From “The Motorcycle Diaries” to the man behind the legend

ERNESTO “CHE” GUEVARA

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna was born on May 14, 1928

He was born into an upper middle-class family

Joined the Partido Union Democratica as a teenager

“What we had in common - our restlessness, our impassioned spirits, and a love for the open road.”

ERNESTO – EARLY YEARS

Thei

r

“This isn't a tale of heroic feats. It's about two lives running parallel for a while, with common aspirations and similar dreams.”

THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

Journey

One

Mighty

The

Al Austral – Main headline on left reads:

Two Argentine Leprosy Experts Tour Latin America By Motorcycle.

SURVIVAL

“And then many things became very clear... we learned perfectly that the life of a single human being is worth millions of times more than all the property of the richest man on earth.” 

COLONIALISM AT ITS WORST

Initial Purpose, yet final stop in the film

Divided by Amazon River, united in spirit

SAN PABLO LEPER VILLAGE

Major land reform

1953 - Guevara joined the government of President Jacabo Arbenz

Arbenz was overthrown by a CIA-sponsored coup

GUATEMALA

"I was born in Argentina, I fought in Cuba, and I began to be a revolutionary in Guatemala."

“Let the world change you and you can change

the world” 

Joined Fidel Castro’s July 26 Movement in Mexico

Played a key role in the success of the guerilla war

Helped overthrow Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista“A revolution without guns?

It would never work.”

CUBAN REVOLUTION

REVOLUTION AFTERMATH Fidel Castro took control of

Cuba

Guevara strongly opposed the United States

Guevara attempted to align Cuba with the Soviet Union

Cuban leaders went against Guevara due to his criticism of the Soviet Union’s lack of support for Cuba

1965 – Guevara leaves Cuba

CONGO AND BOLIVIA Che traveled to the Congo and Bolivia to prepare

a new revolution

Guevara was not welcome in either country and was ultimately turned over to the Bolivian army

1967 – Che was executed at age 39

It has been said Che resembles Jesus Christ in his death pictures

HERO OR TERRORIST?

“To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary. These procedures are an archaic bourgeois detail. This is a revolution! And a revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate." 

“If you can tremble with indignation every time an injustice is committed in the world, then we are comrades.”

CLASS DISCUSSION

Did Che Guevara’s view on colonialism

contribute to his development into a hero or a terrorist?