Che Guevara

Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna (1928-1967) was an Argentine marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure in the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a counterculture symbol of rebellion and global insignia in popular culture.  

Q:    Dr. Guevara, if you do not mind, what would you say today was the purpose of your involvement in the revolution?ChG:    I was a doctor, yes, I am pleased to be remembered for that. My purpose was to win it.

Q:       The oath of a physician says to do no harm; how would you reconcile that with Che Guevara the Revolutionary?ChG:    I wasn't treating sickness or disease in people, I was treating a sickness of society and this oath did not apply. I considered it self defense.

Q:        What would you have done differently, given the opportunity?ChG:     I have the opportunity and have explored that. 

Q:         Please explain!ChG:    The notion of linear time on Earth; the idea something must follow because something had to precede. You will all see again, these alternatives are parallel. I switched course and explored a parallel track.

Q:        What would, or did…or does? What does happen in this parallel track?ChG:    I make no further attempts to support revolution, after Cuba.

Q:        What prompts that decision?ChG:    I was considered intellectual and educated and in fact, these things burned inside me, were the source of my energy and motivation. The ideas presented and the reality that surrounded me were an interesting application – or misapplication – of the ideas about which I read.

Q:        Did your medical training have greater or lesser influence?ChG:    At the time, shortly after completion of medical school, I would say not very much. Looking back now upon that time, I will say yes, very much. The methodical study of anatomy, bodily process and

function and scientific analysis taught me a pattern of thought with which I dissected situations. I did this with the exploitation I saw all around Latin America.

Q:         Was your diagnosis good?ChG:    It was halfway well done; I focused on alleviation of external causes but not the inherent, analogous to genetic or innate causes, for what I saw ailed society. I did not make the freshman mistake of treating symptoms however I see I treated the easier symptoms.

Q:          Which causes were less easy – or difficult – to repair?ChG:    Culture, mindset, attitude or approach. Habit, custom and practice; these are all names for similar things. These contributed to the poverty and disadvantage I saw caused by imperialism and exploitation.

Q:        The overthrow of Fulgencio Batista's government in Cuba, did you see this as a future brightened for the nation's citizens?ChG:    Yes, certainly. An addicting sense of accomplishment and purpose overwhelmed me, and drove me to recreate the success, or at least attempt it, through challenges elsewhere.

Q:        Reviewing the fifty years of Cuba since then, what can you say today?ChG:    From this I come away with my comment of culture and mindset. The replacement of one government with another does not change the trends, ideas and assumptions of the governed nearly as quickly. The old expression that we know what we like and like what we know applied very strongly. The departure of many Cubans whose brain power or intellectual capacity was a good ingredient, this drove the people who remained to embrace habits and customs, one of which was obedience to a strong leader or dictator. History tells this outcome well.

Q:        Your mentor and inspiration is still alive, Fidel Castro.ChG:    Barely.

Q:        What would you say to him, given the opportunity?ChG:    Lo cagaste, che…..            (You blew it, man…)

Q:        Was revolution your spiritual mission?ChG:    Yes, it was included in my life's plan.

Q:          What were you personally planning to achieve and did you accomplish that?ChG:     No, I didn't accomplish it on Earth. My spiritual mission yes, to learn of effort and failure. This was inspired in me by a life review of Simón Bolívar, who lamented how he had plowed into the sea. His dream of a greater Colombia was shattered even before his passing, as the vast territory fractured into several nations. This inspired me to learn of failure, which only came to me after my own death, not during life. The accomplishment on Earth I failed to help reach was a better life for the liberated. History has shown this was not reached. The signs of it were there even before my passing but I was looking elsewhere, at the new challenge I had taken on.

Q:         What message do you have for humanity, from your position now?ChG:     I will relate my message to my experience; change of leadership alone is not a change, it is a re-wrapping. The leadership always reflects the led; leadership can be eliminated immediately if the subjects of it abdicate, what I mean is if all participants, what are called citizens, stop cooperating. Then the most powerful dictator becomes irrelevant. The horror of the Third Reich required many happy co-conspirators and follow along participants.       

True improvement requires understanding then definition of its meaning, analysis before establishment of objectives, always including dissent. Human nature tends to see disagreement as something to overcome with greater force or pressure. Rarely does convincing and persuasive argument find itself chosen as the first effort. It works best but works longer, takes longer. 

My message is apply patience, not to be mistaken with delay. Do not consider time as necessary, for it doesn't exist. Allow the goal to remain viable without a schedule.

Q:        Dr. Guevara, thank you.ChG:    A pleasure.

Comments

Sarah 07/21/2013 1:40amA pleasure to read about how he perceived his mission here on earth and his wisdom in retrospect.