was a free vacancy in a leper colony, but the specialist decided to change the route, succumbing to the persuasion of his fellow travelers, and went to Guatemala.

After graduating from university, Che Guevara was supposed to go into the army, but the guy decided to go for a trick, deliberately provoking an attack of the existing in his body bronchial asthma.

Upon arrival in Guatemala, war broke out in the republic, bombings, the president of the state in Central America, Jacobo Arbenz (a socialist), relinquished power, and the newly elected Castillo Armas turned out to be a tough pro-American, which influenced the persecution and repression of residents who belonged to the category of leftist ideas.

So, Che Guevara joined the flow of hostilities. He assisted the opponents of the new regime in the transportation of weapons, helped with fires. As a result, the socialists lost, and the Argentine was among the country's criminals, who were expected to be punished and repressed for treason.

Ernesto was forced to flee. The embassy of his native Argentina became his refuge, and in 1954 Guevara moved to live in Mexico City. Here he tried to work as a journalist, photographer, watchman, looking for casual jobs.

During the same period, Ernesto married a girl whom he met in Guatemala - Ilde Gadea. After some time, Che Guevara got a job at a local hospital. In 1955 (June), an old friend of his came to see Ernesto. The young man turned out to be a Cuban revolutionary. A chance meeting ended with Ernesto's proposal to become part of the revolutionary movement against the dictator of Cuba and go on an expedition to the Caribbean island. Without hesitation for a long time, the Argentine agreed.

Cuban Revolution

In July 1955, Ernesto's older brother arrived in Mexico City from the USA. Together they became the main leaders of the impending movement in Cuba.

Preparations for the revolution caused difficulties for its participants. Due to the leakage of secret information, Che and Fidel were arrested, but were saved by the patronage of cultural and public figures. Guevara spent 57 days in prison, and then continued to implement the idea.

A detachment of revolutionaries left Mexico City and went to Cuba. The ship's departure took place on November 25, 1956. At sea, Ernesto and his supporters were shipwrecked, came under fire from the aircraft of the local government. Men died, others were captured. Che Guevara and several other revolutionaries became partisans.

Mortal danger constantly surrounded Ernesto, in the partisan detachment he became a victim of malaria. During the period of treatment, the young revolutionary read a lot, wrote his own works, and kept a personal diary.

In 1957, the rebels managed to take control of some of the territory of Cuba (the mountains of the Sierra Maestra), new soldiers began to appear - adherents of the movement and opponents of Batista.

Then Ernesto received the military rank of "comandante" and led a colony of 75 soldiers. Simultaneously with the hostilities, Guevara conducted active propaganda in the person of the editor of the Free Cuba newspaper.

The revolution took on a larger scale. The guerrillas established contact with the Cuban communists, went on the attack in the territories of the local valleys. Che's army reached the Escambray massif, and after Guevara established power in Las Villas.

During the revolution, the rebels carried out a number of reforms in favor of the peasants, who decided to support the revolutionaries in military operations. In the battle for Santa Clara (January 1, 1959), the Comandante's army won, and Batista left Cuba, emigrating to another country.

Recognition and glory

The rebel leader gained fame around the world, in 1959 Ernesto became an official citizen of Cuba according to the decree of the government of Fidel Castro.

As Minister of Industry, Che went on a world tour of countries. He visited Pakistan, Burma, Japan and other territories.

Then Che Guevara again had to fight. Relations between the US and the Cuban government soured. Liberty Island became the site of an enemy attack, the resistance operation was led by Ernesto. The Americans lost, their plan failed.

Throughout his life in Cuba, Che Guevara held government posts, made public speeches (slogans), adhered to his own principles, and sometimes even came into conflict with allied countries. At some point, Ernesto decided to leave Cuba, drawing conclusions for himself. He wrote farewell letters to his parents and Fidel and quietly left the republic (spring 1965).

After leaving the Island of Liberty, Guevara went to the Congo, where in those years there was a serious political crisis. Ernesto and a small army of Cubans assisted in the insurrectionary movements of the socialist guerrillas.

The famous revolutionary shared his experience in military affairs, actively participated in the revolution. He helped achieve some compromises for the socialists, but he failed to achieve his original goals. As a result, the Comandante left the Congo. The next place of his activity was Africa (autumn 1965).

Here Ernesto again fell ill with malaria, asthma attacks resumed. Che Guevara went for treatment to a sanatorium in Czechoslovakia, but even while in a quiet place, he did not stop planning new revolutionary movements.

In 1966, Che returned to Cuba to lead a guerrilla unit in Bolivia. He became a real threat to the CIA, for the murder of a revolutionary, the enemy government announced an impressive reward. Guevara lived in Bolivia for 11 months.

Personal life

Guevara's first love was for his cousin Carmen. The girl loved to dance, which attracted the teenager very much.

In his youth, medical student Ernesto was in love with a girl from a wealthy family in Kardoba. Wooing her hand, but outwardly resembling a tramp, Che could not enter the "elite" circle of landowners. The wedding did not take place, because. Maria's mother convinced her daughter to break off the engagement.

Guevara's whole life was spent in the struggle for the idea of ​​freedom and equality of ordinary citizens, so the revolutionary's love for women was born in parallel with wars and revolutions. From the first marriage with Hilda Acosta (married in Mexico, met in Guatemala), Che had a daughter. The couple named the girl Ildida. It is believed that the first wife aroused young Guevara's interest in politics.

During the battles, the father wrote touching letters to his daughter. The family fell apart after four years of difficult married life at a distance.

In 1959, Che Guevara married again. His second wife was the girl Aleida March, who was also a member of the revolutionary movement in Cuba. Their relationship began even before the divorce of the revolutionary with Ilda. The couple, united by a holy idea, had four children.

Little is known about last love Ernesto - partisan Tanya. The wife of the Argentine found out about her only after the death of her husband.

Death

Having been captured by the Bolivians, Ernesto was terribly tortured. He refused to inform the officers, and on October 9, 1967, Che Guevara was shot. His dead mutilated body was put on public display. Some limbs of the rebel were buried in a mass grave. The remains were only discovered in 1997.

Songs are dedicated to the "Icon of the World Revolution" by Ernesto Guevara. Many films have been made about his life (“Motorcyclist Diaries”, “Che”, “Hands of Che Guevara”, etc.), video stories, programs.

Today, T-shirts with the image of the hero are the prototype of the revolutionary spirit, respect for the great commander. And on October 8, Cuba loudly celebrates a holiday dedicated to the Heroic Partisan, which was Ernesto.

Quotes

If you begin to tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are my comrade.

Silence is a continuation of the dispute by other means.

It's sad not to have friends, but it's even sadder not to have enemies.

Filmography

• "Che!" -1969
• "Che Guevara: The Motorcycle Diaries" - 2004
• "Che" - 2005
• "Hands of Che Guevara" - 2006
• "Che" - 2008

Ernesto Guevara was born on June 14, 1927 in one of the largest cities. The famous prefix "Che" began to be used much later. With her help, while living in Cuba, the revolutionary emphasized his own Argentine origin. "Che" is a reference to an interjection. In Ernesto's homeland, it is a popular address.

Childhood and interests

Guevara's father was an architect, his mother was a girl from a family of planters. The family moved several times. The future Comandante Che Guevara graduated from college in Cordoba, and received his higher education in Buenos Aires. The young man decided to become a doctor. He was a surgeon and dermatologist by profession.

Already early biography Ernesto Che Guevara shows how extraordinary his personality was. The young man was interested not only in medicine, but also in numerous humanities. His reading circle consisted of the works of the most famous writers: Verne, Hugo, Dumas, Cervantes, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy. The socialist views of the revolutionary were shaped by the works of Marx, Engels, Bakunin, Lenin and other left theorists.

A little-known fact that distinguished the biography of Ernesto Che Guevara was that he knew French very well. In addition, he loved poetry, knew by heart the works of Verlaine, Baudelaire, Lorca. In Bolivia, where the revolutionary died, he carried a notebook with his favorite poems in his backpack.

On the roads of America

Guevara's first solo trip outside of Argentina dates back to 1950, when he worked on a cargo ship and visited British Guiana and Trinidad. The Argentine loved bicycles and mopeds. The next voyage covered Chile, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela. In the future, the partisan biography of Ernesto Che Guevara will be full of many such expeditions. In his early youth, he traveled to neighboring countries to get to know the world better and gain fresh impressions.

