Guevara, Che (1928–1967)

KNOWN BY MANY simply as Che, Ernesto Guevara was the quintessential romantic revolutionary who died [Page 204]fighting for the liberation of Latin America. He was born to a middle-class Argentine family and became a medical doctor in 1953. Revealing a rebellious and adventurous spirit, Guevara then abandoned his medical career and began a motorcycle journey through Latin America, at a time when many roads barely accommodated cars, let alone motorcycles.

His travels exposed him to the stark poverty in which many Latin Americans lived and deepened his rejection of capitalist exploitation and U.S. intervention in the region. He arrived in Guatemala during the progressive government of Jacobo Arbenz and witnessed its 1954 overthrow in a U.S.-sponsored military coup d'etat. This experience intensified his political opposition to ...