Che seems to be idolized by many people around the world as a symbol of "resistance". I hear he's considered a national hero in Cuba as well. On the other hand though, there are some pretty horrific stories about him being ruthless, bloodthirsty and a pretty shitty person overall. What does Gaf think of him?
People die in wars.
Some how this is news.
Che was a doctor. He helped liberate Cuba.
The Cuban people at the time definitely wanted a much more socially minded government (something like modern Brazil or even Venezuela) but Castro decided to become the Soviet Union's bitch. Che and friends took advantage of the populace's grassroots movement and abused it to turn Cuba into a totalitarian nightmare. Sure you can say the same about other Communist leaders that get praised by some as well, but the difference between Sankara and Tito as oppose to Che and Castro is that they actually improved life for the people.
I will admit however its hard to judge Che because well he didn't get into power, Castro did. What would Guevara's Cuba have been like? Nobody knows for sure.
There was no Cuban grassroots movement that was not Che and Fidel. They literally built the grassroots movement themselves. Che took his experiences building the Cuban Revolution and theorized it into "Focoism". Batista Cuba was a great country.... for the rich Europeans and Americans who were vacationing there. For the Cuban people themselves it was awful.
The major difference between Che and Castro post Revolution is that Che turned towards Mao Zedong Thought where as Castro turned towards Marxism Leninism. Administration between the two probably would not have differed very much.
I don't get the respect leftists have for communists in general. You (usually) don't see even the far right figures in America revering fascists or nazis, but for whatever reason stuff like the great leap forward and the gulags are forgotten when we start talking about people that are kinda sorta not really close to us on the political spectrum. Che wasn't only a murderous asshole, he was a murderous asshole in the service of other murderous assholes who would go about killing a ton of innocent people if he succeed. Whether you believe in socialized medicine or redistribution of wealth doesn't really enter into it.
The Great Leap Forward, the Great Purge, Gulags, etc are not historical anomalies. The Great Leap Forward was a mistaken attempt at industrialization. The Great Purge was an attempt to weed out internal spies and counter revolutionaries, that existed, but the purge itself went too far. Gulags was forced labor. Every industrialized nation has done the exact same thing.
The biggest difference is that where America industrialized off the backs of Native Americans and Africans, the Chinese and Soviets industrialized off the backs of their own people.
It's hilarious when Americans start talking about murder and forced labor when the entire American Middle Class exists
specifically due to violence and forced labor in third world countries. So what? Large scale violence and forced labor is bad unless it's in service of building iPads and trendy clothes?
Problem is they are not communists at all, communism cannot happen in today's world (sadly). They have been labels as communists but are far from actually being one.
Cuba is a fairly successful Socialist state. They were able to manage the economic crisis of the 90s without devolving into complete militarism like North Korea or Revisionism like Vietnam and Laos.
Cuba has the highest living conditions in South America and is highly self sustaining. Best of all, it is an entirely Socialist society.
Obama has killed more innocent people that Che.
