Posted on 02/20/2006 8:29:19 PM PST by Fred
Che Guevara, who did so much (or was it so little?) to destroy capitalism, is now a quintessential capitalist brand. His likeness adorns mugs, hoodies, key chains, bandannas, couture bags, jeans, herbal tea and, of course, those omnipresent T-shirts with the photograph by Alberto Korda of the socialist heartthrob in his beret during the early years of the revolution as he happened to walk into the photographer's viewfinder -- and into the image that, 38 years after his death, is still the logo of revolutionary (or is it capitalist?) chic.
The metamorphosis of Che into a capitalist brand is not new, but the brand has been enjoying a revival of late -- an especially remarkable revival, because comes years after the political and ideological collapse of all that Guevara represented.
This windfall is owed substantially to last year's Oscar-winning film "The Motorcycle Diaries," which showed the young Che on a voyage of self-discovery as he encounters social and economic exploitation: laying the groundwork for a New Wave reinvention of the man whom Sartre once called the most complete human being of our era.
It is customary for followers of a cult not to know the real-life story of their hero, the historical truth. It is not surprising that Guevara's contemporary followers, his new post-communist admirers, also delude themselves by clinging to a myth -- a myth firing up people whose causes for the most part represent the exact opposite of what Guevara was.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Alvaro Vargas Llosa is senior fellow and director of the Center for Global Prosperity at the Independent Institute and author of "The Che Guevara Myth and the Future of Liberty". A longer version of this article appeared in The New Republic. Contact us at insight@sfchronicle.com.
Long live the bullet. :-)
Is he related to the novelist Mario Vargas Llosa?
LOL!
Back before the CIA was converted into a happy PC home for the likes of Val Plame.
My copy of the Che "wiggle toes" post mort photo isn't loading anymore. Anybody else have it?
http://www.pickeringcreek.com/Che%20Tickle.gif
more lowdown on Castro's killa':
http://www.discoverthenetwork.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2054
Yes, indeed. Neither of those two gentlemen would be considered beltway metrosexuals either.
I prefer the photo taken by a CIA agent just before Che's execution. It shows a sullen, dishevelled looking Che being held by two guards - the CIA agent told him 'Smile!' as he snapped the photo. The agent, now retired, was interviewed for a History channel show that aired a couple of weeks ago and shared that personal photo.
They "knew where the bodies were buried"......because they put them there.
Instead, we send a pack of Valerie Plames to Italy to snatch a terrorist, and they use their personal Virginia cell phones to call /1/ the US embassy /2/ The USAF base /3/ their hotels /4/ each other /5/ back to the USA to their families, Etc.
Are those true details? If so we have idiots for operatives
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