El Fuser
Alberto Korda acknowledges openly that it was a sheer “coincidence or luck, not technique or knowledge of photography,” when asked about his masterpiece — the iconic portrait of Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Perhaps the portrait could not have met the same fate if he had not given it, as a gift, to Feltrinelli, an Italian photographer, who after the execution of Che printed and sold thousands of posters earning both kale and fame. Today the Che portrait has become the emblem of revolution.
Guevara's family has moved from one place to another in search of a healthful location for their asthmatic son, Ernesto. Despite his illness, Ernesto, nicknamed “Fuser” for his aggressive style of play, was the champion in athletics: ironically, the illness only steeled and prepared him for greater escapades. He was close to his mother who, as he, was resolute and adventurous. His father’s political activities and affiliations with Peron and socialistic movements sowed the seed of socialism in his youth mind and the books he found in his home have watered it grow firmly.
At 23, Ernesto’s “love for the open road” and will to experience the world he has learned only in books took him on a motorcycle trip to South America. He was a medical student — he believed a person with medical skills could help any community in any corner of the world — in his last semester specializing in leprosy. On his trip, once he passed Argentina, he witnessed poverty, hunger, diseases, struggle, and social injustice; the experience changed his outlook on life and its course. He tacitly vowed to revolt against poverty, oppression, and inequality using a road, if necessary, other than medicine.
Upon returning to Argentina, he completed his studies, received his medical degree, and set out on another South American trip. He would never return home. Along the way, he saw the dominion and exploitation of capitalist companies, especially that of the United Fruit Company. In Guatemala, a democratically elected socialist government paved the way to “perfect himself and accomplish whatever may be necessary to become a true revolutionary”. Here he met his first wife, Hilda Gadea, who introduced him to the Guatemalan revolution and its leaders. Hilda, Che, and, a few other friends would sit for hours studying and discoursing the works of Marx, Lenin, Engels, Stalin, Freud, and Mao. He also came in contact with Cuban exiles, and it was on one of these days he got his famous nickname “Che”. When the CIA backed the so-called “Liberation Army” and overthrew the Guatemalan government, he went to Mexico in search of the next battlefield to fight against imperialism and to crush, as he used to call, the “Capitalistic Octopus”. The stay made him resolute, if not perfect, and a staunch follower of Marxism — prerequisites for a true revolutionary.
In Mexico, he regrouped with Cuban exiles and met Castro brothers, Raul and Fidel, for the first time. Several hours of talk with Fidel convinced him to join the movement to overthrow U.S. puppet Batista’s dictatorial regime in Cuba — a hub primarily used for gambling and prostitution by its show master — and return the land, freedom, and pride to its people. As a medic combatant, he along with 82 freedom fighters led by Fidel sailed to Cuba only to encounter a fierce sea storm and Batista’s military force. Only 22 insurgents survived to carry on the mission. In the next two years, Che would lead an exemplary life of a guerrilla fighter, earning him the “Comandante” title. Besides fighting the battles with brilliant tactics, he built a bakery, opened a school, constructed ammunition factories, and set up a radio station. As a result, Cuba was liberated in 1959. He held many important jobs and devoted himself tirelessly to distributing land to the landless, bringing justice to the oppressed people, restructuring the economic model to build a “new man and woman”, and, even, participating in construction sites and sugarcane fields until 1964.
No matter how hard he tried to keep himself busy at work, he often remembered the helpless people and their sufferings that existed outside of Cuba. A day came when he couldn’t confine any longer his universal revolutionary spirit; he set out on his next mission — to liberate the third world. Congo was his first stop; he went to Prague to prepare for his next battle after he had learned about the frivolous and undisciplined nature of Congolese rebel leaders and their troops. Next, he went to Bolivia — strategically and centrally located in South America — thinking of making it a center to spread and support the revolution in and around Latin America, including his homeland, Argentina. However, the local communist leaders involved themselves in trifle issues, could not quell their egoism, and failed to seize the opportunity. Without help from locals, Che and his troops strayed defenselessly sensing the end of their journey. Soon he was captured and assassinated by the CIA-backed Bolivian force. He was 39 years old.
The poverty, injustice, and exploitation he saw and sensed were not uncommon — they’re infectious and present everywhere, even in and around us. Perhaps it was his feebleness and vulnerability, which he witnessed during the regular bouts of asthma, that made him sense the pain (of the poor) more poignantly and revolt against anything that oppressed the weak. Life, for him, was a struggle for survival. He wandered in his youth looking for a cure and devoted his remaining life to curing the poor when he found one. Even after death, he continued fighting by being an inspiration to millions of people around the world. No matter what historians say about him, he will always be remembered as the legendary hero — the savior who came to earth to rescue the oppressed people.
November, 2009