Guevara's partner on one of his travels was Alberto Granado, doctor of biochemistry. Together with him, the Argentine doctor visited the leper colonies of Latin American countries. The couple also visited the ruins of several ancient Indian cities (the revolutionary was always keenly interested in the history of the indigenous population of the New World). When Ernesto traveled to Colombia, a civil war broke out there. By chance, he even visited Florida. A few years later, Che, as a symbol of the "export of revolutions," would become one of the main opponents of the White House administration.

In Guatemala

In 1953, the future leader Ernesto Che Guevara, in between two major trips to Latin America, defended his thesis on the study of allergies. Becoming a surgeon, the young man decided to move to Venezuela and work there in a leper colony. However, on the way to Caracas, one of the familiar fellow travelers persuaded Guevara to go to Guatemala.

The traveler ended up in the Central American Republic on the eve of the invasion of the Nicaraguan army there, organized by the CIA. The cities of Guatemala were bombed, and the socialist President Jacobo Arbenz relinquished power. The new head of state, Castillo Armas, was pro-American and began repressions against left-wingers who lived in the country.

In Guatemala, the biography of Ernesto Che Guevara was for the first time directly connected with the war. The Argentine helped the defenders of the overthrown regime to transport weapons, participated in extinguishing fires during air raids. When the socialists suffered a final defeat, Guevara's name was included in the lists of people who were awaiting repression. Ernesto managed to take refuge in the embassy of his native Argentina, where he found himself under diplomatic protection. From there, in September 1954, he moved to Mexico City.

Acquaintance with Cuban revolutionaries

In the Mexican capital, Guevara tried to get a job as a journalist. He wrote a test article about the Guatemalan events, but the matter did not go further. For several months, the Argentine worked as a photographer. Then he was a watchman in the building of a book publishing house. In the summer of 1955, Ernesto Che Guevara, whose personal life was illuminated by a joyful event, got married. In Mexico City, his fiancee Ilda Gadea came to him from her homeland. Casual earnings hardly helped the emigrant. Finally, Ernesto got a job at the city hospital, where he began working in the allergy department.

In June 1955, two young men came to the doctor Guevara for an appointment. These were Cuban revolutionaries who were trying to overthrow the dictator Batista on their native island. Two years earlier, opponents of the old regime attacked the barracks of Moncada, after which they were tried and put behind bars. The day before, an amnesty was declared, and the revolutionaries began to flock to Mexico City. During his ordeals in Latin America, Ernesto met many socialist Cubans. One of his old friends came to his reception, offering to participate in the upcoming military expedition to the Caribbean island.

A few days later, the Argentine met for the first time. Even then, the doctor firmly decided to give his consent to participate in the raid. In July 1955, Raul's older brother arrived in Mexico from the United States. Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara became the protagonists of the impending revolution. Their first meeting took place in one of the safe houses of the Cubans. The next day, Guevara became a member of the expedition as a doctor. Recalling that period, Fidel Castro later admitted that Che understood the theoretical and ideological issues of the revolution much better than his Cuban comrades.

guerrilla war

Preparing to sail to Cuba, members of the July 26 Movement (as the organization led by Fidel Castro was called) faced many difficulties. A provocateur penetrated the ranks of the revolutionaries and informed the authorities about the suspicious activities of foreigners. In the summer of 1956, the Mexican police staged a raid, after which the conspirators, including Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara, were arrested. Well-known public and cultural figures began to intercede for opponents of the Batista regime. As a result, the revolutionaries were released. Guevara spent more than the rest of his comrades under arrest (57 days), since he was charged with illegally crossing the border.

Finally, the expeditionary force left Mexico and went by ship to Cuba. The sailing took place on November 25, 1956. Ahead was many months of guerrilla warfare. The arrival of Castro supporters on the island was overshadowed by a shipwreck. The detachment, consisting of 82 men, ended up in the mangroves. He was attacked by government aircraft. Half of the expedition was killed under shelling, another two dozen people were captured. Finally, the revolutionaries took refuge in the mountains of the Sierra Maestra. The provincial peasants supported the partisans, gave them shelter and food. Caves and difficult passes became other safe shelters.

At the beginning of the new year 1957, Batista's opponents won their first victory, killing five government soldiers. Soon some members of the detachment came down with malaria. Among them was Ernesto Che Guevara. Guerrilla warfare made us accustomed to mortal danger. Every day, the fighters faced another fatal threat. Che struggled with an insidious disease, lying down in the huts of peasants. Comrades often saw him sitting with a notebook or another book. Guevara's diary later formed the basis of his own memoirs of the guerrilla war, published after the victory of the revolution.

By the end of 1957, the rebels were already in control of the Sierra Maestra mountains. New volunteers poured into the detachment from among local residents who were dissatisfied with the Batista regime. Then Fidel made Ernesto a major (comandante). Che Guevara began to command a separate column, consisting of 75 people. The underground workers enjoyed support abroad. American journalists penetrated into the mountains to them, releasing reports in the USA about the July 26 Movement.

Comandante not only led the fighting, but also conducted propaganda activities. Ernesto Che Guevara became editor-in-chief of the Free Cuba newspaper. Its first issues were written by hand, then the rebels managed to get a hectograph.

Victory over Batista

In the spring of 1958, a new stage of guerrilla warfare began. Castro's supporters began to leave the mountains and operate in the valleys. In the summer, a stable connection was established with the Cuban communists in the cities where strikes began to arise. Che Guevara's detachment was responsible for the offensive in the province of Las Villas. Having traveled a distance of 600 kilometers, in October this army reached the Escambray mountain range and opened a new front. For Batista, the situation was getting worse - the US authorities refused to supply him with weapons.

In Las Villas, where the power of the rebels was finally established, a law was published on the implementation of an agrarian reform - the liquidation of the estates of the landowners. The policy of breaking down the old patriarchal customs in the countryside attracted more and more peasants into the ranks of the revolutionaries. The initiator of the popular reform was Ernesto Che Guevara. He spent the years of his life theoretical works Socialists, and now honed his oratorical skills, convincing ordinary people of Cuba of the correctness of the path offered by the members of the July 26 Movement.

The last and decisive battles were the battle for Santa Clara. It began on December 28 and ended with the victory of the rebels on January 1, 1959. A few hours after the surrender of the garrison, Batista left Cuba and spent the rest of his life in forced exile. The battles for Santa Clara were led directly by Che Guevara. On January 2, his troops entered Havana, where a triumphant population awaited the revolutionaries.

New life

After the defeat of Batista, newspapers around the world asked who is Che Guevara, what made this rebel leader famous and what is his political future? In February 1959, the government of Fidel Castro declared him a citizen of Cuba. Then Guevara began to use the famous prefix "Che" in his signatures, with which he went down in history.

Under the new government, yesterday's rebel served as president of the National Bank (1959 - 1961) and minister of industry (1961 - 1965). In the first summer after the victory of the revolution, he held an entire world tour as an official, during which he visited Egypt, Sudan, India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Indonesia, Burma, Japan, Morocco, Spain and Yugoslavia. In the same June 1959, the Comandante married for the second time. Aleida March, a member of the July 26 Movement, became his wife. The children of Ernesto Che Guevara (Aleida, Camilo, Celia, Ernesto) were born in marriage with this woman (except for the eldest daughter Ilda).

State activity

In the spring of 1961, the American leadership, which finally quarreled with Castro, began to carry out an operation in Liberty Island, an enemy landing force landed. Until the end of the operation, Che Guevara led troops in one of the provinces of Cuba. The American plan failed and the socialist power in Havana remained.

In autumn, Che Guevara visited the GDR, Czechoslovakia and the USSR. In the Soviet Union, his delegation signed agreements on the supply of Cuban sugar. Moscow also promised financial and technical assistance to the Island of Freedom. Ernesto Che Guevara Interesting Facts about which they could make a separate book, participated in a festive parade dedicated to the next anniversary October revolution. The Cuban guest stood on the podium of the mausoleum next to Nikita Khrushchev and other members of the Politburo. In the future, Guevara visited the Soviet Union several more times.

