Criminals and murderers like Guevara shouldn't be revered
On Oct. 9, people around the world and students on this campus will
recognize the anniversary of Che Guevara’s death. People honor him on a
regular basis by wearing a cool looking shirt with his face on it. If
you do not know who he is, you have certainly seen this T-shirt
(probably on this campus). In today’s world, Che is idolized. Yet, Che
Guevara was an international terrorist and mass murderer much along the
lines of Lenin, Stalin and Mao. He maintained an inhuman campaign to
impose communism on Latin American countries. He trained and motivated
Fidel Castro’s firing squads who were responsible for the execution of
thousands of men, women and children.
We do not glorify and idolize murderers like Stalin because we know
about their evil deeds. Che’s life is more ambiguous — he is praised as a
hero and his cult of violence is largely ignored. This is a man who is
quoted as saying, “I’d like to confess, at that moment, I discovered
that I really like killing.” Does he still seem like such a great hero
who should be praised, who should be an icon for students, who should
have his face printed on shirts all over America? Maybe we should use
the anniversary of Che’s death to learn the truth about this vicious
murderer.
