After reading Ernesto Che Guevara’s autobiography by Jon Anderson Lee there is a lot powerful ideas and experiences worth noting. A great part of what Ernesto Che Guevara will mostly remembered for is his struggle to liberate Latin America and Africa from colonial oppression and the results of the after effects of colonialism. He was an avid enthusiast of communism and was heavily influenced by the theories and practices of communism to the point of extensively living his life in that way. As an African child growing up in a post segregated and politically liberated society the thoughts of Che Guevara have ignited me to question the lifestyle I lead and whether it is truly the utopia which was fought for and whether I am enjoying the freedoms of living and working in a society with my best interests truly at heart.

One of the strong attributes to Ches success as a patriot for fighting for the basic needs of the common Latin American man is the absolute and totalitarian nature he applied his beliefs to his life and allowing them to be dominant enough to lead the other components which will develop once the fundamental change has taken place to cope with the effects of a long lived rule which have dominated the mental and physical presence in Latin America. Apart from influencing his behavior and mindset the events of the revolution also affected his perception on social matters such as religion at one point Che writes “ I am not Christ or a philanthropist I am the contrary of Christ I fight for the things I believe in, with all the weapons at my disposal and try to leave the other man dead so that I don’t get nailed to the cross or any other place”. This ruling was also known as imperialism. At first Ernesto was reluctant to joining the political uprising, which would be later known as the Cuban Revolution. By fulfilling his personal need to become a part of a group of people and comradeship Ernesto further pursued his interest in politics by reading about Marxism and Engels and Lenin. After pledging himself to the revolution Che discusses that the concept of I has disappeared and replaced with the concept of us. One of the factors, which led to the historic change known as the Cuban revolution, is the timing of the period, which Che was living in. During the late 1950s there was a cultural change occurring throughout the world and many leaders of those revolutions were still alive so many of their theories were being practically demonstrated. Another possible cause of the power of the revolution was the Soviet Union, which was an example of the type of cultural change, and economic change, which would offer some competition and opposition to the western powers, which dominate the economy and the direction of the political structure of certain countries. Another influence in the sort of political awareness Che had was the result of the change in his home country due to the election of Peron and although this did not initially influence his political frame of mind later on there would have similar aspirations for Cuba. The ways in which Peron resembled the radical change Che had hoped to see within his country and eventually throughout Latin America and Africa, was the focusing on employment of all people however Che was more revolutionary eventually believing that the only way to cultivate these regions is by having even the peasants become owners of land and being taught to grow that land and work on it to contribute to the financial structure of a country.

Throughout the guerilla war Che maintained a respect and an illustration of the effect of an educated fighter. There were many rules and laws, which Che enforced which enabled the soldiers to be disciplined and not distracted by the frustrations of war. As a result war crimes or exploitations such as sleeping with women and attacking the peasants for food or dominance. Che and his faction or camp tried to negotiate with the peasants and try to enlist them in the war by explaining them the purpose of the war and promising them the liberation from the wealthier corrupt farmers who monopolized the region by being ruthless and ruling with their own self interest as a priority. There was a great acceptance and support for the capital and western structure, which was placed specially in Cuba. There was little knowledge of the other economic structures, which could be implemented such as socialism, which would benefit the country for a longer period of time in securing the fundamentals for a country to be successful such as education, health and agriculture. Any knowledge, which was made available about such ideologies, was taught and received in a negative way for instance communism.

As a result communism was a greatly controversial subject and because of the superpowers which existed in the western hemisphere particularly the USA which opposed communism and had great influence on the trading market in Latin America most political decisions were made with their existence in mind. Most of the time Fidel Casto and his conquered government had to modestly propose the changes they wished to see in Cuba because of their concern of the USAs reaction and the way they could infiltrate their country through other political parties and supply them with arms to fight the governing regime. This sort of behavior led to the war between Vietnam based on a domestic separation, which was occurring between north and South Vietnam. This is the same superior behavior, which still exists and has kept the USAs mineral and agriculture-trading laws govern their interest in the social welfare of other countries. The goal to maintain peace especially with super power exporting countries like the United States prevented the cultural and physical revolution, which was driving Che Guevara.