As a minister, Che seriously revised his attitude towards the governments of the socialist countries. He was dissatisfied with the fact that the large communist states (primarily the USSR and China) set their own strict conditions for the exchange of goods with subsidized small partners, such as Cuba.

In 1965, during a visit to Algeria, Guevara made a famous speech in which he criticized Moscow and Beijing for their enslaving attitude towards fraternal countries. This episode showed once again who Che Guevara is, what he became famous for and what reputation this revolutionary had. He did not compromise his own principles, even if he had to go into conflict with the allies. Another reason for the Comandante's dissatisfaction was the unwillingness of the socialist camp to actively intervene in new regional revolutions.

Expedition to Africa

In the spring of 1965, Che Guevara ended up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This Central African country was going through a political crisis, and partisans were operating in its jungle, advocating the establishment of socialism in their homeland. Comandante arrived in the Congo along with another hundred Cubans. He helped organize the underground, shared with them his own experience gained during the war with Batista.

Although Che Guevara put all his strength into a new adventure, new failures awaited him at every step. The rebels suffered several defeats, and the relationship of the Cubans with the leader of the African comrades, Kabila, did not work out from the very beginning. After several months of bloodshed, the Congo authorities, opposed by the socialists, made some compromises and settled the conflict. Another blow to the rebels was Tanzania's refusal to provide them with rear bases. In November 1965, Che Guevara left the Congo without having achieved the goals set for the revolution.

Future plans

Staying in Africa cost Che another illness of malaria. In addition, the asthma attacks, from which he suffered from the very beginning, worsened. early childhood. The first half of 1966, the commandant secretly spent in Czechoslovakia, where he was treated in one of the sanatoriums of Czechoslovakia. Resting from the war, the Latin American continued to work on planning new revolutions around the world. His statement about the need to create "many Vietnams", where at that time there was a conflict between the two main world political systems, gained wide popularity.

In the summer of 1966, the Comandante returned to Cuba and led the preparations for a guerrilla campaign in Bolivia. As it turned out, this war was his last. In March 1967, Barrientos was horrified to learn about the action in his country of partisans abandoned in the jungle from socialist Cuba.

To get rid of the "red threat", the politician turned to Washington for help. In the White House, it was decided to use special CIA units against the Che detachment. Soon, leaflets scattered from the air began to appear over the provincial villages in the vicinity of which the guerrillas were operating, with a message about a large reward for the murder of a Cuban revolutionary.

Doom

In total, Che Guevara spent 11 months in Bolivia. All this time he kept records, which, after his death, were published as a separate book. Gradually, the Bolivian authorities began to push the rebels. Two detachments were destroyed, after which the commandant remained almost completely isolated. On October 8, 1967, he, along with several comrades, was surrounded. Two rebels were killed. Many were injured, including Ernesto Che Guevara. How the revolutionary died became known thanks to the recollections of several eyewitnesses.

Guevara, along with his comrades, was sent under escort to the village of La Higuera, where a place was found for the prisoners in a small adobe building, which was a local school. The underground workers were captured by a Bolivian detachment, which had completed training the day before, organized by military advisers sent by the CIA. Che refused to answer the questions of the officers, spoke only to the soldiers and from time to time asked for a smoke.

On the morning of October 9, an order came to the village from the Bolivian capital to execute the Cuban revolutionary. On the same day he was shot. The body was transported to a nearby town, where Guevara's corpse was put on display for local residents and journalists. The hands of the body were amputated in order to officially confirm the death of the rebel with the help of prints. The remains were buried in a secret mass grave.

The burial was discovered in 1997 thanks to the efforts of American journalists. At the same time, the remains of Che and several of his comrades were transferred to Cuba. There they were interred with honors. The mausoleum where Ernesto Che Guevara is buried is located in Santa Clara, the city in which the Comandante won his main victory in 1959.

Childhood, adolescence, youth

The Che Guevara family. From left to right: Ernesto Guevara, mother Celia, sister Celia, brother Roberto, father Ernesto with son Juan Martin in his arms and sister Anna Maria

Che Guevara at the age of one (1929)

In addition to Ernesto, whose childhood name was Tete (translated as "pig"), the family had four more children: Celia (became an architect), Roberto (lawyer), Anna Maria (architect), Juan Martin (designer). All children received higher education.

At the age of two, on May 2, 1930, Tete experienced the first attack of bronchial asthma - this disease haunted him until the end of his life. To restore the health of the baby, the family moved to the province of Cordoba, as an area with a healthier mountain climate. Having sold the estate, the family acquired "Villa Nidia" in the town of Alta Gracia, at an altitude of two thousand meters above sea level. His father began to work as a building contractor, and his mother began to look after the sick Tete. For the first two years, Che was unable to attend school and was homeschooled as he suffered from daily asthma attacks. After that, he went intermittently (due to health reasons) studying at a high school in Alta Gracia. At the age of thirteen, Ernesto entered the state-owned Dean Funes College in Córdoba, from which he graduated in 1945, then enrolling in the medical faculty of the University of Buenos Aires. Father Don Ernesto Guevara Lynch said in February 1969:

Hobbies

In 1964, speaking with a correspondent for the Cuban newspaper El Mundo, Guevara said that he first became interested in Cuba at the age of 11, being passionate about chess, when the Cuban chess player Capablanca arrived in Buenos Aires. Che's parents house had a library of several thousand books. Starting at the age of four, Guevara, like his parents, became passionately interested in reading, which continued until the end of his life. In his youth, the future revolutionary had an extensive reading circle: Salgari, Jules Verne, Dumas, Hugo, Jack London, later - Cervantes, Anatole France, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gorky, Engels, Lenin, Kropotkin, Bakunin, Karl Marx, Freud. He read the then popular social novels by Latin American authors - Ciro Alegria from Peru, Jorge Icaza from Ecuador, Jose Eustasio Rivera from Colombia, which described the life of Indians and workers on plantations, works by Argentine authors - José Hernandez, Sarmiento and others.

Che Guevara (first from right) with rugby comrades, 1947

Young Ernesto read in the original French (knowing this language since childhood) and interpreting Sartre's philosophical works L'imagination, Situations I and Situations II, L'Être et le Nèant, Baudlaire, "Qu'est-ce que la literature?", "L'imagie". He loved poetry and even composed poetry himself. He was read by Baudelaire, Verlaine, Garcia Lorca, Antonio Machado, Pablo Neruda, the works of contemporary Spanish Republican poet Leon Felipe. In his backpack, in addition to the "Bolivian diary", a notebook with his favorite poems was posthumously discovered. Subsequently, two-volume and nine-volume collected works of Che Guevara were published in Cuba. Tete was strong in the exact sciences, such as mathematics, however, he chose the profession of a doctor. He played football at the local Atalaya sports club, playing in the reserve team (he could not play in the first team because of asthma, he needed an inhaler from time to time). He also went in for rugby, equestrian sports, was fond of golf and gliding, having a special passion for cycling (in the caption on one of his photographs, presented to his bride Chinchina, he called himself "king of the pedal"). .

Ernesto in Mar del Plata (Argentina), 1943

In 1950, already a student, Ernesto took a job as a sailor on an oil tanker from Argentina, visiting Trinidad and British Guiana. After that, he traveled on a moped, which was provided to him by the Mikron company for advertising purposes, with partial coverage of travel expenses. In an advertisement from the Argentinean magazine El Grafico dated May 5, 1950, Che wrote:

February 23, 1950. Seniors, representatives of the Mikron moped company. I am sending you the Mikron moped for testing. On it I made a journey of four thousand kilometers through the twelve provinces of Argentina. The moped functioned flawlessly throughout the trip, and I did not find the slightest malfunction in it. Hope to get it back in the same condition. Signed: "Ernesto Guevara Serna"

Che's youthful love was Chinchina (translated as "rattle"), the daughter of one of the richest landowners of Cordoba. According to the testimony of her sister and others, Che loved her and wanted to marry her. He appeared at parties in shabby clothes and shaggy, which was in contrast to the offspring of wealthy families who sought her hand, and with the typical appearance of Argentine young people of that time. Their relationship was hampered by Che's desire to devote his life to treating lepers in South America, like Albert Schweitzer, whose authority he bowed to.

