Che Guevara Iconic Hero or Failed Revolutionary Essay

The story of Ernesto Guevara, a child who was born to a well-to-do Argentine family who went on to become a medical doctor sounds like a success story. Ernesto Guevara probably isn’t a name many people recognize, add the word â€Å"Che† to the name—Ernesto â€Å"Che† Guevara—and many people recognize the name of a famed revolutionary of the 1960’s. Even now, forty-four years after his death, his name and image remain popular. To some Che Guevara is idolized as a man of the people, a freedom fighter for the downtrodden, who gave his life in the struggle to free peoples of the world to live in a â€Å"better† society; for others he was a ruthless killer who was willing to die to be a martyr for his cause. This paper will look at the life of Che Guevara and†¦show more content†¦1). In January 1952 Ernesto left on an eight month trip with his friend Alberto Granada that would take them through seven countries in South America with Ernesto continuing on to Miami, Florida before returning to Buenos Aires to complete his medical degree. During this time period United States business organizations were heavily invested in Latin America. This time period originated the term â€Å"Banana Republic;† it meant a country that was exploited by Unites States business organizations and whose government was propped up by the United States to allow the exploitation to continue. Ernesto kept a diary and recorded that during the trip they observed what he described as the abuse, and careless attitude for workers health and safety by officials of the Anaconda mining company, the Kennecott mining company, and the United Fruit Company which were all American conglomerates. His eyes were opened to the abject poverty most lived in while a few elite lived at the top of the social structure. A history professor at the Buenos Aires University said â€Å"his political and social awakening has very much to do with this face-to-face contact with poverty, exploitation, illness, and suffering† (Lovgren, 2004, para. 5) he saw on his trip. He recorded in his diary that the trip around South America instilled in him a desire to see the situation change; aShow MoreRelatedErnesto Guevara Iconic Status Essay2570 Words   |  11 PagesErnesto Guevara Iconic Status Aged twenty-four, Ernesto Guevara pens a regular letter home to Rosario, Argentina from his flat in Mexico. It concludes: Things are moving with tremendous speed and no one can know, or predict, where or for what reason one will be next year[1]. This, perhaps, is one indication of the mans legendary appeal - not as a hero of socialism or political ideologist, but as a free-spirited and non-fictitious adventurer. After all, how many of