Day 7

Who was Che Guevara?

Known as Che, he was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary and the major figure of the Cuban Revolution. As a young man, he travelled Latin America and saw the poverty and inequality which he put down to monopoly capitalism and imperialism and that the only solution was world revolution. Geez, not afraid of biting off more than he could chew! He met up with Fidel Castro and became part of the movement that overthrew the US backed Cuban dictator Batista in the 26th of July Movement. He whipped up heaps of support and became a key player in overthrowing the Batista regime. He then played a role in training up the military who repelled the Bay of Pigs Invasion in Cuba and introduced Soviet nuclear armed ballistic missiles which was a catalyst for the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Having done his bit there, he got on his motorbike and headed off to create more revolutions, albeit unsuccessfully in Bolivia where in 1967, he was captured and executed.

Time magazine named him one of the most influential 100 people of the 20th century and this very famous image became known as Guerilliero Heroico and was declared the most famous photograph in the world.