In difficult years

Ernesto Guevara in 1945

Journey through South America

Ernesto Che Guevara in 1951

We were no longer held back in Argentina, and we headed for Chile, the first foreign country that lay in our way. Having passed the province of Mendoza, where Che's ancestors once lived and where we visited several haciendas, watching how horses are tamed and how our gauchos live, we turned south, away from the Andean peaks, impassable for our stunted two-wheeled Rocinante. We had to work hard. The bike kept breaking down and needed fixing. We didn't so much ride it as we dragged it on ourselves.

Stopping for the night in the forest or in the field, they earned money for food by doing odd jobs: they washed dishes in restaurants, treated peasants or acted as veterinarians, repaired radios, worked as loaders, porters or sailors. They exchanged experience with colleagues, visiting leper colonies, where they had the opportunity to take a break from the road. Guevara and Granandos were not afraid of infection, and felt compassion for lepers, wanting to devote their lives to their treatment. On February 18, 1952, they arrived at Temuco in Chile. The local newspaper Diario Austral published an article entitled: "Two Argentine leprosy experts travel through South America on a motorcycle." Granandos' motorcycle finally broke down near Santiago, after which they moved to the port of Valparaiso (where they intended to visit the Easter Island leper colony, however, they learned that they would have to wait six months for the steamer, and abandoned the idea) and then on foot, on hitches or "hares" on steamers or trains. We walked to the copper mine of Chuquicamata, which belonged to the American company Braden Copper Mining Company, spending the night in the barracks of the mine guards. In Peru, travelers got acquainted with the life of the Quechua and Aymara Indians, by that time exploited by landowners and drowning out their hunger with coca leaves. In the city of Cuzco , Ernesto spent several hours reading books about the Inca Empire in the local library . We spent several days at the ruins of the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru. Having settled down on the site for sacrifices of an ancient temple, they began to drink mate and fantasize. Granandos recalled a dialogue with Ernesto:

From Machu Picchu we went to the mountain village of Huambo, stopping on the way to the leper colony of the Peruvian communist doctor Hugo Pesche. He warmly welcomed travelers, introducing them to the methods of treatment of leprosy known to him, and wrote a letter of recommendation to a large leper colony near the city of San Pablo in the province of Loreto in Peru. From the village of Pucallpa on the river Ucayali, having settled on a ship, the travelers went to the port of Iquitos on the banks of the Amazon. In Iquitos, they were delayed due to Ernesto's asthma, which forced him to go to the hospital for a while. On reaching the leper colony in San Pablo, Granados and Guevara received a cordial welcome and were invited to treat patients in the laboratory of the center. The patients, trying to thank the travelers for their friendly attitude, built them a raft, calling it "Mambo Tango" on which they could sail to the next point of the route - the Colombian port of Leticia on the Amazon.

Second trip to Latin America

The path that Che Guevara traveled, 1953-1956.

Ernesto went to Venezuela through the capital of Bolivia - La Paz, by a train called "milk convoy" (a train that stopped at all half-stations, and where farmers loaded cans of milk). On April 9, 1952, the 179th revolution took place in Bolivia, in which miners and peasants participated. The Nationalist Revolutionary Movement party that came to power, led by President Paz Estenssoro, nationalized the tin mines (by paying compensation to foreign owners), organized a militia from miners and peasants, and carried out agrarian reform. In Bolivia, Che visited the mountain villages of the Indians, the villages of miners, met with members of the government, and even worked in the department of information and culture, as well as in the department for the implementation of agrarian reform. He visited the ruins of the Indian sanctuaries of Tiwanaku, which are located near Lake Titicaca, taking many pictures of the Gate of the Sun temple, where the Indians of an ancient civilization worshiped the sun god Viracocha.

Guatemala

Life in Mexico City

On September 21, 1954 they arrived in Mexico City. They settled in the apartment of Puerto Rican Juan Huarbe, a figure in the Nationalist Party, which advocated the independence of Puerto Rico and was outlawed because of the shooting they committed in the US Congress. The Peruvian Lucho (Luis) de la Puente lived in the same apartment, who later, on October 23, 1965, was shot dead in a battle with anti-partisan "rangers" in one of the mountainous regions of Peru. Che and Patoho, having no stable means of subsistence, hunted for pictures in the parks. Che recalled this time like this:

We were both broke... Patojo didn't have a penny, I only had a few pesos. I bought a camera and we smuggled pictures in the parks. One Mexican, the owner of a small photo laboratory, helped us print the cards. We got to know Mexico City by walking up and down it, trying to foist our unimportant photographs on customers. How many had to convince, to persuade that the child photographed by us has a very pretty look and that, really, it is worth paying a peso for such charm. We fed on this craft for several months. Little by little things got better...

Having written the article "I saw the overthrow of Árbenz", Che, however, did not manage to get a job as a journalist. At this time, Ilda Gadea arrived from Guatemala, and they got married. Che began to sell books from the Fondo de culture economy publishing house, got a job as a night watchman at a book exhibition, continuing to read books. In the city hospital, he was accepted by competition for a job in the allergic department. He lectured on medicine at the National University, began to study scientific work(in particular, experiments on cats) at the Institute of Cardiology and the laboratory of a French hospital. On February 15, 1956, Ilda gave birth to a daughter, who was named after her mother Ildita. In an interview with a correspondent for the Mexican magazine Siempre, in September 1959, Che stated:

When my daughter was born in Mexico City, Che said, we could register her as a Peruvian - on her mother's side, or as an Argentinean - on her father's. Both would be logical, because we were, as it were, passing through Mexico. Nevertheless, my wife and I decided to register her as a Mexican as a sign of gratitude and respect for the people who sheltered us in the bitter hour of defeat and exile.

Raul Roa, a Cuban publicist and opponent of Batista, who later became Minister of Foreign Affairs in socialist Cuba, recalled his Mexican meeting with Guevara:

I met Che one night at the house of his compatriot Ricardo Rojo. He had just arrived from Guatemala, where he first took part in the revolutionary and anti-imperialist movement. He was still bitter about defeat. Che seemed and was young. His image is imprinted in my memory: a clear mind, ascetic pallor, asthmatic breathing, a prominent forehead, thick hair, decisive judgments, an energetic chin, calm movements, a sensitive, penetrating look, a sharp thought, speaks calmly, laughs loudly ... He has just begun to work in the allergic department of the Institute of Cardiology. We talked about Argentina, Guatemala and Cuba, looked at their problems through the prism of Latin America. Even then, Che towered over the narrow horizon of Creole nationalism and reasoned from the standpoint of a continental revolutionary. This Argentine doctor, unlike many emigrants who were concerned only about the fate of their country, thought not so much about Argentina as about Latin America as a whole, trying to find its weakest link.

Preparing an expedition to Cuba

At the end of June 1955, two Cubans came to the city hospital of Mexico City, to the doctor on duty - Ernesto Guevara, for a consultation, one of whom turned out to be Nyiko Lopez, Che's acquaintance from Guatemala. He told Che that the Cuban revolutionaries who attacked the Moncada barracks had been released from a hard labor prison on the island of Pinos under an amnesty, and began to gather in Mexico City and prepare an expedition to Cuba. A few days later, an acquaintance with Raul Castro followed, in which Che found a like-minded person, subsequently saying about him: “I don't think this one is like the others. At least he speaks better than others, besides, he thinks ". At this time, Fidel, while in the United States, was collecting money for an expedition among emigrants from Cuba. Speaking in New York at a rally against Batista, Fidel said: “I can tell you with all responsibility that in 1956 we will gain freedom or become martyrs”.

