Posted on 04/24/2006 6:31:05 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
Andy Garcia is urging fashion-conscious rebels to stop wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the image of Latino revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara because they remind Cubans of terrible times. The actor accepts that Guevara stands for rebellion and is seen as a hero to many, but he sees the revolutionary as a butcher who killed millions of his countrymen.
Argentine-born Guevara helped current Cuban leader Fidel Castro overthrow General Fulgencio Batista's government in a guerrilla revolution in the late 1950s.
Garcia, who left Cuba when he was five, says, "I'd be curious to go around and ask them how much they really know about Che. Some people wearing the T-shirt don't even know his name. They know he's some sort of revolutionary, and to wear his image is cool because you feel like a revolutionary. Someone told me the other day that they asked one of these people if they were aware of all the executions that Che was a part of in Cuba and the guy said, 'Well, I don't know if that's true, as if it had been made up to discredit him.' I wish you could say it was made up because that would mean that all those people didn't die under his thumb. That's the tragedy."
This is a friend of the family story -- and my wife's family at that -- so perhaps there should be a grain of salt involved.
Apparently, when Che was a young man, there was a girl that both he and a rival asked out. The girl went out with Che's rival.
Shortly after the communists came to power, Che tracked down the rival. He was married to a different woman. Nonetheless, Che had the man executed, in front of his wife and children, simply because he had dated a young woman, who had turned Che down.
The friend of my wife's family was friends with the man who was murdered. That incident is what convinced him it was time to flee to the U.S.
I'll bet most Che T sporters just think the guy on it is a handsome iconic image and don't know he was a Communist murderer. People just see their fav celebrities wearing it, who probably don't know themselves who he is or maybe hear a romanticized version of his life and not how he brutally murdered his political enemies. I like to dress fashionably, but count me out of that one.
YOWZA!!
ping
ping
Dang girl,
He is a hottie, ain't he?!?!
Oh yeah!
He has always been a favorite of mine
Very dedicated husband and daddy too
Google him for loads of eye candy!
I remember Garcia protesting at Elian Gonzalez's house when Clinton's boys took him away. Got to admire someone who walks the talk.
Click here for Andy Garcia's THE LOST CITY.
Also starring Dustin Hoffman and Bill Murray.
bump
Mine too :)
I liked him back from his early acting career in the "The Untouchables" (with Sean Connery and Robert DeNiro.)
Hubba, Hubba !
3 CHeers For Andy Garcia! You're not alone!
Hopefully when my cartooning career gets a boost up, expect me to draw Che being beaten by my creation, a fast little girl named Casey Quickster!
Just off the top of my head... wasn't Che the guy who got scared sh*tless by a couple of guys in a boat playing a tape recording of guns blazing, retreated into the jungle, pissed his pants, and shot himself by accident?
That Che? The coward Che? What a guy (/sarcasm)
Andy definately is one of the good guys in Hollywood.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.