Che: The Expat Who Should Have Stayed Home

article from November 24, 2010
By Jamie Douglas

Much has been written about the infamous Ernesto Che Guevara. No doubt, many of you have seen the film, The Motorcycle Diaries, which is the story of two friends on the ultimate road trip through South America. Some of you may have even seen the epic film, Che, which is in two parts, and is about four and a half hours long. It chronicles the transformation of a young idealist into a ruthless dictatorial military ruler, who personally executed an unknown number of enemies. None of them ever received a fair trial... to which Che is said to have responded, “What do you expect? This is a revolution!”

While encountering untold misery and oppression on his journeys throughout the Americas, it was in Mexico where the young idealist first hooked up with Raoul, and then later with his brother, Fidel. And it was in Mexico City where they hatched the plan to liberate Cuba’s oppressed legions.

The Cuban dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was deep in the pockets of the mafia, as well as those of US politicians and corporations. The struggle to unseat Batista caused thousands of people to lose their lives. But after the ultimate victory, it was Che who ruthlessly executed, or had executed, all former political rivals, some of whom no doubt deserved to be punished. Che’s motto was that the revolution needed guns and blood.

While setting out originally to do good for the poor, oppressed peasants and natives of Peru, Guatemala and Cuba, I wonder what helped Che to overlook the abysmal conditions of the indigenous populations in his native Argentina, who were living in abject poverty, neglect by the Argentine government.

From the attempted genocide of the War of the Desert conducted by the “heroic” General Rocha, which killed most of the indigenous population, and then the systematic assignment of all the land that had then been declared to be conquered territories to members of the winning army, in huge tracts covering most of the Pampas and Patagonia, Argentina's indigenous people were truly marginalized.

What if, after his successful campaign against illiteracy and the lack of medical care in Cuba; what if, instead of going to Africa, causing untold misery, and then to Bolivia, where the people he was trying to help considered him and the Cuban mercenaries to be an evil foreign influence that was going to lead them to large-scale destruction; what if Che had chosen a different destiny?

I spent quite a bit of time during the 1980s with the Bolivian “Indians” in the Altiplano, as well as in the area around and south of Santa Cruz, and found them to be a very unique culture – hard working, set in their traditional ways and not feeling oppressed, at that time. They lived the way that their ancestors had. My Grandfather had made a similar expedition in the 1920s, also taking photographs, quite an undertaking in those days, and we compared notes before he passed away. The best we could tell, nothing much had changed. The Bolivians still lived their “primitive” lives, their cheeks always bulging with the leaves of the coca plant to supplement their energy. I can see how they did not like these foreigners coming in, bringing trouble. They were not ready for a revolution.

What if Che Guevara had instead returned to Argentina, where, to this day, the Mapuches are fighting for their little piece of land where they can live in peace and freedom to practice their ancient cultural customs? Maybe he could have done some good in his homeland, before his inevitable demise, and he would be famous in today’s Argentina for having been a Freedom Fighter for his own native people, the Mapuches, the Tehuelches, the Guaraní in the north, helping them to get access to health care and education, and the return of some of their ancestral lands, which are now owned by The Benetton Family, Ted Turner, George Soros and others who need 200,000 hectares and lakes and streams so they can fish in peace.

Yeah, what if?

Jamie Douglas
At large in South America

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.