Johann Hari against the lionisation of Ché Guevara

On the anniversary of the death of Ché Guevara, Johann Hari writes against his lingering status as a revolutionary icon. "The myth of Ché Guevara is seductive and lush. It's the story of an Argentinean rich-boy who was so shocked by poverty he became a Robin Hood fighting alongside the poor, until eventually he was murdered by the CIA. But the reality of Ché Guevara is very different. The facts show that he was a totalitarian with a messiah streak, who openly wanted to impose Maoist tyranny on the world. ... None of these facts are seriously disputed by historians; they are simply skidded over by Ché's defenders, who stick to romantic generalities about how he stood for 'honesty' and 'revolution'. But Ché Guevara is not a free-floating icon of rebellion. He was an actual person who supported an actual system of tyranny, one that murdered millions more actual people."

» full article (external link, English)
More from the press review on the subject » Social movements, » History, » Latin Amerika
All available articles from » Johann Hari

» To the complete press review of Tuesday, October 9, 2007