Che Guevara Biography

He was born on June 14, 1928 to Ernesto Guevara Lynch and Celia de la Serna y Llosa.

As a young medical student, Guevara traveled throughout South America. Later he was radicalized by the poverty, hunger and disease he witnessed.

His burgeoning desire to help overturn what he saw as the capitalist exploitation of Latin America by the United States prompted his involvement in Guatemala’s social reforms under President Jacobo Árbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow at the behest of the United Fruit Company solidified Guevara’s political ideology.

Later in Mexico City, Guevara met Raúl and Fidel Castro, joined their 26th of July Movement and sailed to Cuba aboard the yacht Granma with the intention of overthrowing U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Guevara soon rose to prominence among the insurgents. Later Fidel Castro promoted him to second in command. Later he played a pivotal role in the victorious two-year guerrilla campaign that deposed the Batista regime.

Guevara performed a number of key roles in the new government. These included reviewing the appeals and firing squads for those convicted as war criminals during the revolutionary tribunals.

Soon Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to foment revolution abroad, first unsuccessfully in Congo-Kinshasa. Later in Bolivia, he was captured by CIA-assisted Bolivian forces captured him and and later summarily executed him.

Che Guevara Birthday

He was born on June 14, 1928.

Che Guevara Quotes

If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine.

Study hard so that you can master technology, which allows us to master nature.

Passion is needed for any great work, and for the revolution, passion and audacity are required in big doses.

Whenever death may surprise us, let it be welcome if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear and another hand reaches out to take up our arms.

Che Guevara Photos

Che Guevara and Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro described Guevara as intelligent, daring, and an exemplary leader who “had great moral authority over his troops”.

Later Castro remarked that Guevara took too many risks, even having a “tendency toward foolhardiness”.

Che Guevara Books

Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life, by Jon Lee Anderson, Grove Press, 1998

Compañero: The Life and Death of Che Guevara, by Jorge G. Castañeda, 1st Vintage Books, 1998

Guevara, Also Known as Che, by Paco Ignacio Taibo II, St. Martin’s Griffin, 1999

Che Guevara Movie

Che – Part 1 & Part 2
The Motorcycle Diaries
Che!
The Hands of Che Guevara

Che Guevara Love Quotes

We cannot be sure of having something to live for unless we are willing to die for it.

Every day People straighten up the hair, why not the heart?

At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love.

One must endure without losing tenderness