A visit to Havana means seeing evidence of Che Guevara pretty much everywhere. However, if you want more substance than just the usual victorious revolution slogans, you should visit the little museum that’s located near Morro Castle dedicated to Che and his revolutionary life. Getting there can be a bit of an adventure – first you have to find a taxi that will actually take you. Some won’t as the trip involves going through a tunnel and apparently, there are rules about what kind of taxi can go through it. I ended up on the best taxi ever – a motorcycle with a side car!
Visiting the little Che museum is a way to escape the tourist hordes that descend on Havana either on day trips from resorts or on land excursions from the cruise ships. It is off the tourist trail so you may get to wander the area being the only tourist. A visit to the museum won’t take you that long – 20 minutes tops. It essentially covers Che’s life from the 26th of July Movement and beyond. What’s interesting about it is that there are a number items that belonged to Che (so they say) and photos of the man himself. You can see his camera, his coat, his gas mask, his plate and mug, etc. The most entertaining thing for me was seeing just how deified the man is these days. Che is practically Jesus, as much as one can be Jesus in a communist society.
From the roof of the museum, you can get quite a fantastic view of Havana. And continuing the deification theme, just around the corner from the museum is the giant white statue of Jesus. While it is probably (I hope) a coincidence that the statue is by the Che museum, it certainly does imply certain things!
What I find interesting about the whole Che mythology is how many people fall into two extreme camps – they either think he’s a savior or they think he’s a terrorist. People love him or they hate him. Taking into consideration the nature of mankind and historical memory, I think he was probably in the middle somewhere. But that’s my opinion and it is up to everyone to make up their own mind.
16 Facts About Che
- Ernesto “Che” Guevara was born in Argentina to a half Irish family.
- In school, he was nicknamed Chancho (pig) because of his lack of hygiene habits.
- He traveled throughout South America during his medical school years and many point to this time period when he became radicalized by the poverty, hunger, and disease he saw.
- He received his medical degree in 1953.
- Che loved chess and poetry, and was fluent in French.
- He had five children from two marriages.
- Che was asthmatic and allergic to mosquitos.
- Che got his nickname because he used the word a lot. “Che” is apparently an Argentine casual speech filler, very much like the Canadian “eh”.
- A declassified CIA ‘biographical and personality report’ said that “Che is fairly intellectual for a Latino.”
- He believed in “el Hombre Nuevo” (the New Man): “selfless and cooperative, obedient and hardworking, gender-blind, incorruptible, non-materialistic, and anti-imperialist.”
- He wanted to see the complete elimination of money, interest, the market economy, commodity production, and mercantile relationships. To me, this is why it is highly ironic that his image is so popular on tourist crap people buy – Che must be seriously pissed off…
- During the revolutionary war, Che led the guerrilla forces, set up grenade factories, built ovens to make food, taught tactics to recruits, developed health clinics, started a newspaper, and organized schools to spread literacy.
- After the Cuban Revolution, Che was very instrumental in Castro’s government. Among the many things he did, Che organized firing squads for those convicted at revolutionary tribunals and instituted a nationwide literacy campaign (raised the national literacy rate to 96%).
- In 1965, Che tried to encourage revolution abroad, first in Congo-Kinshasa and then in Bolivia.
- He was captured by a mix of Bolivian and CIA forces in Bolivia. Che was executed in 1967 and his hands were amputated upon his execution for fingerprint verification – they were sent back to Argentina to do that. His body was found in July 1997 and he was buried with military honours in Santa Clara, Cuba.
- Che’s image is on the $3 Cuban peso and school kids apparently begin each morning by pledging “We will be like Che.”
I must admit, I didn’t know much about Che Guevara but I feel a bit better informed now!
I think he’s good proof that no person is all saint or all devil. Organizing firing squads whilst improving literary rates is a very good example of this!
I will say, based on the initial quote and your quote about the ideals of the ‘new man’, that he reminds me very much of Karl Marx. By this I mean that he has lofty ideal which look good on paper or said in a speech but tend to, in my opinion, lack proper insight into human nature. To feel any and every injustice deeply may be a beautiful quality, but not a realistic one!
EXACTLY! beautiful lofty goals but clearly not applicable to humankind.