Failure of Diplomacy: Lessons can be learned from Guevara example

LSU Daily Reveille ^ | March 17, 2011 | Zachary Davis

[Keltik]

Had Guevara not been executed by Bolivian soldiers in 1967 at the age of 38, how much more would he have affected the world? Though his ability to spark international incidents would have undoubtedly led to more tension throughout the Cold War, we have no idea how much he might have impacted Third World countries.

If he were alive, he would have likely helped better the HIV situation in Africa because of his desire to give medical help to those who can't afford it. Unfortunately, we will never be able to know for sure.

While thought provoking, an even more interesting question concerns current events in the Middle East. Specifically, we can try and take the lessons Guevara left us and try to make today's movements more successful.

What if Guevara had been born a few decades later and had become the revolutionary he was in the last years? Though world events would certainly not have led him down the same path, it's worth considering.

If we analyze his beliefs, we can assume how he may have acted in today's world.

Guevara's main ideals involved fighting poverty, especially those who were oppressed by capitalist or imperialist countries. While his focus in Latin America was largely against businesses like the United Fruit Company, he might have found something similar in today's situation with oil companies in the Middle East. Just as he detested America's involvement against leaders like democratically elected Guatemalan president Jacobo Arbenz, he would probably disapprove of all the ties to America that exist throughout the region.

[Keltik]

This is a column published in the Daily Reveille, the student newspaper at taxpayer-funded Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

[Walkingfeather]

Well think about all the college guys that wouldnt have gotten laid because there would not be any Che tee shirts that appeal to young stupid co-eds that believe revolutionaries are hot....

[jtal]

If he were alive, he would have likely helped better the HIV situation in Africa because of his desire to give medical help to those who can't afford it.

IIRC, wasn't he a trained doctor? Did he use his skills to treat those who were sick during his life, or was he preoccupied with something else?

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

This is pure marxist propaganda. Che didn’t use his “doctor” skills to help anyone. He started the bloody 1948 violence in Colombia (reportedly along with Fidel Castro), tortured and executed hundreds of Cubans, and oversaw the execution/torture of over 15,000 Cuban in Cabana prison.

He led Cuban troops in overseas, and many got AIDS while fighting for the marxist forces in Angola. They were later put into special health camps in Cuba, after introducing AIDS/HIV into Cuba.

Che was a torturer and a killer - not quite what the Hypocratic Oath required of doctors.

Today’s homicidal bombers in Europe include many medical students and doctors. Even the New York Airport bomber was a medical student or doctor.

I guess an education is wasted on the extremists, and this clown from LSU.

[VeniVidiVici]

This is pure marxist propaganda.

Funny you say that. Guess they plucked this guy from Lenin College. The writer's info follows the article:

Zachary Davis is a 20-year-old history junior from Warsaw, Poland.

[dfwgator]

LSU has been infected.

LSU is the product of the biggest socialist this country ever produced, The Kingfish.

[Boogieman]

Really? Leftists are now asking WWGD - What Would Guevara Do?

They must be looking to replace the Kenyan as their Messiah figure, now that he’s pretty much out-Bushed Bush in every department the Left hates. I guess Che could serve that purpose, after all, he is dead so he won’t surprise them and embarass them all next year :)

[Ronin]

Angola? I think you mean the Congo and that was in the mid-60s. He “led” a force of about 200 to 500 black soldiers recruited from the Cuban Army with the idea of sparking a “socialist” revolution, but Mobuto and his South African mercenaries (some say Green Berets, too) basically wiped out his force.

[Lancey Howard]

[Kenny Bunk]

Dr. Ernesto "Che" Guevara, MD had a rather unique approach to medical practice.

He and Raúl Castro went on walks together, during which they often personally executed political prisoners with their sidearms. Although the Left would have you believe he was a Marxist Dr. Schweitzer, in real life he was a Charlie Manson-type sociopath who delighted in the bloodbath he, Fidel, and Raúl brought to Cuba to liquidate bourgeois counter-revolutionaries.

His demise was reportedly planned by Fidel, who in effect sent him on a suicide mission because his popularity was distracting the faithful at home ... from Fidel.