The meeting between Fidel and Che took place on July 9, 1955, in the house of Maria Antonia Gonzalez, at 49 Emparan Street, where a safe house for Fidel's supporters was organized. At the meeting, they discussed the details of the upcoming hostilities in Oriente. Fidel claimed that Che at that time “had more mature revolutionary ideas than me. In ideological, theoretical terms, it was more developed. Compared to me, he was a more advanced revolutionary.". By morning, Che, whom Fidel made, in his words, the impression of an "exceptional person", was enlisted as a doctor in the detachment of the future expedition. Some time later, another military coup took place in Argentina, and Peron was overthrown. Emigrants - opponents of Peron were invited to return to Buenos Aires, which was used by Rojo and other Argentines living in Mexico City. Che refused to do the same, as he was carried away by the upcoming expedition to Cuba. Mexican Arsacio Vanegas Arroyo owned a small printing house and was acquainted with Maria Antonia Gonzalez. His printing house printed documents of the July 26 Movement, which was headed by Fidel. In addition, Arsacio was engaged in physical training for the participants of the upcoming expedition to Cuba, being a wrestler: hiking cross-country, judo, an athletics hall was hired. Arsacio recalled: “In addition, the guys listened to lectures on geography, history, political situation and other topics. Sometimes I myself stayed to listen to these lectures. The guys also went to the cinema to watch films about the war.”.

Colonel of the Spanish army Alberto Baio, a veteran of the war with the Francoists and the author of the manual "150 questions for the partisans", was engaged in military training groups. Initially requesting a fee of 100,000 Mexican pesos (or 8,000 US dollars), then halved it. However, believing in the capabilities of his students, he not only did not take a fee, but also sold his furniture factory, transferring the proceeds to the Fidel group. The Colonel bought for 26 thousand US dollars the hacienda "Santa Rosa" 35 km from the capital, near Erasmo Rivera, former partisan Pancho Villa, as the new base for the squad's training. Che, while training with the group, taught how to make dressings, treat fractures, and give injections, having received more than a hundred injections in one of the classes - one or more from each of the members of the group.

Working with him at the Santa Rosa ranch, I learned what kind of person he was - always the most diligent, always filled with the highest sense of responsibility, ready to help each of us ... I met him when he stopped my bleeding after a tooth extraction . At the time, I could barely read. And he says to me: “I will teach you to read and understand what you read ...” Once we were walking down the street, he suddenly went into a bookstore and bought me two books with the little money he had - “Reporting with a noose on neck" and "Young Guard". Carlos Bermudez

After the arrest, we were taken to the "Miguel Schulz" prison - a place of detention for emigrants. There I saw Che. In a cheap see-through nylon raincoat and an old hat, he looked like a scarecrow. And I, wanting to make him laugh, told him what an impression he makes ... When we were taken out of prison for interrogation, he was the only one handcuffed. I was indignant and told the representative of the prosecutor's office that Guevara was not a criminal to handcuff him, and that in Mexico even criminals were not handcuffed. He returned to prison without handcuffs. Maria Antonia

Interceded for the prisoners ex-president Lazaro Cardenas, his former maritime minister Heriberto Jara, labor leader Lombarde Toledano, artists Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera, as well as cultural figures and scientists. A month later, Mexican authorities released Fidel Castro and the rest of the prisoners, with the exception of Ernesto Guevara and Cuban Calixto Garcia, who were accused of illegal entry into the country. After leaving prison, Fidel Castro continued to prepare for an expedition to Cuba, raising money, buying weapons and organizing clandestine appearances. The training of fighters continued in small groups in various parts of the country. The Granma yacht was purchased from the Swedish ethnographer Werner Green for $12,000. Che feared that Fidel's worries about getting him out of prison would delay his departure, but Fidel told him: "I won't leave you!" The Mexican police also arrested Che's wife, but some time later Ilda and Che were released. Che spent 57 days in prison. The police continued to follow, breaking into safe houses. The press wrote about Fidel's preparations for sailing to Cuba. Frank Pais brought 8,000 dollars from Santiago and was ready to raise an uprising in the city. Due to the increased raids and the possibility of issuing a group, a yacht and a transmitter to the Cuban embassy in Mexico City by a provocateur for 15 thousand dollars, preparations were accelerated. Fidel gave the order to isolate the alleged provocateur and concentrate in the port of Tuspan in the Gulf of Mexico, where the Granma was moored. Frank Pais was sent a telegram "The book is sold out" as a prearranged signal to prepare an uprising at the appointed time. Che with a medical bag ran home to Ilda, kissed his sleeping daughter and wrote a farewell letter to his parents.

Departure on the Granma

At 2 o'clock in the morning on November 25, 1956, in Tuspan, the detachment landed on the Granma. The police received a "mordida" (bribe) and were absent from the pier. Che, Calixto Garcia and three other revolutionaries traveled to Tuspan in a passing car, which had a long wait, for 180 pesos. Halfway through, the driver refused to move on. They managed to persuade him to take him to Rosa Rica, where they transferred to another car and reached their destination. Juan Manuel Marquez met them in Tuspan and took them to the river bank where the Granma was. 82 people with weapons and equipment boarded an overcrowded yacht, which was designed for 8-12 people. At that time there was a storm on the sea and it was raining, the Granma, with the lights extinguished, lay on a course for Cuba. Che recalled that "out of 82 people, only two or three sailors and four or five passengers did not suffer from seasickness." The ship leaked, as it turned out later, due to an open tap in the lavatory, however, trying to eliminate the draft of the ship when the pumping pump was not working, they managed to throw canned food overboard.

You need to have a rich imagination to imagine how such a small vessel could accommodate 82 people with weapons and equipment. The yacht was packed to capacity. People were literally sitting on top of each other. The products were taken away. In the early days, everyone was given half a can of condensed milk, but it soon ran out. On the fourth day, everyone received a piece of cheese and sausage, and on the fifth day, only rotten oranges remained. Calixto Garcia

Cuban Revolution

First days

The Granma arrived on the coast of Cuba only on December 2, 1956, in the Las Coloradas region of Oriente province, immediately running aground. A boat was launched into the water, but it sank. A group of 82 people wade to the shore, shoulder-deep in water; weapons and a small amount of food were brought to land. At the landing site, which Raul Castro later compared to a "shipwreck", boats and planes of units subordinate to Batista rushed, and Fidel Castro's group came under fire. The group made their way for a long time along the swampy coast, which is a mangrove. On the night of December 5, the revolutionaries walked along a sugarcane plantation, by morning they made a halt on the territory of the central (sugar factory along with the plantation) in the area of ​​Alegria de Pio (Holy Joy). Che, being a doctor of the detachment, bandaged his comrades, since their legs were worn out from a difficult campaign in uncomfortable shoes, making the last dressing to the detachment fighter Umberto Lamote. In the middle of the day, enemy planes appeared in the sky. Under enemy fire, half of the fighters of the detachment were killed in battle and approximately 20 people were captured. The next day, the survivors gathered in a cabin near the Sierra Maestra.

Fidel said: “The enemy defeated us, but failed to destroy us. We will fight and win this war.". Guajiro - the peasants of Cuba friendly accepted the members of the detachment and sheltered them in their homes.

Somewhere in the forest, during the long nights (with the sunset our inactivity began) we made daring plans. They dreamed of battles, major operations, of victory. Those were happy hours. Together with everyone, I enjoyed for the first time in my life cigars, which I learned to smoke to drive away annoying mosquitoes. Since then, the aroma of Cuban tobacco has ingrained in me. And the head was spinning, either from a strong "Havana", or from the audacity of our plans - one is more desperate than the other. Ernesto Che Guevara

Sierra Maestra

Ernesto Che Guevara on a mule in the Sierra Maestra.

The Cuban communist writer Pablo de la Torriente Brau wrote that back in the 19th century, in the mountains of the Sierra Maestra, the fighters for the independence of Cuba found a convenient shelter. “Woe to him who raises the sword to these heights. A rebel with a rifle, hiding behind an unbreakable cliff, can fight here against ten. The machine-gunner, seated in the gorge, will hold back the onslaught of a thousand soldiers. Let those who go to war on these peaks not count on airplanes! The caves will shelter the rebels." Fidel and the members of the Granma expedition, as well as Che, were not familiar with this area. On January 22, 1957, at Arroyo de Infierno (Hell's Creek), the detachment defeated the detachment of casquitos (Batista soldiers) Sanchez Mosquera. Five casquitos were killed, the detachment suffered no losses. On January 28, Che wrote a letter to Ilda, which reached Santiago through a trusted person.

