Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life
By Jon Lee Anderson
Bantam Press, 1997
807 pp., $49.95 (hb)
Review by Roberto Jorquera
On October 9, millions throughout the world commemorated the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Comandante Ernesto Guevara, better known as Che. Che was central to the victorious Cuban revolution of January 1, 1959. Since then the role and contribution that he made to socialism in Cuba and to socialist understanding have been reflected upon and admired by millions of revolutionaries.
Jon Lee Anderson's mammoth 800-page biography is an enormous contribution to understanding this extraordinary revolutionary. It is an important rebuff to the lies the bourgeois press has spread since Che's death.
Anderson's book is the result of extensive field research, from Moscow to La Paz. It was possible only through the participation of Aleida March, Che's widow, who after three decades decided finally to make public many details and aspects of Che's life that have up to now been secret. A Revolutionary Life is a must for anyone who has ever wanted to know about Che's reasons for dedicating his life to revolutionary struggle.
Anderson describes Che's early years noting that, although he was not very clear politically, he hated the upper classes and always felt close to the poor and disadvantaged. Che was a brilliant medical student and always wanted to use his skills to help others.
Anderson traces Che's politicisation through his four-month journey through the leprosariums of the Andes. But it was not until his visit to Guatemala that Che announced his revolutionary convictions, stating in a letter to a friend:
"My life has been a sea of found resolutions until I bravely abandoned my baggage and, backpack on my shoulder, set out with compañero Garcia on the sinuous trail that has brought us here. Along the way, I had the opportunity to pass through the dominions of the United Fruit, convincing me once again of just how terrible these capitalist octopuses are ... I won't rest until I see these capitalist octopuses annihilated. In Guatemala I will perfect myself and achieve what I need to be an authentic revolutionary."
His experiences in Guatemala opened his eyes to the role of US imperialism in Latin America. Most importantly, he realised the role of international solidarity with the people fighting for socialism. Che compared the situation in Guatemala in 1954 with that of Spain in 1936.
The book is not just about Che. It is also one of the most detailed and comprehensive histories of the Cuban revolution. Throughout this biography, Anderson draws out the central role that Che played in the political development of that revolution.
It was in Mexico, in 1955, where his life took a dramatic turn. There he met Raul Castro, who would later introduce him to his brother Fidel and his plans for the Cuban revolution.
The first meeting with Raul went very well, both being impressed by each other's Marxist ideals. Though Che (as he now was commonly known) was recruited as the medical officer for the Granma expedition that would land in Cuba in late 1956, it was clear from the start that he was to play a much broader role than this.
Through extensive research, Anderson traces in detail the history of the guerilla war and the many debates — sometimes heated — between Fidel and Che. Anderson manages to draw out the strengths and weaknesses of both.
One debate concerned the role of the Stalinist Popular Socialist Party. Though at first the PSP took a cool approach to Fidel's expedition, eventually it split over whether to support the guerilla struggle led by Fidel.
The victory of the revolution in 1959 opened a new era for the international communist movement in which Che played a central role. Anderson explores the many events that unfolded in the first few years of the revolution, particularly the establishment of close relations with the Soviet Union.
Anderson outlines the many criticisms Che had of the bureaucratic Soviet system. From the start, Che made it clear he was fighting for a socialist society true to the ideas of Marx and Lenin, and he staunchly opposed the bureaucratic "socialism" of the Soviet Union.
Che criticised, writes Anderson, the "elite lifestyles and bourgeois luxuries he saw among Kremlin and party officials". At a dinner in Moscow, he said bluntly, "So, the proletariat here eats off of French porcelain, eh?".
Despite his directness, Che was to be the central figure in establishing Soviet-Cuban relations while being one of the most outspoken critics of the bureaucracy's policy of "peaceful coexistence" between the superpowers.
For Che, "peaceful coexistence" was impossible. Che delivered a message to US President Kennedy four months after the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion: "Thank you for Playa Giron [Bay of Pigs]. Before the invasion, the revolution was shaky. Now it is stronger than ever."
As Anderson's research reveals, Che, from the very start, planned to continue developing a continent-wide revolution, using his experience in Cuba as a training ground for future revolutions.
Che played a vital role in shaping and defending Cuban socialism. Most important, he argued, was the need for Cuba to break its isolation by aiding revolutionaries throughout the world to defeat imperialism and capitalism. This dedication to revolutionary internationalism has been a hallmark of the Cuban revolution.
Internationalism inspired Che to leave Cuba in 1965 to continue the guerilla struggle, first in Congo, then Bolivia, which ended tragically in his capture and execution.