Che Guevara's Influence On History

The disagreement in how Che Guevara should be remembered somewhat lies in the ignorance of Che’s political existence in history. Hardt, Rivera-Perez, and Calles- Santillana argue that “Che’s charismatic influence could be rendered useless by revealing large gaps in his life ‘between what he tried to do and what he actually accomplished” (359). This concept is one that is often ignored in pop culture. It is forgotten that Guevara could have influenced history in more than one way. For example, Guevara clearly stated in multiple writing that he believed killing was an unavoidable part of a revolution. He believed that to be a successful revolutionary you had to have an “unending hatred for the enemy.” He said that this “pushes a human being …show more content…
One of the main arguments against Che involves the many killings that he oversaw in La Cabana. This was the military fort that Fidel Castro seized after overthrowing Batista. They used La Cabana as an execution site for prisoners convicted of war crimes. Guevara was given the authority to make final decisions and oversaw these executions. Unfortunately there are no exact numbers, however “Armando Largo, a retired economics professor has compiled a list of 217 names,” of individuals that were said to be executed during these trials (Vargas Llosa 14). Although this number may seem credible there are countless other estimates as to the exact number of killings that Guevara oversaw. This inconsistency is often used as a counterargument to diminish the credibility of the fact that the killing even took place. While the numbers cannot be confirmed the real significance of this event is the fact that it is unknown if these executions were carried out under a fair trial. These facts add more confusion to the argument for or against Che. If he was allowing the killings of innocent individuals, should he be remembered as a