How can we measure the mythical aura of a personality? It may be the eagerness with which his admirers rush to put words to his life, to write his legend, after his death. The Argentine revolutionary leader, Ernesto Che Guevara, undoubtedly belonged in the last century to the small number of figures who almost instantly acquired the status of an icon.
A structuring ideological influence
Unlike Fidel Castro, Che Guevara already had a solid Marxist-Leninist background from the beginning. Jean-Jacques Nattiez recalls that “Che Guevara had a very rigorous and precise ideological training. He acquired it within his progressive family environment and because he had traveled extensively throughout Latin America and had gained a global political knowledge of the continental situation in Latin America. Che Guevara had also read the essays of Marx and Lenin, especially during his stay in Mexico.” He vigorously defended a radical line: land reform without compensation, rapid socialization of the economy, and a break with the national bourgeoisie. He also opposed the Soviet model of “material incentives” and advocated “moral incentives” based on ideological education and revolutionary consciousness. This vision, considered utopian by Castro, reflects his ideal of an ethical and anti-bureaucratic communism.
Appointed Minister of Industry (1961-1965), Guevara tried to massively industrialize Cuba in order to ensure its economic independence, including vis-a-vis the USSR. This policy, at the expense of agriculture, led to economic difficulties and ultimately failed. From 1964-1965, he had to accept an economic reorientation and engage in self-criticism.
Tri-continental travels
Guevara acted as an ambassador of the Cuban revolution, making numerous trips to Africa, Asia, and the socialist bloc. He was involved in developing an internationalist revolutionary line independent of Moscow and Beijing. Jean-Jacques Nattiez explained “In early 1965, Guevara set off on a two-month trip to Africa. He visited about ten countries that had recently gained independence in Africa and made contacts. This trip was both a preparatory diplomatic operation for the Tricontinental Conference in 1966 and also an attempt to form a kind of triangle between three revolutionary capitals Havana, Algiers, and Brazzaville in the Congo. It is at this time that the search for a second Vietnam was developed.” He advocated the strategy of creating “several Vietnams” to weaken the United States, particularly through the expansion of revolutionary bases in Africa (Congo) and Latin America (Bolivia).
His involvement in Congo (1965), then in Bolivia (1966-1967), was in line with Cuban policy, not an isolated initiative. These attempts failed and led to his execution in 1967 in Bolivia.
The birth of the myth
After his death, Che Guevara became a global symbolic figure. His writings, especially Socialism and Man in Cuba and his speech at the Tricontinental Conference, strongly influenced European student movements in 1968. His image as a revolutionary intellectual consistent between thought and action, prone to sacrifice, nourished a long-standing myth extending far beyond the Cuban context.
- By Roger Pillaudin
- With Jean-Jacques Nattiez (biographer)
- Arcanes 70 – Arcanes de la vie de Che Guevara (1st broadcast: 04/09/1970)
- Web Editions: Laurence Jennepin
