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

Colegio Cesar Chavez, 1981Mt. Angel, ORegon

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—