The Awakening of Latin America

by Ernesto Che Guevara

  As a doctor who has always been concerned about social questions, I think this is the time to make substantial contributions in order to radically change the health conditions that prevail in Cuba, as in all other nations.

  During my travels through other Latin American countries, I saw that health was one of the most backward spheres. In the Sierra Maestra mountains, there was no health care at all.

  Many of the guys told me while we were in Mexico that Cuba was different, that Cuba was not like Mexico—where, in reality, there is absolutely no health care outside the capital—but I’ve seen that health care is completely unknown in many parts of Cuba, too, although the Sierra Maestra seems to be unrelated to the rest of Cuba. Later, I saw that the picture was completely different in the cities and more prosperous agricultural areas, and even in other rural areas.

  I think that what we must do now, in these days of victory and peace, is to prepare to struggle honestly and ardently so that the Cuban health care system takes an important step forward, providing clinics and services in all those areas without them and to modernize many others.

  I haven’t had a chance to visit the research centers and many of the health services here in the capital yet, but I’m aware that there is still a lot to do. I’m beginning the critique here, simply because I consider myself a Cuban and think that I have not only the right but also the duty to call attention to anything I find that is not working properly.

  I think it’s time to start thinking seriously. Just a few minutes ago, I was telling Dr. del Valle and Dr. Rodríguez about the new direction that medicine must take in Cuba. Since we’ve created a revolution that may be history-making and that marks a new step forward in the Latin American peoples’ struggles for liberation, we should complete it in all spheres and courageously carry it to social medicine, advancing as far as possible.

  I’m simply calling your attention to the issue, not laying down any guidelines—because I don’t have the training to do that. Now, I ask you to forgive me for having bitten off more than I can chew and for having spoken about things I should perhaps have left alone. Perhaps I should have talked about things related to the guerrilla struggle, which I know well— not medical topics—but, since I was invited by the College of Medicine, I have taken the opportunity to say these things, because I wanted to call the compañeros’ attention to these issues.

  Interview (1959)

  Even though this is only a version of the interview—the original transcript has been lost—it has been included in this anthology because it clearly presents Che Guevava’s analysis of the economic situation in Latin America and questions the role of the International Monetary Fund.

  Interview for Radio Rivadavia, Argentina

  November 3, 1959

  In a report recorded in Havana and broadcast here tonight by Radio Rivadavia, Ernesto Che Guevara, commander of the Cuban Revolutionary Army, stated that, “few government leaders have been able to go to the United States and return with a clear conscience, as our Prime Minister Fidel Castro has done.”1

  Commander Guevara made this statement about Fidel Castro in reference to the difference in conduct “one observes in movements before and after coming to power. Once one is in power,” Guevara added, “the great difficulty is in upholding standards of behavior, in the face of the inevitable attacks by foreign monopoly capitalism and economic pressures.

  “If these standards could be maintained in Latin America, enough political cohesion would be achieved to effectively defend its position in the international field, like the stance that has been adopted by the Afro-Asian countries in adhering to the so-called Bandung Pact. Despite huge differences in their social systems, they have gone from practically socialist systems to international sultanates, sustaining a cohesion that is enviable for our countries of the Americas.”

  Referring to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Commander Guevara stated, “If it is [to be considered to be] an element of liberation for Latin America, I believe that it should have demonstrated that. Until now, I have not been aware of any such demonstration. The IMF performs an entirely different function: precisely that of ensuring that capital based outside of Latin America controls all of Latin America.”

  Guevara said that the IMF “knows that in a case of aggression against us, we shall respond in the measure in which they know we do things. The interests of the IMF represent the big international interests that today seem to be established and concentrated in Wall Street.

  “The complex problem of the deficit in the balance of trade,” he said, “can be resolved by diversifying production and diversifying foreign trade relations. My trip to the countries of Africa and Asia is in accordance with the decision of the Cuban government to seek new markets all over the world. We aim to trade with countries everywhere—there are no ideological barriers in trade.”

  Guevara also said, “The only thing that can concern Cuba in foreign countries is what products they have to exchange for Cuban products and under what conditions they wish to do so.”

  He announced that during his foreign tour, and afterwards, he had signed or was about to sign trade agreements with a number of countries and that there were possibilities for Cuba to trade with Yugoslavia, India, Ceylon, Indonesia, Denmark and Pakistan.

  He indicated that the countries he visited are in political-social circumstances similar to those of Cuba and that “they are fighting for their freedom, because their markets and foreign trade are controlled by colonial interests.

  “They need,” he added, “fundamental agrarian reform, and then they need to struggle to industrialize. Cuba is aligned with them in taking the same road toward a total recovery of the country.”

  He reiterated that Cuba is considering developing trade relations with the countries of Europe, both East and West, “since we believe that trade is one thing and ideological problems are quite another.”

