26. A Revolutionary Plan that Proved too Lofty for Guevara
With victory secured, Fidel Castro appointed Che Guevara to a variety of security, economic, and diplomatic posts in the new revolutionary government. The Argentinian was instrumental in the transformation of Cuba into a communist state. He played a key role in defeating the CIA-backed Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961, and was a significant player throughout the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. He also travelled the world as a diplomat, and gave a notable speech before the UN in 1964, in which he condemned America’s foreign policy and South Africa’s apartheid. However, Guevara’s greatest passion was for revolutionary warfare, and in 1965 he left to fight in revolutions around the world.
He went first to the Congo, where he trained guerrillas. In 1966, he went to Bolivia, where he tried to spark a communist revolution that he hoped would sweep through South America. Things did not go well, and the plan to revolutionize the continent backfired. He was captured in 1967, and Bolivia’s president ordered Guevara’s execution. When the executioner entered the room where the prisoner was held, Guevara noticed that he appeared jittery and nervous. So he scornfully uttered his last words: “I know you have come to kill me. Shoot, coward! You are only going to kill a man!”