Dear old woman! I am writing to you these flaming Martian lines from Cuban manigua. I'm alive and I'm out for blood. It seems that I really am a soldier (at least I am dirty and tattered), for I write on a camping plate, with a gun on my shoulder and a new acquisition in my lips - a cigar. The matter was not easy. You already know that after seven days of sailing on the Granma, where it was impossible even to breathe, we, through the fault of the navigator, ended up in stinking thickets, and our misfortunes continued until we were attacked in the already famous Alegria de Pio and not scattered in different directions, like doves. There I was wounded in the neck, and I survived only thanks to my cat's happiness, because the machine-gun bullet hit the box of cartridges that I carried on my chest, and from there ricocheted into the neck. I wandered for several days in the mountains, considering myself dangerously wounded, in addition to a wound in my neck, my chest was still very sore. Of the guys you know, only Jimmy Hirtzel died, he surrendered, and they killed him. I, along with Almeida and Ramirito, who you know, spent seven days of terrible hunger and thirst, until we left the encirclement and, with the help of the peasants, joined Fidel (they say, although this has not yet been confirmed, that poor Nyiko also died). We had to work hard to reorganize into a detachment, to arm ourselves. After that, we attacked the army post, we killed and wounded several soldiers, and took others prisoner. The dead remained at the battlefield. Some time later, we captured three more soldiers and disarmed them. If we add to this that we had no losses and that we are at home in the mountains, then it will be clear to you how demoralized the soldiers are, they will never be able to surround us. Naturally, the struggle has not yet been won, there are still many battles to be fought, but the scales are already tilting in our direction, and this advantage will increase every day. Now, speaking of you, I would like to know if you are still in the same house where I am writing to you, and how do you live there, especially “the most tender petal of love”? Hug her and kiss her as hard as her bones will allow. I was in such a hurry that I left photos of you and your daughter in Pancho's house. Send them to me. You can write to me at your uncle's address and at Patojo's name. Letters may be a little delayed, but I think they will reach.

The peasant Eutimio Guerra, who helped the detachment, was captured by the authorities and promised them to kill Fidel. However, his plans did not materialize and he was shot. In February, Che had an attack of malaria, and then another attack of asthma. During one of the skirmishes, the peasant Crespo, having put Che on his back, carried him out from under enemy fire, since Che could not move independently. Che was left at the farmer's house with an accompanying fighter, and was able to overcome one of the crossings, holding on to tree trunks and leaning on the butt of a gun, in ten days, with the help of adrenaline, which the farmer managed to get. In the mountains of the Sierra Maestra, Che, who suffered from asthma, periodically rested up in peasant huts so as not to delay the movement of the column. He was often seen with a book or a notebook in hand.

Poor Che! I saw how he suffered from asthma, and only sighed when the attack began. He was silent. I breathed softly so as not to disturb the disease even more. Some during an attack fall into hysterics, cough, open their mouths. Che tried to contain the attack, to calm his asthma. He would hide in a corner, sit on a stool or on a stone and rest. On such occasions, she hurried to prepare a warm drink for him. Ponciana Perez, peasant woman

A member of the detachment, Rafael Chao, claimed that Che did not shout at anyone and did not allow mockery, but often used strong words in conversation, and was very sharp, "when necessary." “I did not know a less selfish person. If he had only one boniato tuber, he was ready to give it to his comrades..

Throughout the war, Che kept a diary, which served as the basis for his famous book"Episodes of the Revolutionary War". Over time, the detachment managed to establish contact with the July 26 Movement organization in Santiago and Havana. The location of the detachment in the mountains was visited by activists and leaders of the underground: Frank Pais, Armando Hart, Vilma Espin, Aide Santa Maria, Celia Sanchez, the detachment was supplied. In order to refute Batista's reports about the defeat of the "robbers" - "forahidos", Fidel Castro sent Faustino Perez to Havana with an order to deliver a foreign journalist. On February 17, 1957, Herbert Matthews, a correspondent for The New York Times, arrived at the location of the detachment. He met with Fidel, and a week later he published a report with photographs of Fidel and the fighters of the detachment. In this report, he wrote: “Apparently, General Batista has no reason to hope to crush the Castro uprising. He can only count on the fact that one of the columns of soldiers will accidentally run into the young leader and his headquarters and destroy them, but this is unlikely to happen ... ".

Battle of Uvero

Main article: Battle of Uvero

In May 1957, it was planned to arrive from the USA (Miami) of the Corinthia ship with reinforcements led by Calixto Sanchez. To divert attention from their landing, Fidel gave the order to storm the barracks in the village of Uvero, 15 km from Santiago. In addition, this opened up the possibility of an exit from the Sierra Maestra to the valley of the province of Oriente. Che took part in the battle for Uvero, and described it in Episodes of the Revolutionary War. On May 27, 1957, a headquarters was assembled, where Fidel announced the upcoming battle. Starting the hike in the evening, they walked about 16 kilometers overnight along a mountainous winding road, spending about eight hours on the way, often stopping for precaution, especially in dangerous areas. The guide was Caldero, who was well versed in the area of ​​the Uvero barracks and the approaches to it. The wooden barracks was located on the seashore, it was guarded by posts. It was decided to surround her in the dark on three sides. A group of Jorge Sotus and Guillermo Garcia attacked a post on the coastal road from Peladero. Almeida was instructed to eliminate the post opposite the height. Fidel was located in the height area, and Raul's platoon attacked the barracks from the front. Che was assigned a direction between them. Camilo Cienfuegos and Ameiheiras lost direction in the dark. The task of the attack was facilitated by the presence of a bush, but the enemy noticed the attackers and opened fire. Crescencio Perez's platoon did not participate in the assault, guarding the road to Chivirico to block the approach of enemy reinforcements. During the attack, it was forbidden to shoot at living quarters where there were women and children. The wounded casquitos were given first aid, leaving two of their seriously wounded in the care of the doctor of the enemy garrison. Having loaded a truck with equipment and medicines, we went to the mountains. Che pointed out that two hours and forty-five minutes elapsed from the first shot to the capture of the barracks. The attackers lost 15 people killed and wounded, and the enemy - 19 people wounded and 14 killed. The victory strengthened the morale of the detachment. Subsequently, other small enemy garrisons at the foot of the Sierra Maestra were destroyed.

The landing from the Corinthia ended unsuccessfully: according to official reports, all the revolutionaries who landed from this ship were killed or captured. Batista decided to forcibly evacuate local peasants from the slopes of the Sierra Maestra in order to deprive the revolutionaries of the support of the population, however, many guajiro resisted the evacuation, assisted Fidel's detachment, and joined their ranks.

Further struggle

Relations with local peasants did not always go smoothly: anti-communist propaganda was made on the radio and in church services. The peasant woman Iniria Gutierrez recalled that before joining the detachment she had heard only "terrible things" about communism, and was surprised by the direction of Che's political views. In a feuilleton published in January 1958 in the first issue of the insurgent newspaper El Cubano Libre, signed Sniper, Che wrote on this subject: “All those who take up arms are communists, for they are tired of poverty, no matter how this country has never happened.” To suppress robberies and anarchy, to improve relations with the local population, a discipline commission was created in the detachment, endowed with the powers of a military tribunal. The pseudo-revolutionary gang of the Chinese Chang was liquidated. Che noted: "At that difficult time, it was necessary with a firm hand to stop any violation of revolutionary discipline and not allow anarchy to develop in the liberated regions." Executions were also carried out on the facts of desertion from the detachment. Medical assistance was provided to the prisoners, and Che was very careful not to offend them. As a rule, they were released.

It is hereby declared that every person who provides information that may contribute to the success of the operation against the rebel groups under the command of Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, Crescencio Perez, Guillermo Gonzalez or other leaders, will be rewarded depending on the importance of the information provided by him; while the reward in any case will be at least 5 thousand pesos. The amount of remuneration can range from 5 thousand to 100 thousand pesos; the highest amount of 100 thousand pesos will be paid for the head of Fidel Castro himself. Note: The name of the person who provided the information will forever remain a secret.