  He noted that Cuba is interested in focusing on trade with other countries of the Americas, and that preference would be given to any negotiations undertaken with a Latin American country over those with countries of other continents. After saying that economic definition leads directly to political definition, Commander Guevara stated that, “the Cuban sectors opposing the present revolutionary government are capitalist parasites directly affected by the government’s work, among them the big landowners.”

  He mentioned a large US-controlled estate of 150,000 hectares—Atlántico del Golfo—noting that such interests are related to a certain type of US landowning capital that “in some cases have financed the coup attempts we have seen of late. We are in no doubt,” he added, “that there will be more of them in future.”

  Referring to popular support for the revolutionary government of Cuba, Guevara said it “comes from all sectors with something to gain in economic and moral terms: the peasants and workers, basically, and middle-class sectors, including all kinds of professionals and honest traders.”

  “People,” he added, “are nothing but the representation of an ideology, a way of thinking, and this way of thinking must be sustained by a broad mass base. There are movements in Latin America that are able to create a nexus of solidarity and support for any position that means rejecting the economic and political subjugation of Latin America.

  “General Cárdenas in Mexico, Larrazábal in Venezuela, Palacios in Argentina, De Aranha in Brazil, and others,” he added, “meet these conditions to a greater or lesser degree.”

  Commander Guevara indicated that “the structure of any Latin American movement that might have the same basic features, which would be so easy to attain among peoples with a similar economic structure and a similar political orientation with regard to what the masses desire, would be a very salutary measure in the development of Latin America’s future struggle for her complete liberation.”

  He said, “The magnificent speech given by General Cárdenas in Havana on July 26 this year has contributed to consolidating relations between Cuba and the st
ate of Mexico.”

  Finally, the commander said, “The fact that there is not a single stalk of wheat in all of Cuba is one basis for discussions that could lead to a trade agreement being reached between Argentina and Cuba.”

  He clarified that he has not renounced his Argentine citizenship despite the fact that the Cuban government has bestowed upon him Cuban citizenship “from birth” and added that it is difficult for him to travel to the land where he was born, “because the intensity of the work carried out by members of the revolutionary government makes it practically impossible to leave the country unless it is for some particular goal, like, for example, our trip to the East.”

  1. Fidel Castro toured the United States in April 1959.

  Letter (1959)1

  Letter to Mrs. María Teresa Díaz de Dicon

  La Cabaña Military Department

  Havana, June 1, 1959

  Mrs. María Teresa Díaz de Dicon

  Bouchard Hotel

  Bouchard 487

  Buenos Aires, Argentina

  Dear Mrs. Díaz:

  I was very glad to receive your letter, to which I am now replying.

  We must meet Cuba’s needs, so we cannot turn down anybody who offers services which may be of great use to the revolution.

  Thus, I don’t foresee any problems with your coming here, where you will be welcomed, but I would like to make it clear that all positions are awarded on the basis of merit, and you will have to accept this principle.

  Sincerely,

  Dr. Ernesto Che Guevara

  Commander in Chief

  La Cabaña Military Department

  1. Some of Che Guevara’s letters to a variety of individuals in many countries have been included in this anthology because they show the range of topics broached and reveal his precise and incisive style.

  1960

  Articles

  Using the same pen name Francotirador [Sharpshooter] he had used in the Sierra Maestra paper El cubano libre, Che wrote a series of brief articles in 1960 for the armed forces magazine, Verde Olivo [Olive Green], to help readers to understand the increasingly hostile relationship between Cuba and the United States and its acolyte governments in Latin America, a conflict that began almost immediately after the revolution.

  Regional Disarmament and Other Acts of Submission

  By Sharpshooter

  Some Latin American peoples are so institutionalized that they have almost forgotten the word “revolution” and sometimes put up with a more or less organized fraud or a more or less shameless mocking of the people’s ambitions for quite some time. In general, they have very serious, cautious governments that have profound respect for the Pan-American doctrine (the one that began with Monroe, that president who wanted to grab all of Latin America for the United States).

  These cautious Latin American gentlemen, who respect freedom of the press and freedom of expression and all the international agreements that have ever been signed to defend Latin America against aggression by terrible foreign powers, have suddenly found that there is no need to fight in Latin America. We already have everything we need: we live in heavenly peace, the peasants have land, the workers have wonderful work hours and marvelously good pay, the capitalists have moderate profits and there are no bullies or monopolies, so—why do we need weapons in such a paradise?

  True, a demon called “international communism” has been hatched in other continents which sometimes captivates the uncultured masses and incites them to say they are hungry, to make ridiculous demands about increased wages or to ask for land—trying to take it away from its legitimate owners, the holders of large estates.

  But all Latin American countries have a guardian angel—the United States—which looks after their freedom and sovereignty. It not only has the right but also the duty to arm itself to the teeth and shoot into the sky all kinds of test missiles (though many of them, perhaps contaminated by the spirit of evil, refuse to remain in the sky and return to crash on earth); this is an attribute that the kings of monopolies reserve for themselves. The fundamental right, naturally—which is also theirs—is to protect us against “international communism.” Every time there is a Fidel Castro who raises the flag of the redemption of the poor, an investigation must be made quickly to discover the communist who is behind this specter and eliminate them.

