On Sat, 21 Jun 1997 02:54:03 -0400 Elizabeth Manny said:
>
>Che's relationship with the mysterious Tania [an Argentine of Jewish descent,
>the namesake of SLA soldier Patty Hearst], his betrayal by local peasants,
>
I realize the text above is from a review; still a bone to pick.
Why is it significant that Tania was Jewish? Che too was an
Argentine. I think he got his MD from the University of Buenos
Aires. The word "betrayed" is awfully loaded.
An analogy. Take those South Vietnamese commandos that were sent
into North Vietnam in the as part of a CIA (and later MACV) program
to generally raise hell in the North. Some of these commandos were
captured and turned over to the authorities by North Vietnamese
civilians. Would you say they were betrayed by the local peasants?
Che had little luck attracting Bolivians to his movement. To the
local peasants, he was a foreigner who came to Bolivia to kill
Bolivians. So they told the authorities his location, and the army
killed him.
>
>I give this film the highest possible recommendation. I think it is
>essential that young people, who are probably not acquainted with Che,
>see this film. It is an important part of the history of the 1960's and a
>triumph of the documentary style.
I'd love to see it. I visited Cuba in 1994. Unlike Fidel, Che seems
to be held in high regard by the Cubans. His portrait is on their
currency, there is a big portrait of him on the exterior of the Ministry
of Defense, you can buy Che t-shirts everywhere, large glossy photos
of that handsome devil are available in bookstores, etc.
Last year my daughter was traveling from Chile to Peru. My birthday
came around when she was in La Paz. I got the neatest hand-painted
t-shirt with a portrait of Che on it from a local head shop. It's
an objet d'art, and much too nice to wear.
I read a book long time ago by some Cuban American who worked for
the CIA. He was very involved in killing Che. Earlier he had served
in Vietnam with Americn forces.
Peter Brush