{"id":2060162,"date":"2023-10-09T03:22:01","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T07:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/can-leftists-really-not-find-a-better-icon-than-che-guevara\/"},"modified":"2023-10-09T03:29:37","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T07:29:37","slug":"can-leftists-really-not-find-a-better-icon-than-che-guevara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/can-leftists-really-not-find-a-better-icon-than-che-guevara\/","title":{"rendered":"Are there no better icons for Leftists than Che Guevara?"},"content":{"rendered":"

20<\/div>SHARES<\/span><\/div>

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Oct. 9 will mark 56\u2063 years since\u2064 the death<\/a> of Cuban guerrilla Ernesto \u201cChe\u201d Guevara. Apparently, it does not matter\u2063 that he helped the Castros create an authoritarian regime that now supports \u2063the\u200b oppression \u200bof hundreds of millions of people around the world, because clueless \u200bcollege students at Syracuse University in New \u2063York still elevate<\/a> Che\u2062 as a representative of liberation and \u201cfree\u201d thinking. <\/p>\n

But this ignorant reverence is much more pervasive than a mural \u200con display at a particular university \u2014 Che remains a popular \u200band venerated figure \u200cdespite his \u200crightfully infamous \u200dreputation. College students\u2063 all over the Americas (often from wealthy families) use his\u2064 image\u2062 to LARP as communist\u2063 revolutionaries.\u200b They\u200d have \u200dworn their Che \u200cT-shirts\u2062 proudly<\/a>, fancying themselves\u2064 the saviors\u200c of the poor and\u200d oppressed, despite the fact that most of these T-shirts are made in sweatshops in Central America<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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Graffiti commemorating \u200bChe is plastered all over towns and universities in Latin America, Mexico<\/a>, Colombia<\/a>, and\u200b Bolivia<\/a>, where\u2062 Che was killed by \u2063Bolivian special forces with \u200bthe help of the United\u200d States. Prominent left-wing newspapers and outlets \u2062like Jacobin<\/a>, Current \u200cAffairs<\/a>, and \u200b Democracy Now!<\/a> have written and produced fawning fluff pieces about Che\u2019s legacy in the developing world. In 2004, NPR commemorated the 30th anniversary of\u2062 Che\u2019s\u200c death\u2064 by \u2063reporting on his legacy as an \u201c icon<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

We have \u200beven \u2064experienced this idol-like treatment of Che\u2064 Guevara\u2064 firsthand\u200d in our own college and university settings. In one Spanish-language class at the University \u200cof British Columbia, people read Che\u2019s books and articles with great\u200b fervor, some even\u200b citing him as a role\u2062 model. Someone showed up to class in full Che cosplay once,\u200d touting his famous quote, \u201cBetter to die standing than to live\u200b on your knees.\u201d In another Spanish-language class at the \u200dESEADE Instituto Universitario in Buenos Aires, a large portrait of Che welcomed all students\u2063 to class every morning. <\/p>\n

The anniversary of Che\u2019s death will\u200c likely usher in\u200b another wave of left-wing puff pieces \u2064depicting<\/a> him as noble or misunderstood. Or, at\u2062 the very least, crowds of\u2063 students and self-proclaimed intellectuals celebrating his legacy<\/a>. \u200dThe truth, however, is that Che Guevara was a\u200d ruthless tyrant. \u200bHis true legacy consists of the millions who have suffered under his regime. <\/p>\n

The Cuban government Guevara helped cultivate harvested political dissidents\u2019 blood<\/a> before their executions, \u2063 tortured \u2063and murdered<\/a> \u2064civilian noncombatants, and confiscated properties and businesses<\/a> for\u200b the sake of \u201cagrarian reform.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Che also helped execute<\/a> and set up firing squads<\/a> for members of the political opposition<\/a> in Cuba, \u2064including\u2063 those \u200bwith ties to the previous government<\/a>. Cuban \u2063writer David Mitrani, one of \u2064Che\u2019s friends from\u200b youth, said<\/a> Che \u2063became an\u200d \u201ceffective, violent, selective, and cold killing machine\u201d when\u200b in power. He did indeed \u2062become a \u2064\u201ckilling machine.\u201d \u2062When in charge of the\u200b Sierra Maestra \u2062prison, Che also said<\/a>, \u201cAt the Sierra Maestra, we executed many people by firing squad without knowing if they \u200bwere fully guilty.\u201d <\/p>\n

In the early 1960s, Che urged<\/a> \u200d the placement of Soviet nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba. While \u2063Soviet strategists\u200b and some in the Castro regime saw this as a defensive mechanism<\/a> \u2063to slow U.S. weapon development and prevent a \u200bpotential U.S.\u2064 nuclear\u200b first strike, Che saw this\u200b as an opportunity to start a nuclear war with the United\u2064 States. <\/p>\n