  The thesis of Latin American disarmament was raised in distant Chile, whose president is identified with Eisenhower’s “peace” policy; it was also raised during the visit of Brazilian presidential candidate Janio Quadros, when some half-curious, half-ill-intentioned journalists in his group asked how much we Cubans spent on weapons, and what for. Now, one of the most “cautious”—if not the most cautious—of all the bowers and scrapers in the region is sounding the alarm, and the uproar is terrible.

  What with the democratic instrument of the OAS and the tremendous declarations giving the kings of monopolies an exclusive monopoly over the region’s defense, sometimes we feel like Little Red Riding Hood telling her grandmother—those in charge of defending Latin America—“What big teeth you have, Granny!” At other times, however, on seeing so much dishonor, so much treason disguised by circumspection and so many despicable individuals bowing and scraping in the halls of Washington, we feel like shouting with all our strength, “WHY SHOULD WE GET ON OUR KNEES?”

  Published in Verde Olivo magazine, April 24, 1960.

  Don’t Be Stupid, Buddy, and Other Warnings

  By Sharpshooter

  This admonition is a general one, not aimed at any recipient in particular. But, if the shoe fits… Just suppose (an example without any geographic or historical definition)—just suppose that a military man should cross the border from a country whose president—just suppose—has been in Washington. . .“talking.” Just suppose that that colonel, whose country’s president has been in Washington talking, goes on the air over five powerful broadcasting stations all over Latin America, all of which are characterized by defending democracy and attacking Cuban “communism.” Just suppose that the Cuban government offers the country the colonel has entered help in the form of weapons and men—men who know how to handle the weapons and have learned how to win battles and who volunteer. As the ideal president of a republic that does not exist—since this is an abstract example—what would you do? Turn down the offer? Ignore it? Put off a decision? Don’t be stupid, buddy.

  The colonial powers have many intentions, all of them bad. For example, they can warn you that, if you aren’t a good boy, if you don’t give more support to your little friend Figueres or to the beautiful trio that “Cuba is sending” to the “democratic” conference, you may be very sorry. It may also be the first step for OAS intervention and for that battered agency of the colonial powers to take action. They may also try to grab your government, toss you aside like a dirty rag or a wastebasket full of scrap paper and put somebody else in your place. And, in all of these alternatives—and any others that may arise—there is a hidden dagger, always directed against Cuba. So, are you going to play the game of those who want to murder Cuban democracy, buddy? If you keep rocking in your comfortable chair, it won’t help you, so watch out; you’re just as much to blame as the one who kills the cow.

  In addition, ideal president, abstract example, just suppose that imperialism kills the cow in our story one fine day; the next day—historically, the next day—they’ll crush you, buddy, for sure. You don’t smell of oil, as your predecessors did, and, in this ideal example, you aren’t a military man. They’ll crush you. Faced with this, ideal president, host of the “trio,” and representative of the purest democracy, what will you do? Listen to the advice of a confirmed sniper; listen to a loving and friendly admonition: DON’T BE STUPID, BUDDY.

  Published in Verde Olivo magazine, May 1, 1960.

  Knee Bends, International Organizations and Genuflections

  By Sharpshooter

  As you know, beloved compañeros of the Rebel Army, knee bends are one of the favorit
e exercises used for punishment and also to strengthen the muscles of the legs.

  All the armies in the world with a military mentality—and our army will get one someday—assign knee bends as punishment for lesser infractions. This consists of squatting and doing knee bends. To squat, you have to bend your knees; bending your knees is called genuflecting, or kowtowing, and those who do it are kowtowers. Examples of well-paid native kowtowers: our friends of the Diario de la Marina and of Prensa Libre, our little friend [Luis] Conte Agüero and others of their ilk.

  In the international arena, there are quite a few well-paid, prudent, moderate agencies. In general, they are directed by prudent, distinguished kowtowers who are often picked up in Scandinavia.

  These distinguished kowtowers kneel to God—naturally, their god, the monopolies, who are lords and masters of all things—and sometimes, when the monopolies order them to do so, the distinguished kowtowers, who usually come from Scandinavia, refuse to send to a small, underdeveloped Caribbean country—which will remain nameless—the three technicians who are needed to organize the conference of similar countries that it wants to hold in September and to give an international character to that conference.

  They haven’t been sent; they will be sent in the future. But this is not the only case. Another distinguished organization of the same kind is either removing its officials under all kinds of pretexts or pressuring them to leave, and this is how things will continue.

  Mr. Monopoly—the same one whose nose was flattened in the Summit Conference—has ordered this, and, in this part of Latin America, you have to do what he says, or they’ll try to force us to frog jump or to do some other genuflection.