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Ernesto “Che” Guevara
An inspiration to
Mecha activists
Who is Che Guevara?
Foto-Alberto KordaHavana, 1960
Last Supper of Chicano HeroesJose Antonio Burciaga-Stanford U
Trendy fashion statement
Che “stuff”
Questions
• 1. Who is Che Guevara?
• 2. Why has be an inspiration to the
• Chicano movement? View of murals.
• 3. What is the meaning of Che today?
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna“el Che” Biography
• Born 1928• Rosario, Argentina
Youth in Argentina
• Family moves to• Buenos Aires
University Education
• Medical degree
1948
1st trip through Latin Americafilm ”Motorcycle Diaries”
• Profound impact:• 1. Commits life to the • poor• 2. Develops a broad• Latin American• vision• 3. Travels to Chile,• Peru, Bolivia
1954--Guatemala
• Witness to the fall of• Arbenz government
• US backed military coup
• US Opposed to land reform policies-to
• Help poor campesinos
Exile in Mexico, 1955
• Meets Fidel Castro
• Joins Cuban revolutionaries
• Nickname: Che• Slang (Argentina)• means “friend”
Arrives in Cuba, 1956
• On “Granma” boat• Enters Cuba with 81• Revolutionaries
• Goal: overthrow dictatorship of
• General Batista• And initiate
Revolution
Guevara’s route in Cuba
• Arrival of Granma in 1956• Rebel stronghold in Sierra Maestra• Guevara’s Route to Havana via Santa Clara• in December 1958
Revolutionaries arrive in Cuba
• 82 leave Mexico
• 16 survive Batista• attack
Sierra Maestra, Cuba
Guerilla WarfareSierra Maestra, Cuba
Che’s victory in Santa ClaraDecember 1958--
Victory of Cuban Revolution1959
• Che works in Revolutionary gov.
• Economist• Central Bank• Agrarian Reform
Philosophy—Revolutionary ethics
• Voluntary Work
• Anti-capitalist
• Believed in Moral incentives
Advocate of African liberation,1964
• Cuba supports Angola with troops
• Che denounces the murder of of Lumumba (Congo) in a speech at the UN
1965—BoliviaRevolutionary struggle
• Goal:• Ignite revolution in
Bolivia• Oppression:• Indigenous peoples• Workers in Tin mines• Owned by US,
BRITISH interests
Che is taken prisoner in Bolivia, 1967
Che murdered in Bolivia, 1967
1997 Che’s body returned to Cuba
• Buried in Santa Clara
• Monument in his honor
• Sight of victory over• Batista army
2000Named as Time Magazine’s 100 – Most Influential of 20th C.
• Only 2 Latin Americans named
• Other: Pele• Soccer player• Brazil
Murals and Visual art
Linking Che Guevara and the
Chicano Movement
As hero and role model
SymbolismChe and Chicano movement
In USA:
Che is linked to struggle of Cesar Chavez
• justice for Chicano farm workers
Symbolism
• Mexico
link to Zapata—Revolution
link to Morelos/Hidalgo—Struggle
against colonialism
link to indigenous culture—
Struggle for Latin American
political identity
Chicano Park Murals #1-HistoricalSan Diego, 1970
Chicano Murals, Tucson, 1970s
Estrada Courts,Olympic Blvd 1978Mario Torero
Chicano Pride
Chicago, casa Aztlan
Che as Saint/Christ figureVirgin of Guadalupe
• Religious/ moral/ Chicano identity
Belfast Barrio mural, 1992Ruben Ortiz Torres & Gerald Kelly
Legacy
• Cuban Revolution:
• Revolutionary• Struggle for social • justice• Hero—dies for cause• of justice• Anti-capitalist
• Chicano Movement:
Mexican IndependenceAnti-ImperialismZapata & RevolutionCesar Chavez & Farm workers
movementLatin American identity— global level of struggleVirgin of Guadalupe- Mexican nationalism Cause of justice Indigenous rights—
