Che-The Argentine
The film focuses on the July 26th movement and their victory which was mainly gained by the revolutionary leadership of Fidel Castro an dour beloved Che. The two revolutionaries meet each other in Mexico and agree upon the ‘game plan’ for the revolution. But in the film, the impact of the revolutionary movement on the Mexican people is almost ignored. But the Zolov article delves into this, and explains how even before Che began the battle he was the symbol or the icon of revolution for the Mexican people. He was their hero, he was their hope. The people knew Che truly cared about them and wanted change for them, I believe that is why Che was able to accomplish the last stage that he describes in his writings on Guerrilla Warfare. Che explains how the last stage is the stage where the hearts of the people of the land have been won therefore they offer their support and loyalty to the revolutionaries and it enables them to take over the larger/ major cities. In Che’s Guerrilla Warfare article he addresses how a revolutionary must seize power. For the most part Che was against violence, except with the military which uses violence toward opposing militarises or government, another exception to use violence is with those acting wrong or treasonous. This is seen in the movie when a solider lies to a family and presents himself as commodore and then rapes the mans daughter. When this information surfaced he was executed. What was shocking to me was how kind he was executed he was given wine and asked if he had any last wishes, he wished to see the preacher, but the preacher was many miles away so this was not possible they told him and asked him if he had any other wishes, he said more wine. He received his wine and then was executed. This was very odd to me.
The first stage which Che explains as the Defensive stage, where the small army will attack and run, and the second stage, which is Equilibrium, where both sides can attack is also seen in the movie. This film just as Motorcycle Diaries makes sure the viewer knows that Che had a major asthmatic issue in his life. But this film makes a bigger emphasis on his asthma than Motorcycle Diaries, it showed Che wanted to literally get out in the elements with his asthma along with the soldiers, I believe this shows a lot about his passion for revolution. It did not matter that he could have an asthma attack and die, or have an asthma attack and be heard by the enemy and be shot on spot, he did it despite all the risks.
The Kornbluh Article describes how on Oct 09, 1967 Che was killed by Bolivian soldiers where the U.S. Green Beret and CIA operatives were the puppeteer. Just recently was the thirty year anniversary of this event and Che’s execution is still a controversy issue. Another interesting fact to me was that there are still thousands of military documents dealing with Che that are still sealed as classified information. But there are a few interesting declassified documents about Che such as the May 11, 1967 White House Memorandum, which explains how the president LBJ records US attempts to keep track of Che’s movements and always keep the president up-to-date on Che’s whereabouts. In the White House Memorandum of Oct 13, 1967 Rostow informs the president that there is no doubts that Che is dead.