Ernesto “Che” Guevara has become a fantastic symbol for the American left, adorning t-shirts, hats, coffee mugs, and dorm room walls across the nation.

This is astounding when you stop to consider the actual person who “Che” was. Che was a racist who ranted against Africans. He hated homosexuals and had them imprisoned. He disdained both rock music and jazz and persecuted musicians. He burned thousands of books and murdered Cuban authors. His special pleasure in life was murdering young boys in front of their mothers. This is Che, the leftist hero.

Fidel Castro put Che in charge of the La Cabaña prison. He loved executions so much that he had a window in his office overlooking the yard where the firing squads did their grisly work. He henchmen would bind men and boys for Che to shoot personally in the evenings to satisfy his sadistic urges. Che wrote to his father “I’d like to confess, papa’, at that moment I put a bullet in a mans head and watched him die slowly, I discovered that I really like killing.” He bragged of ordering the executions of 2,500 political opponents by 1959.

Several prisoners who survived the La Cabaña death camp recall one dark evening when a 14 year old boy was thrown into their holding cell. The boy had unsuccessfully tried to defend his father from Guevara’s assassins. Guards came and dragged the boy out of the holding cell. Che ordered the boy to kneel boy, put his pistol to the back of the boys neck, and fired. Such is the bravery of Che Guevara.

Che’s exhilaration at murdering young boys did not end at La Cabaña. On another occasion he had a child soldier in his own army shot without trial for stealing food.

Roberto Martin-Perez, one of the prisoners who survived Che’s time at La Cabaña, recalls “Castro ordered mass murder, but for him it was a utilitarian slaughter, in order to consolidate his power. A classic psychopath, the butchery didn’t seem to affect him one way or the order. But Che Guevara, as his chief executioner, relished the slaughter. You could see it in his face as he watched men yanked from their cells and tied to the execution stake.”

More than anything, Che enjoyed the visits of mothers who came to the prison to plead for the lives of their children. He instructed his men to lead the mothers to his office where he would pick up the telephone and order the execution of their children. He most loved to see the terror on their faces and hear the sounds of their sobbing. Roberto Martin-Perez remarked “There was something seriously, seriously wrong with Che Guevara.”

Che was ostensibly murdering all of these people in the name of the people. This story grows a little thin when you consider that Che was at the time living in a stolen mansion with his own swimming pool, sauna, massage salon, and private yacht harbor. Perhaps this is what excites the leftist about Che.

The real Che is certainly not the rebellious individualist portrayed by many on the left. Regis Debray, one of Che’s closest associates, described him as “an authoritarian through and through”. Che’s personal opinion of himself might best be understood by noting that he often signed his correspondence as “Stalin II.” Che expressed his own opinion of rebellious youth as such: “Youth must refrain from ungrateful questioning of governmental mandates. Instead they must dedicate themselves to study, work and military service. The very spirit of rebellion is reprehensible.”

Nine-time Grammy award winning Cuban jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera expressed the confusion that all rational men must feel regarding Che’s celebrity status among the left. “Che hated artists, so how is it possible that artists still today support the image of Che Guevara?”  D’Rivera was in Cuba when Che and his goons tried to stamp out both jazz and rock music.  Paquito told reason.tv “Che was an inspiration for me. I thought I have to get out of this island as soon as I can, because I am in the wrong place at the wrong time!”

Fortunately for musicians, artists, authors, homosexuals, and t-shirt salespeople, Che’s reign of terror came to a sudden end when he and his companion Willi were caught by two Bolivian soldiers as he was attempting to export the Cuban revolution to that unwilling nation. Che dropped his fully-loaded weapons and surrendered without a fight. In a rare moment of justice in the Universe, Che died begging for his life during his own execution, wailing “Don’t shoot – I’m Che! I’m worth more to you alive than dead!”

Che Guevara Quotes

Here are a few quotes from Che, to give you a good feel for the thought process of this leftist hero:

“The blacks, those magnificent examples of the African race who have conserved their racial purity by a lack of affinity with washing, have seen their patch invaded by a different kind of slave: The Portuguese. These two races now share a common experience, fraught with bickering and squabbling. Discrimination, and poverty unite them in a daily battle for survival but their different attitudes to life separate them completely: the black is indolent and fanciful, he spends his money on frivolity and drink; the European comes from a tradition of working and saving which follows him to this corner of America and drives him to get ahead, even independently, of his own individual aspirations.”

“Mexicans are a rabble of illiterate Indians.”

“Bolivian campesinos are simply Animalitos.”

“Youth must refrain from ungrateful questioning of governmental mandates. Instead they must dedicate themselves to study, work and military service. The very spirit of rebellion is reprehensible.”

“My nostrils dilate while savoring the acrid odor of gunpowder and blood… Crazy with fury I will stain my rifle red while slaughtering any surrendered enemy that falls in my hands! With the deaths of my enemies I prepare my being for the sacred fight and join the triumphant proletariat with a bestial howl!”

“Hatred as the central element of our struggle… Hatred that is intransigent… Hatred so violent that it propels a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him violent and cold- blooded killing machine… We reject any peaceful approach. Violence is inevitable. To establish Socialism rivers of blood must flow. The victory of Socialism is well worth millions of atomic victims!”

“The U.S. is the great enemy of mankind! Against those hyenas there is no option but extermination! If the nuclear missiles had remained (in Cuba) we would have fired them against the heart of the U.S. including New York City!”

If you want to know more about Ernesto “Che” Guevara, here are some good resources on the web:

I also recommend the book Exposing the Real Che Guevara: And the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him by Humberto Fontova.

Will.Spencer