When the Soviets removed the missiles, Che<\/a> \u201curged Khrushchev to launch a nuclear strike, now, \u2062against US cities.\u201d His targets? Los Angeles, \u200dNew York, or Washington. He spent the\u200b rest of his life claiming he \u200dwould have \u2064pressed the nuclear button if \u2064he had been in charge. Truly\u200c a man of peace. <\/p>\n

Moreover, Che was no democrat, but an authoritarian ideologue. When his army seized \u2063power in Havana, he declared, \u2064\u201c All\u2062 right, it is dictatorship<\/a>.\u201d Che\u2063 viciously armed and trained violent groups<\/a> around the world, hoping to turn them into far-left dictatorships<\/a>. These countries included Bolivia, Angola,\u2064 Congo, and, of\u2062 course, Cuba. <\/p>\n

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Che also helped inspire \u200bterrorist groups with a leftist bent, including the Irish Republican Army<\/a> in Northern Ireland, the Zapatista \u200dArmy\u200c of\u2064 National Liberation<\/a> in \u200dSouthern Mexico, and \u2064the Revolutionary Armed \u2063Forces of Colombia<\/a>, all of which have added to their respective countries\u2019\u200d instability, conflict, and polarization. The Irish government even has a Che stamp<\/a> in \u2062commemoration of his death.<\/p>\n

Successful government revolutionaries, including Mao Zedong<\/a> \u200b in China, \u200bthe Khmer Rouge<\/a> in Cambodia, Kim Il Sung<\/a> \u200d in North Korea, and Ho Chi Minh<\/a> \u200cin Vietnam, commended Che. The respect<\/a> was mutual, as Che \u200dquoted Mao<\/a> in his writings and praised Kim Il \u200bSung in interviews<\/a> and speeches<\/a>. Their regimes killed \u200bmillions and built systems of oppression that last to this \u200bday. <\/p>\n

Some revolutionaries who fought alongside Che wanted a \u2064European-style social-democratic \u200csystem in Cuba, but\u200c Che dismissed them outright. Maybe he would\u2019ve preferred \u200bto\u200b put them in state-sponsored labor camps<\/a>, which were\u200b reminiscent<\/a> of Soviet gulags.<\/p>\n

Che Guevara\u2064 was not a hero, a freedom fighter, or a tortured \u200csoul <\/a>who \u201cdid what he had\u200b to do\u201d when faced \u200dwith\u200b back-breaking poverty or American imperialism. He was evil; it\u2019s as simple as that. No self-respecting freeman \u2062should wear a T-shirt with Che\u2019s likeness plastered all over \u200dit. <\/p>\n

Nothing he did is worth celebrating, and no anniversary related \u2062to him\u2064 is \u2064worth honoring. <\/p>\n

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rnrn <\/p>\n

Source of inspiration for their social justice activism<\/a>. Che’s image is also commonly displayed on campus, with posters, artwork, and even clothing featuring\u200d his face. Despite\u2063 the evidence of his oppressive actions and beliefs, \u2064there seems to be a romanticized and ignorant view of Che among many\u2063 young people today<\/a>. This troubling legacy\u2064 deserves\u200b closer examination and critical questioning. Here \u2062are three PAA-related questions \u200cthat arise from the title:<\/h2>\n
The Troubling Legacy of Che Guevara: A Disturbing Icon of Ignorance and Oppression <\/p>\n
On October 9, we will mark 56 years since the death of \u2063Cuban guerrilla Ernesto \u201cChe\u201d Guevara. Despite his role in helping\u2062 the Castros create an authoritarian \u2064regime\u2062 that oppresses millions of people worldwide, there is still a misguided reverence \u200dfor him, especially among clueless college students. This ignorance goes beyond a \u2064mural \u200cat Syracuse University; Che remains \u2064a popular and venerated figure, \u2064despite his rightfully infamous reputation. College students throughout \u2064the Americas, often from wealthy families, use his image to play at being communist\u2064 revolutionaries. They proudly wear Che T-shirts, considering themselves the \u2062champions of the poor and oppressed, while ironically, these T-shirts are made in sweatshops in \u2064Central America.<\/p>\n
Graffiti commemorating Che is plastered all over towns and\u200b universities in Latin \u2063America, Mexico, Colombia, and Bolivia, where he was killed by Bolivian special\u2064 forces with the help of the United States. Left-wing newspapers and outlets like Jacobin, Current Affairs, and Democracy Now! have written and produced flattering pieces about Che’s legacy in the developing world. In 2004, NPR even commemorated the 30th anniversary of Che’s death, reporting on his legacy as an “icon.”<\/p>\n
We have witnessed this idol-like treatment of \u2064Che Guevara firsthand in our own college and university settings. In Spanish-language classes, students read Che’s books and articles with great enthusiasm, even citing him \u2064as a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Oct. 9 marks 56 years since Ernesto \u201cChe\u201d Guevara’s death. Despite his role in creating an oppressive regime supporting global oppression, clueless Syracuse University students in New York continue to idolize him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2471,"featured_media":2060163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2060162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2060162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2471"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2060162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2060162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2060163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2060162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2060162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2060162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}