A part of the great success which enabled Cuba to remain fulfilling its hypothesis on the structure which needs to exist in order for the entire country to produce to its maximum point without relying on one superpower dominating the country and legislation. Most of the people who were leaders or involved in the guerilla war were professionals of some capacity therefore they could further educate people of the theories which led to the war as well as further educate themselves in other fields in order to plan and have a vision for the country. Another winning point of the Cuban revolution is that the government was not obstructed initially there were still elections and people who were qualified for those jobs were elected. However in time the charisma and leadership of Fidel led him to declare that the people of Cuba will choose their president by voicing their choice without elections. One of the strong points of the Cuban revolution that helped to continue its momentum although trade among different countries was beginning to falter because of the threatening agenda Cuba had to be communist. Threatening to the USA who were concerned with the affect that may have on their trade relations as well as their military base in Guantanamo. The USA had been nervous enough to infiltrate the politics of Cuba with CIA secret agents willing to start a small guerrilla group against the Cubans who were trying to establish a government, which would modify itself economically, and politically from being dependent on a sole nation. The leaders of the revolution were thinking for the future of the Cubans to also not be monopolized by one country and the gentrification of one nation to have western culture especially the aspects, which are focused on trivial and empty engagements like gambling and prostitution. These activities like many other activities that are foreign exploit the common indigenous person and do not allow them to think beyond their own immediate satisfaction and it leads to self-destructive behavior. Che liked to target the peasants and teach them and fight for their rights to have a better opportunity to be more productive at a fair wage with the possibility to better themselves. In fact there is a saying that if you cannot explain Marxism to the simplest man then you did not understand it. Throughout the wars that were occurring in Latin America it was clear that the peasants were mostly abused to be pawns by either the governing power or the guerilla faction. The main focus of Ches cause with the peasants was to give them ownership of land and discontinue the harsh living conditions they were living in were they could easily be chased off their land or manipulated into being scared and moving away. One of the revolutionary disappointments to come from crucial struggle with imperialism and the last fighters for colonization is the way in which the most significant revolution in Africa was taking place, which was in Congo now known as Zaire. The Congolese who were later known as Freedom Fighters to Che were battling their government aided by CIA operatives for the eradication of imperialism. However because there was a lack a political goal there was no specific direction of complaint with the infrastructure and the governing laws, which needed to be changed. As a result most of the knowledgeable fighter were sent to exile and the rebel fighters were not trained properly fighting without the understanding of the purpose of the fight can lead to more people not willing to die for the benefits of future generations. There was also no real comradeship between the fighters. In addition to those problems there were still beliefs of witchcraft which governed logic and was often the end all of the reason why they were being killed or losing battles.

Overall reading about Che Guevara has taught me that at times a belief in something greater than you is the best way to determine if the cause of why something being done is worthy of being fought for and ultimately living for, no matter the cost in terms of social well being and the disapproval of others. A central theme throughout the book was compassion and modesty although Che was quick to judge people on their intellectual capability he was also able to acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of people to engage themselves in the struggle and act as the agents of change. However he was a fairly modest person never asserting himself as a leader based on his family background or his academic qualifications but rather allowing to be promoted or demoted based on his effort and contributions he was a very fair person who also did not distinguish himself racially as well. In fact he truly understood the human psyche and found that people who hold prejudices against others especially racial ones have a very intellectual capability and are still holding on to the western imperialist colonial mentality of segregating people in order to feel that one group is above another or a better supreme being than another. He comments that even his second wife and her family had these beliefs and it is the small-minded nature of the fading aristocracy that has been embedded into their mentalities. Personally it was disappointing to read about the manner of the fighting in Congo: the disorganization the irrelevance of logical and factual information the lack of accountability and the in house fighting without a clear reason there was a lot of personal indulgence and ego the need to be praised rather than the cause being placed at the forefront of glory. As an African this sort of behavior reflects the political turmoil that exists for Africans in terms of truly stating what any liberating fight was fought for in terms of stating end goals instead to be clouded with short term victories which will not last for later generations. The saddest part is the depiction of the struggle in Congo is still true to this day with no real written history or organized change instead it is as if the same people who are in the position of power are exploiting the very people who put them in that position because there is no real education plan or understanding about the neocolonialism which governs them.