Ernesto "Che" Guevara: Icon, Hero, Psychopath or Dude?

[Taverner]

Just saw the Motorcycle Diaries and was amazed by this movie. The stunning picture they painted of the young Che reminded me of myself and so many others of my youth in the Peace Corps. The movies does a great job of showing how Che's compassion developed, and how it was the precursor to his life of revolution.

However, being a Liberal, I had to read accounts of "the other side." You see, I can't buy that anyone is monolithic.

The other side paints him as either a psychopath, an inept and bloodthirsty. Chances are his Revolution worked in Cuba because things were bad enough to gain popular support of any alternative. In the Congo and Bolivia there were many other factors involved, mostly infighting. What works in one place does not work in another.

Also, one cannot dismiss the fact that Guevara did sign the execution orders for over a thousand people. Whether they "had it coming" or not is inconsequential. These men, just like any man executed in this country under a capital crime, were murdered.

Anyway, what do you think about Che?

[DrDebug]

1. His T-Shirts are cool

Well he was a bit of both. Half a saint and half a devil.

But those T-Shirts sure look cool!

[forgethell]

2. Ah, the glory days n/t