Che presentation – 20th Century myth viewed as 21st Century Commodity

To the request of a friend or perhaps two this is a presentation I gave on Che Guevara in my fourth year about how his image has been misconstrued by Western media. When I read back on it, I realise some of my opinions have changed but I still think it could serve as useful for any of you guys who may possess a Che Guevara print t-shirt!
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In this presentation I aim to describe the reason as to why Che Guevara is viewed as a 21st century commodity of a 20th century myth and how this came about.

What exactly is a commodity? According to Merriam-Webster it is 'an economic good or one that is subject to ready exchange or exploitation within a market.'

Che Guevara's image has been exploited, turned upside down and adapted to favour its market. This exposure though, has merely been present in foreign countries, especially in the Americas, until very recently. Why is this?

Well, the name Che Guevara conjures up various debates in Argentina and had been enlisted under a sort of taboo some might say.

Ernesto Guevara passed away in 1967 and it was in the 70s that revolutionary groups formed in Argentina, the most famous of which were the Montoneros. They hoped that the returning Peron from exile would turn their fatherland into a more socialist state. The group wasn't successful and was effectively extinct by 1977. The Ezeiza massacre in 1973 was a stepping stone, not only to this, but also to the Dirty War that killed many from 1976 until 1983. These socialist attitudes adopted by the Montoneros, formed by young protesting students, reminded some of Guevarist theories and due to its connection with the Dirty War, isn't really a topic Argentines like to discuss.

Soon after 1983, Argentina experienced two economic crises at the end of the 80s and 90s and only recently has the country been able to enjoy both political and economic stability. In other words this is the first time since Che Guevara died that Argentina has been absent of any profound unrest.

This is important when it becomes apparent The Motorcycle Diaries was first published in 1994 and released a year later in English. This gave the opportunity for foreign insight to rejuvenate and tinker with the image of Che Guevara. The most detailed of Che Guevara biographies was published in 1997 by Jon Lee Anderson. He was portrayed as a young man, learning about himself and wanting to make a difference. The film ‘Diarios de Motocicleta’ attracted so much publicity that the book was re-released aimed directly at those who went to see the film. From this, the iconic and mythical Che Guevara image was formed – subsequent publishing of Che Guevara's works were then released such as his ‘Bolivian Diaries’ (transcribed and revised by his widow, Aleida) and ‘Travelling with Che Guevara’ by Alberto Granado.

This caused a commercial craze that meant we were starting to see Che's face on all sorts of memorabilia and artefacts, like the t-shirt on Prince Harry and the swimsuit on supermodel Gisele. Nonetheless his mythical figure not only created a literary windfall but also a political one.

Evo Morales was the first indigenous president to be elected in Bolivia a year ago. On Che Guevara's 40th anniversary he stated,

"We are humanists and followers of the example of Guevara,”

although he highlights that times have changed and that his idea of social change won't follow the same route of bullets like Che did – example being the operative word. This sentiment was highlighted by Hugo Chavez, the notorious Venezuelan leader. Even the Sandinista government showed allegiance to Guevara once they won the 2006 elections in Nicaragua, donning Che Guevara shirts at their victory parade.

And most recently people are drawing parallels with the effect this political change in Nicaragua and Bolivia has had on the violence-ridden nation, Guatemala. Last month Alvaro Colom was elected the new centre-left president of Guatemala, the first 'left leaning' president they have had since 1954, when Jacobo Arbenz' government was overthrown by a CIA coup which later led to thirty six years of civil war. There is a hint of irony about this because its widely believed Colom’s appointment was catalysed after recent leftist success around Latin America and thus it has been the adapted image of Che and his political dogma that has come to save Guatemala 53 years after since going there initially to learn about Arbenz' own social reforms.

For the entire appraisal Che has received, there have been those that are jumping on the bandwagon to connote anti - Che sentiments. Books such as Cuban migrant Humberto Fontova's, Exposing the Real Che Guevara and the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him’ and ‘Che Guevara Myth and the Future of Liberty’ by Alvaro Vargas Llosa, son of famous Peruvian author, Mario Vargas Llosa focus in on his racist slurs such as in the Motorcycle Diaries:

Los negros, los mismos magníficos ejemplares de la raza africana que
han mantenido su pureza racial gracias al poco apego que le tienen al
baño, han visto invadidos sus reales por un nuevo ejemplar de esclavo…el
negro indolente y soñador, se gasta sus pesitos en cualquier frivolidad o
en ‘pagar unos palos’, el europeo tiene una tradición de trabajo y de
ahorro … (p.182)

Even though they ridicule the iconic status that Che holds within society, I think people have come to accept the sweet with the sour as he was a revolutionary, like Evo Morales has. Although these books undermine Che Guevara, they do serve to expand the ever increasing mania surrounding him and give two sides to the story consequently acting as another route of Che-orientated commercialism.

When relating all this back to Argentina, I believe the taboo that once surrounded Ernesto Guevara has been lifted. This can be seen in the inauguration in 2001 of the country’s first Che museum, in Alta Gracia, Cordoba where he grew up. His name is also popping up in Argentine media again, especially in sport. Important figures like Diego Maradona who has a tattoo of him on his arm,

"Amo Argentina, que nadie se olvide que yo amo al Che (Guevara), amo a (el presidente de Cuba) Fidel (Castro), pero soy argentino", dijo Maradona. BBC Mundo, De Todo Un Poco, Sábado, 1 de mayo de 2004, Intervista con canal televisivo Telefé 24

It was in effect, because of Argentina’s home turmoil that Che was a silent figure till the 90s and the appropriated image others have created have now have boomeranged back into Argentina via the West. Only time will tell how long this remodelled image of Guevara will last in Argentina. As the second generation develops, maybe the success of this renovated 21st century perception of Che around the world will sway them to focus on the good rather than the bad and use Guevara’s iconic status to their benefit, as others have.