Raul Castro with Ernesto Che Guevara in the Sierra del Cristal mountains south of Havana. 1958

Fearing police persecution, Batista's opponents swelled the ranks of the rebels in the Sierra Maestra mountains. There were centers of uprising in the mountains of Escambray, the Sierra del Cristal and in the Baracoa region under the leadership of the Revolutionary Directorate, the July 26 Movement and individual communists. In October, politicians from the bourgeois camp established the Liberation Council in Miami, proclaiming Felipe Pazos interim president. They issued a manifesto to the people. Fidel rejected the Miami Pact, considering it to be pro-American. In a letter to Fidel, Che wrote: “Once again, congratulations on your announcement. I told you that it will always be to your credit that you proved the possibility of an armed struggle that enjoys the support of the people. Now you are embarking on an even more wonderful path, which will lead to power as a result of the armed struggle of the masses..

By the end of 1957, rebel troops dominated the Sierra Maestra, but did not descend into the valleys. Food items such as beans, corn and rice were purchased from local farmers. Medicines were delivered by underground workers from the city. The meat was confiscated from large cattle merchants and those who were accused of betrayal, part of the confiscated was transferred to local peasants. Che organized sanitary posts, field hospitals, workshops for repairing weapons, making handicraft shoes, duffel bags, uniforms, and cigarettes. The hectograph began to multiply the newspaper El Cubano Libre, which got its name from the newspaper of the fighters for the independence of Cuba in the 19th century. The broadcasts of a small radio station began to go on the air. Close contact with the local population made it possible to learn about the appearance of casquitos and enemy scouts.

Government propaganda called for national unity and harmony, as strikes and insurrections expanded in the cities of Cuba. In March 1958, the US government announced an arms embargo against Batista forces, although arming and refueling government aircraft at Guantanamo continued for some time. At the end of 1958, according to the constitution (statute) announced by Batista, presidential elections were to be held. In the Sierra Maestra, no one spoke openly about communism or socialism, and the reforms openly proposed by Fidel, such as the liquidation of latifundia, the nationalization of transport, electric companies and other important enterprises, were moderate and not denied even by pro-American politicians.

Che Guevara as a statesman

Che Guevara in Moscow in 1964.

Che Guevara believed that he could count on unlimited economic assistance from the "fraternal" countries. Che, being a minister of the revolutionary government, learned a lesson from conflicts with the fraternal countries of the socialist camp. Negotiating support, economic and military cooperation, discussing international politics with Chinese and Soviet leaders, he came to an unexpected conclusion and had the courage to speak out publicly in his famous Algerian speech. It was a real indictment against the non-internationalist policy of the so-called socialist countries. He reproached them for imposing on the poorest countries conditions of trade similar to those dictated by imperialism in the world market, as well as for refusing unconditional support, including military support, for renouncing the struggle for national liberation, in particular, in Congo and Vietnam. Che was well aware of Engels' famous equation: the less developed the economy, the greater the role of violence in the formation of a new formation. If in the early 1950s he jokingly signed the letters "Stalin II", then after the victory of the revolution he was forced to prove: "In Cuba there are no conditions for the formation of the Stalinist system."

Later, Che Guevara would say: “After the revolution, it is not the revolutionaries who do the work. It is done by technocrats and bureaucrats. And they are counter-revolutionaries.”

Juanita, who knew Guevara closely, the sister of Fidel and Raul Castro, who later left for the United States, wrote about him in her biographical book “Fidel and Raul, my brothers. Secret History":

For him, neither the trial nor the investigation mattered. He immediately began to shoot, because he was a man without a heart

In her opinion, the appearance of Guevara in Cuba - "the worst thing that could happen to her" But at the same time, one should not forget that Juanita went to the United States and collaborated with the CIA.

Che Guevara's last letter to his parents

Dear old people! I again feel the ribs of Rocinante in my heels, again, dressed in armor, I set off. About ten years ago I wrote you another farewell letter. As far as I remember, then I regretted that I was not a better soldier and a better doctor; the second is no longer of interest to me, but the soldier turned out to be not so bad from me. Basically, nothing has changed since then, except that I have become much more conscious, my Marxism has taken root in me and cleared up. I believe that armed struggle is the only way out for peoples fighting for their liberation, and I am consistent in my views. Many will call me an adventurer, and this is true. But I'm the only adventurer of a special kind, the kind who risk their own skin to prove their case. Maybe I'll try to make it last. I am not looking for such an end, but it is possible, if logically based on the calculation of possibilities. And if that happens, accept my last embrace. I loved you deeply, but I did not know how to express my love. I am too direct in my actions and I think that sometimes I was not understood. Besides, it was not easy to understand me, but this time - trust me. So, the determination, which I have cultivated with the enthusiasm of the artist, will make frail legs and tired lungs work. I'll get mine. Remember sometimes this modest condottiere of the 20th century. Kiss Celia, Roberto, Juan Martin and Pototin, Beatriz, everyone. Your prodigal and incorrigible son Ernesto hugs you tightly.

Rebel

Congo

In April 1965, Guevara arrived in the Republic of the Congo, where fighting continued at that time. He had high hopes for the Congo, he believed that the vast territory of this country, covered with jungles, would provide excellent opportunities for organizing a guerrilla war. A total of over 100 Cuban volunteers participated in the operation. However, from the very beginning, the operation in the Congo was plagued by setbacks. Relations with the local rebels were difficult enough that Guevara had no faith in their leadership. In the first battle on June 29, the Cuban and rebel forces were defeated. Later, Guevara came to the conclusion that it was impossible to win the war with such allies, but still continued the operation. The final blow to the Congolese expedition of Guevara was dealt in October, when Joseph Kasavubu came to power in the Congo, who put forward initiatives to resolve the conflict. After Kasavubu's statements, Tanzania, which served as a rear base for the Cubans, stopped supporting them. Guevara had no choice but to stop the operation. He returned to Tanzania and, while at the Cuban embassy, ​​prepared a diary of the Congo operation, which began with the words "This is a story of failure."

Bolivia

Rumors about the whereabouts of Guevara did not stop in -1967. Representatives of the Mozambican independence movement FRELIMO reported a meeting with Che in Dar es Salaam during which they refused the assistance offered to him in their revolutionary project. The truth turned out to be rumors that Guevara led the guerrillas in Bolivia. By order of Fidel Castro, the Bolivian communists specially bought land to create bases where partisans were trained under the leadership of Guevara. Hyde Tamara Bunke Bieder (also known by the nickname "Tanya"), a former Stasi agent who, according to some reports, also worked for the KGB, was introduced into Guevara's entourage as an agent in La Paz. René Barientos, frightened by the news of the guerrillas in his country, turned to the CIA for help. Against Guevara, it was decided to use the CIA forces specially trained for anti-guerrilla operations.

Guevara's guerrilla detachment consisted of about 50 people and acted as the National Liberation Army of Bolivia (Spanish. Ejército de Liberacion Nacional de Bolivia ). He was well equipped and spent several successful operations against regular troops in the difficult mountainous terrain of the Camiri region. However, in September, the Bolivian army was able to eliminate two groups of guerrillas, killing one of the leaders. Despite the violent nature of the conflict, Guevara provided medical care to all the wounded Bolivian soldiers who were captured by the partisans, and later released them. During his last fight in Cuebrada del Yuro, Guevara was wounded, his rifle was hit by a bullet that disabled the weapon, and he shot all the cartridges from the pistol. When he was captured, unarmed and wounded, and led under escort to the school that served the CIA soldiers as a temporary prison for the guerrillas, he saw several wounded Bolivian soldiers there. Guevara offered to provide them with medical assistance, which was refused by the Bolivian officer. Che himself received only an aspirin tablet.

Captivity and execution

The hunt for Guevara in Bolivia was led by Felix Rodriguez, a CIA agent. The informant told the Bolivian Special troops about the location of Guevara's partisan detachment, and on October 8, 1967, the detachment's camp was surrounded, and Guevara himself was captured in the Cuebrada del Yuro gorge. According to some of the soldiers who were present, when they approached Guevara during the skirmish, he allegedly shouted: "Do not shoot! I am Che Guevara and I stand for you more alive than dead.. Rodriguez, upon hearing of Guevara's capture, immediately reported it to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Ernesto Guevara was born in the city of Rosario (Argentina). This event in the family of a Basque and an Irish woman took place on June 14, 1928. Ernesto was the first of five children. His parents have always supported the Republican Party in civil war in Spain. Veterans of the resistance army have repeatedly visited their house. This could not but affect the young Ernesto. His father repeated more than once that the son was of the flesh and blood of the Irish rebels.

