Comments on: So who is this Che Guevara then?

By: Nick Bee

Nick Bee — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 07:04:44 +0000

@who are you.
You have no idea……
Influential as the writer points out is not good or bad but personally would hate to be associated with the likes of Hitler or a comic like Bart Simpson. Of comics, maybe Che was exactly that?

By: Gavin Foster

Gavin Foster — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 12:35:09 +0000

@ Who are You
You know who I am. Who are you>

Guevara was determined to change everybody to his way of thinking, whether they wished to be changed or not.

Time magazine listed him alongside some other very influential people:

Adolf Hitler, Ayatullah R. Khomeini,Ho Chi Minh,
Mao Zedong,Unknown Tiananmen Square rebel (Wow- he/she was something special! They died!)Pope John Paul II (quickly – become a Catholic), Bart Simpson, the Kennedys(!), Pele…
Influential, maybe, but not all good role models or nice people. Just influential.

By: Who are you?

Who are you? — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:43:29 +0000

Who are you? Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Maybe you should read up on Steve Biko. He was South America’s Steve Biko. He repelled America’s influence, an influence that ruined and razed almost every foreign coutry America ever touched.
My opinion is that you lack insight and wisdom in the struggles of the majority, but will happily fight for the rights of the elephant, whales and greenhouse emissions; whereas Che fought colonialism. A fight that the majority of caucasians have absolutely no experience in. I salute Che for whatever he realized to be the man he became.[end rant]

By: paul

paul — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:44:26 +0000

@ Gerry. Read Fidel’s own Autobiography. He dispels the rumours about Cuito, and points out that it was far from a stalemate. The SADF did exactly as it wanted and were unchallenged.
I knew a chap who was awarded the HC for artillery spotting at Cuito, together with a very old and sick FNLA soldier. He told me that he was not once worried about being caught, the enemy were to busy cowering and dying in masses to do anything.

By: paul

paul — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:40:32 +0000

@ Gerry: Cuito a stalemate? Are you smoking something man? There was no intention to ever take that town. The stated intention was to deny its use to the Cubans and force them to operate from bases unfeasibly far away. Look at it this way. If the SADF had wanted to take it, would we have left part of one battalion to take on two opposing BRIGADES?
We bombarded Cuito to keep the then enemy from using it. There were no plans to take it and no attempt was made to do so. The enemy attempted to use counter-battery fire, but when youre facing artillery that is a generation more sophisticated than yours, you have little chance.

Ask poor old General Ochoa. Oops, I forgot, Castro had him murdered on his return to Cuba from Angola

By: Bovril24

Bovril24 — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 12:01:58 +0000

The vast majority of people who wear Che T shirts know nothing about him – nor about anything else, for that matter

By: miguel a

miguel a — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:25:37 +0000

@ Lesego because it’s Che’ own words. Read him and check out Dariel Alarcon survivor of Che’s guerrilla in Bolivia for confirmation, check Humberto Fontova for testimony of Che’s victims.

By: Hugh Robinson

Hugh Robinson — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:35:08 +0000

@Lesego Because my dear comrade some of us take the time to read and learn history. One of the problems we have in SA, is that history only started in 1976

@ mpumelelo so was Stalin and chairman Moa. Have you read what came to the surface later.

By: Mark Robertson

Mark Robertson — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:33:16 +0000

Lesego asks a very good question – how does one tell the difference between truth and propaganda? My advice is careful research, cross-checking of information, and also reading the actual texts – as Gavin has quoted Che’s own words from the motorcycle diaries. I don’t see this as a colour issue, but more a youthful idealism versus adult wisdom issue. Lots of young whites in the West adore Che as everyone knows. I dig Che’s image but can’t dispute that as a person he was a dubious character. Possibly the driest comment on truth vs propaganda is from Mao Zedong himself – a master of propaganda – in 1972: “I like dealing with right wingers. They say what they really mean. Left wingers say one thing, and mean something completely different…”

By: Gavin Foster

Gavin Foster — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:49:29 +0000

Ampumelelo
Funny you should say that. In ’99 an English church group made a poster depicting Jesus in the classic pose of the Jim Fitzpatrick’s Che photograph, and called it Che Jesus to encourage people to go to church. It appeared in an exhibition at London’s National Gallery, proving that artists and happy clappers don’t necessarily read much history…