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Thursday January 01 1970

Ché Guevara & The Cuban revolution (Mike Gonzalez) 8pm Wynns Hotel

dublin | anti-capitalism | event notice

Friday September 03, 2004 16:54

by Socialist Workers party - Socialist Workers party

info at swp dot ie

018722682

8pm Wynns Hotel Abby St Dublin 1 Ché Guevara & The Cuban revolution (Mike Gonzalez)

8pm Wynns Hotel Abby St Dublin 1 Ché Guevara & The Cuban revolution (Mike Gonzalez)

The famous picture of Ché Guevara has once again become an icon for a new generation of
anti-capitalists and anti-imperialists.

Ernesto 'Ché' Guevara was born in 1928 in Argentina. As a young medical student he set out
on a motorcycle to travel around South America. The poverty and oppression he saw and the
impact of imperialism aroused his political awareness.

In 1954 Ché saw the US government and US multinational United Fruit Company organise an
armed coup against land reform in Guatemala.

He escaped to Mexico and met Fidel Castro, who was planning a revolution in Cuba.
In November 1956, 82 guerrillas landed in Cuba but only 18 survived.

Castro and Guevara escaped and built a guerrilla army in the Cuban mountains.
Within two years, in January 1959, the Batista regime collapsed and the columns of
revolutionaries marched down from the mountains and entered Havana.

The Cuban Revolution represented a huge blow to the US. It inspired millions with the hope
that they could fight poverty and oppression.

The US government put in place an economic blockade preventing trade with Cuba that has
lasted 40 years and has caused massive hardship.

Cuba entered a close economic relationship with Russia but it soon became clear that the USSR
saw Cuba as a pawn against the USA. Ché increasingly saw that it was necessary to spread the
revolution to the rest of Latin America and beyond if imperialism was to be broken. Ché was
sickened by the compromises of Fidel Castro and withdrew from the government.

In April 1965 Ché assembled a small group of Cuban guerrillas and went to the Congo. He
believed he could lead a revolution there. But after four months they were finally forced to
flee across Lake Tanganyika.

The last few months of his life were spent in Bolivia. Ché attempted to create a guerrilla
army, but sick and exhausted he was encircled and captured by government forces. Guevara was
murdered in the village of Camiri while CIA officers were in attendance as witnesses so they
could report to their bosses back in Washington that Ché Guevara was really dead.
Socialists honour the memory of Ché Guevara and his heroism. He has inspired generations
of socialists. But what can we learn from him? What should socialists do and how should they
organise today? Did Che's emphasis on building a small, dedicated band of guerrillas to make
a revolution work? Can a socialist revolution be organised by a minority or do we
need a mass movement? Can we today describe Cuba as socialist - a country where corruption,
prostitution and poverty once again haunt the streets of Havana? and crucially what can
his ideas teach us in the struggle against the system today?
Come to the meeting introduced by Mike Gonzalez, author of a new book on Ché Guevara called
Ché Guevara and the Cuban revolution, and discuss these and other questions about the
life and ideas of Ché Guevara (see dates overleaf).

To join the Socialist Workers Party contact us at +353 (1) 872 2682 or online at
www.swp.ie

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Comments (7 of 7)

Oooh a quiz

by Badman

Sun Sep 05, 2004 02:40

I love these quiz questions. Here's my go at some answers:

* What should socialists do and how should they
organise today?

I know this one. Join the SWP and they should organise like the SWP.

* Did Che's emphasis on building a small, dedicated band of guerrillas to make
a revolution work?

Hmmm, this is a tricky one. Yes in Cuba, but only because of special circumstances, anywhere else he would have needed to build a mass movement of the working class, which is of course best achieved by joining the SWP.

* Can a socialist revolution be organised by a minority or do we need a mass movement?

I'll go for answer b on this one bob.

* Can we today describe Cuba as socialist - a country where corruption, prostitution and poverty once again haunt the streets of Havana?

I think the question is a bit easy - you're giving the game away a bit I think. Anyway, no!

* and crucially what can his ideas teach us in the struggle against the system today?

Emm, that we should join the SWP?

Che Guevera and Ireland

by redjade

Sun Sep 05, 2004 14:08

Che Guevera and Ireland
- by Mireya Castañeda, Granma International staff writer)

http://irelandsown.net/Che.html

Few people are aware that Ernesto Che Guevara was in Dublin in 1964. The landmarks of that year are his speech at the United Nations in New York and his journey to Algiers for the Tricontinental Conference.

[....]

The brief letter, dated December 18, 1964, reads:

Dear Dad:

With the anchor dropped and the boat at a standstill, I am in this green Ireland of your ancestors. When they found out, the [Irish] television came to ask me about the Lynch genealogy, but in case they were horse thieves or something like that I didn't say much.

Happy holidays,
We're waiting for you
Ernesto

Che in Dublin

by ERNESTO

Mon Sep 06, 2004 10:04

An unpublished letter of Che's from his Dublin visit has been discovered in the Havana archives:

"Papa,

In Dublin I have grown to realise the rotten nature of petit-bourgeois nationalism. I foresee a time when the sectarian SF/IRA will move decisively to the right and go into coalition with Fianna Fáil. They will also betray the bin charges campaign when the workers and youth of Fingal move into struggle. The only hope then will be for the emergence of a mass party of the working class led by people like Kevin McLaughlin who is a brilliant and decisive leader of a Marxist creche in Artane. I weep tears of joy for the future.

! Ten, One Hundred, One Thousand Mullhuddarts!

PS. The SWP are centrist charlatans

Che Guevara

by mag

Tue Sep 07, 2004 18:28

Ya but in reality he was a tyrant. This is from the Guardian.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1169022/posts

So, how many points did I get?

Fri Sep 10, 2004 13:53

Anybody who was there able to mark my answers?

nO sHORT cUTS

by Pearson 68 - Can't You Guess

Fri Sep 10, 2004 16:40

Badman

In answer to one of your questions:

Yes,a small band of dedicated guerillas can lead a successful revolution (see Ireland 1916).

But it won't lead to Socialism

We all know that Castro had no interest in Socialism in 1959.

He still doesn't.

Instead he took sides during the Cold War and that is a very different thing. Wouldn't you agree?

Che didn't try to build a party he took a short-cut. And the point is that we can all learn from these lessons today.

Regards

Ahem

Fri Sep 10, 2004 16:52

I'd like to go to the adjudicator on this one.

In "Ireland 1916" there was not a revolution. By the time the war of independence came, which was hardly a revolution, they were all hanging out with st peter in the fluffy neverafter and not in any position to lead a revolution.

I bet i got them all right!!! Doubleplusgood!!!

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Ché Guevara & The Cuban revolution (Mike Gonzalez) 8pm Wynns Hotel

Comments (7 of 7)