It is interesting to note that all family members loved to read. About 3,000 books were stored on the shelves. Among them are books by Franz Kafka, Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jules Verne, William Faulkner and many others.

Youth

In 1948, the future national hero of Argentina successfully passed the exams for the medical department at the national university in Buenos Aires. Literally two years later, he took a leave of absence for a grand tour of Latin America with his friend Alberto Granado. On a motorcycle, two comrades traveled around half of the mainland and saw the main sights with their own eyes, got acquainted with amazing nature and various peoples of a large continent. He wrote down his thoughts and impressions in a diary. Later, these records appeared on the front pages of the New York Times under the loud headline "The Motorcycle Diaries."

Back in Argentina, 22-year-old Ernesto once again sat down at his desk - this time to complete his studies, and finally receive a well-deserved doctorate. He reached his goal in 1953. But with all his thoughts and feelings, he was directed to another world - a world of justice and freedom, directly opposite to flourishing poverty and lawlessness.

revolutionary activity

At the end of 1953, Ernesto Guevara moved to Guatemala, where he actively participated in the political and public life countries. From there, under threat of arrest, he was forced to flee to Mexico. There he met his future wife, Ilde Gadea, who introduced him to the circle of revolutionary-minded emigrants from the Island of Freedom.

In the summer of 1955, a fateful meeting awaited him with Raul Castro, who soon introduced him to his own brother, Fidel Castro. The latter invited Guevara to join the Cuban revolutionary group to fight the dictatorial regime of Batista. The Argentine agreed without any doubt, because the success of the Cuban uprising is the first step towards victory in the continental revolution. And this was his main dream and goal of life.

Victory

The road to victory was hard. Some died during the fighting, others were arrested and shot. However, Fidel Castro was supported by most of the country's population. As a result, in the summer of 1958 Batista's army was finally defeated.

Guevara was awarded the highest military rank- commander. He became an honorary citizen of Cuba and second only to Fidel Castro. But honors didn't change him. He led a modest lifestyle, opposed all sorts of excesses and luxury. But most importantly, he continued to lead his just struggle for equal rights, the eradication of poverty and a new social society throughout the South American continent.

Other biography options

• IN short biography Ernesto Che Guevara can not be said about the appearance of the word "Che" in his name. The fact is that the “comandante” often used the interjection “che”, which literally translated as “friend”.
• In 1962, the world was on the brink of nuclear war, largely due to the efforts of Guevara. It was he who participated in bringing nuclear missiles to Cuba.
• In 1967, Che Guevara was captured and subsequently shot in La Ichera.

SHARES

The name Ernesto Guevara is associated with an unexampled struggle for the rights of the poor and workers against the capitalist regime and the hegemony of the powerful. Ernesto Che Guevara is known primarily as a revolutionary who won his fame in Cuba and in some other countries of Latin America and Africa. The life of Che Guevara can be divided into several periods:

1. Ernesto Che Guevara was born in the large Argentine city of Rosario on June 14, 1928 into a wealthy family. His father was a well-known architect in the city, and his mother was the heiress of a large fortune left to her by the descendants of former planters.
2. In the Guevara family, in addition to Ernesto, there were four more children, two brothers and two sisters. Despite the difficult economic situation in the country, the condition of the parents made it possible for all children without exception to study and receive a higher education.
3. Even in childhood, at the age of three, Ernesto was diagnosed with a serious illness - bronchial asthma, with the consequences of which he had to fight all his short life. Despite his illness, the boy, the future revolutionary, had a dozen intelligence and an excellent ability to learn, at the age of 4, little Ernesto learned to read, in which he was ahead of all his peers.

Youth specialty travel

After graduating from high school and college in the mid-forties, Guevara decides to become a doctor and enters the capital's medical university. Having successfully graduated from the university, the young man receives the specialty of a surgeon, which is considered the most prestigious among others. Despite the successful mastering of the medical specialty, the future fighter against regimes did not have to work in public hospitals in Argentina. In parallel with his main studies, Ernesto is interested in other sciences, the works of Marxist theorists. Among other talents of the future statesman, it is worth highlighting the ability to write soul-piercing poems.

Despite the disease of bronchial asthma, the young man Guevara leads an active lifestyle and goes in for sports. He is interested in football, golf, horseback riding, long bike rides. Even in his youth, Ernesto travels a lot, he visits such countries:

1. India.
2. Trinidad.
3. Peru.
4. Chile.
5. Colombia.

In order to earn money for traveling and getting to know the world, a young man does not disdain any work. He worked as a loader and dishwasher, applied his medical skills in veterinary medicine, treatment of various farm animals.

The spirit of a revolutionary and a fighter for justice began to manifest itself while traveling through Colombia, engulfed in flames of civil war. Back in those days, the young revolutionary learned what the pain and suffering of the oppression of the most vulnerable class of people is.

First revolutionary activity

• according to the convictions of his comrades, young Guevara visits Guatemala, in the country in those years there is a real war between the forces of the pro-American protege and the rebels who are carriers of leftist ideas;
• Ernesto takes part in the struggle on the side of the left, but after their defeat he was forced to leave the country in the status of an enemy of the state. During the revolutionary struggle in Guatemala, Che Guevara meets an ideological ally named Ilde, who will become his wife in the future;
• in the mid-fifties, he moved to the capital of Mexico, where Ernesto got a job in a hospital. But a peaceful, calm life was not sued for the freedom fighter, after some time a friend of Che Guevara persuades him to visit Cuba, in which a revolutionary struggle was waged against the local dictator.

Involvement in the Cuban Revolution

1. Che Guevara and his supporters arrived in Cuba in 1956, where he immediately plunged into revolutionary activities and the struggle against the local regime. Many adherents of leftist ideas died in the first months of the struggle, others ended up in state Cuban prisons. Ernesto, along with his closest associates, had to go underground and become partisans.
2. The partisan struggle was accompanied by unprecedented difficulties, hardships and illnesses, during this period the outstanding revolutionary received the title of "commandant", more than a hundred people fought under his personal command. At this time, the commandant keeps a personal diary, writes poems and works that inspire many peasants and local residents to fight against the totalitarian ruler Batista. At the very end of the fifties, the rebels under the command of Che Guevara won a series of impressive victories over government troops, as a result of which Batista left Cuba.
3. After the victory of the revolution, Ernesto occupies important positions in the Castro government, but peace did not come for long. In the early 1960s, the American government embarked on a plan to overthrow the communist government of Liberty Island. The landing and advancement of the American landing was not crowned with success, the resistance was headed by the same Che Guevara, who has vast experience in conducting partisan subversive activities.

Other revolutionary activities of the commandant

After the Americans were defeated, and the left-wing government of Cuba managed to resist, Ernesto leaves the island of freedom in order to continue the revolutionary struggle in other countries and continents. In the mid-sixties, Che Guevara took an active part in the civil war in the Congo. In this country, which is a former French colony, the left movement was very actively developing. Ernesto shares his experience and trains the rebels to successfully lead fighting in any conditions.

During these years, the commandant's health is seriously undermined, reminiscent of childhood asthma, and besides, the revolutionary falls ill with malaria. Undermined health, he partially restores in the sanatorium of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.

Last fight and death

• the last country in which Ernesto carried out a revolutionary struggle was Bolivia. In 1966, the commandant, with a small detachment, landed in this South American country in order to continue the struggle for equality and freedom;
• during those years, Guevara became one of the most despised enemies of the central intelligence agency and the US government. There is information that a large reward was placed on his head;
• the struggle of the commandant in Bolivia was initially doomed, having no large resistance forces, he opposed the well-armed and manned government troops. The whole struggle took a little over ten months, after which he was captured, subjected to terrible torture and was shot.

What became famous

Commandant Che Guevara became famous throughout the world, first of all, as a revolutionary who managed to achieve success in the fight against pro-American regimes in some third world countries.

He was also very successful statesman, as Minister of Industry of Cuba, he managed to conclude many lucrative economic contracts, primarily with Soviet Union. For many generations, Ernesto Che Guevara was a symbol of the struggle for justice and a brighter future for workers and peasants.

What do you think of Ernesto Che Guevara? We are waiting for your comments.