Fall of Che Guevara by Ryan Henry Butterfield;

Author:Ryan, Henry Butterfield;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780195118797
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
Published: 2015-02-24T14:04:59+00:00

Pep Rally in Havana

On August 1, despite the dwindling force of Guevara’s insurgency—the major rebellion in Latin America—or perhaps because of it, Castro hosted a meeting of Latin American revolutionary parties and some that were not so revolutionary, such as the Bolivian Communist Party. Describing itself as the first conference of the Latin American Solidarity Organization (LASO), it opened its sessions under a banner that shouted Cuba’s challenge to world communism, “The Duty of All Revolutionaries Is to Make Revolution.” It then drove the point home by naming Guevara honorary chairman of the conference. The gathering was a pep rally for revolution and an effort to strengthen Cuba’s influence in leftist radical politics in the hemisphere. The conference organizers declared its purpose to be “to strengthen the bond of militant solidarity among the Latin American anti-imperialist fighters and to draw up basic bonds for the development of the continental revolution”—stirring phrases for a fading cause.14

Even in the revolutionary milieu of Havana, however, visitors from traditional communist parties challenged Cuban views. According to one report, they resisted not only the notion that revolution can succeed before the “objective and subjective conditions” call for it but also what they perceived as Havana’s effort to make Castro the leader of revolution throughout the continent.15

Regardless of criticism from other quarters, Aldo Flores, representing the Bolivian Communist Party, surprisingly tried to align it with the guerrillas, proclaiming that Guevara’s fighters were simply doing their patriotic duty in opposing the U.S. advisers and materiel sent to aid “oppressive forces” in Bolivia.16 Guevara heard of this on September 5 in a radio message beamed to him from Havana. According to his diary, the message said in effect:

LASO was a triumph but the Bolivian delegation was a pile of shit; Aldo Flores of the B.C.P. [Bolivian Communist Party] pretended to be the representative of the E.L.N. [Spanish initials for National Army of Liberation, the rather grand name Guevara gave his group] but he was proven to be a liar. They have asked one of Kolle’s men to discuss the matter.

Despite the fragile reality of revolution in Latin America, the LASO conference caught Washington’s attention, especially as it showcased black activist Stokely Carmichael, who, in the words of CIA director Richard Helms, made “excessive comments … about ‘guerrilla activity’ in American cities.” Among Carmichael’s statements was his remark that “we are moving toward guerrilla warfare within the United States since there is no other way to obtain our homes, our lands, and our rights.” Venerating Guevara and echoing his call for more Vietnams, Carmichael declared that “when the U.S. has fifty Vietnams inside and fifty outside that will mean the death of imperialism.”17

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