330 of 417 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Learn about the reality of the man behind that famous image, April 24, 2007
I am always amazed when I see the faces of Mao or Che Guevara on clothing or posters by those free spirits who imagine that these men would do anything but kill them for their social and political views. On page 16 of this book the author recounts how Henry Gomez made a t-shirt to counter all the "Che Lives" shirts floating around. His said "Che's Dead - Get Over It". Carlos Santana saw it and came over to berate him (never mind that Santata's brand of music was banned in Cuba by Guevara). Santata said, "Che may be dead for you, but he lives in our hearts ... Che is all about love and compassion." They then exchanged points. Santata's were based on fantasy and Gomez in fact. In the end, Santana said what one would expect, "You're getting hung up on facts, man." Wow.
This book recounts Che's murderous role in the deaths of more than 10,000 people after the Cuban revolution. Just one story of horror involves a mother pleading for the life of her boy directly in front of Che. He listened, thought, and then picked up the phone and shouted a command for the boy to be taken out and shot immediately. He had no respect for the law. It was a bourgeois detail that impeded the revolution. When one official pleaded for a trial before a sentence of death was passed, Che shouted that the man could conduct his trial tomorrow, but that the execution had to be conducted tonight. Even when there were trials, they were just for show with the sentences already noted on the form prior to the trail. There is much of this.
That so many on the left, including many American media outlets (such as the New York Times, Time Magazine, Life, and many others), helped Castro and Che come to power should still be a matter of shame, but is never mentioned anymore. That so many on the left extolled Che's justice, courage, beauty, and perfections should be always remembered. More than few are still writing today. All of them are wrong, all of them are perpetuating lies. Che ran from real fights and enjoyed bullying and even killing the defenseless.
Far from being a savvy guerilla leader (despite his book on the subject), he bungled every fight he was in and got lost for weeks at a time. In Bolivia, he never recruited a single Bolivian to his cause. Oh, he tricked a few into joining him by promising them training in the USSR or China, but as soon as they could, many of those deserted and became informants for those looking for Che.
If you are committed to the dream of Che, you will hate this book. If you want to know more of the reality of who he really was and the atrocities he committed, this book will be an important read for you.
Far from being Satre's "most complete human being of our time", he was a monster who improved the world most when he was sent out of it.
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242 of 309 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Set the record straight!, April 23, 2007
Dear Humberto,
Sorry I didn't buy your new book. Yesterday I read
about half of of it sitting in the coffee shop of my
local bookstore. Cheapness was instilled in me during
my formative years by my chinese parents. Fortunately,
their political leanings were not and I learned to
read, think, and analyze for myself.
Thank You for writing the book! Even though it's about
Che and Cuba, it means a lot to me as well--a
Chinese-American. Any book against one dictator is a
book against ALL dictators. I imagine you must feel
the same rage seeing a Che T-shirt as I do seeing a
Mao T-shirt. It bothers me that many people do not
think twice about wearing either T-shirt, but if
somebody wore a T-shirt with the visage of Hitler,
Stalin, bin Laden, or that Virginia Tech guy it'd be
all over the news.
I don't want to be a "woe is me I'm a minority/person
of color", but unfortunately part of me does feel when
it's whites killing whites (ie Hitler, Stalin) then
those dictators are evil. When it comes to "minority"
dictators, those guys are suave, cute, cuddly, or part
of "other people's" cultures. What? Dictators are
dictators regardless of country, race, culture, or
faith.
Keep up the good work! You've given me courage now to
voice my opinion. When I see someone wearing a Mao
(and Che) T-shirt I'll be sure to set them
straight. Those images are just as offensive as the
Confederate flag or a Nazi symbol.
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62 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good starting point, July 10, 2008
Exposing the Real Che Guevara is an interesting text, and certainly sheds some light on a man who was a blight in twentieth century history. I learned some out of the ordinary facts in this text, and I would tell people to read it simply as a starting point to finding out the truth about Che.
Having said that though...Mr. Fontova's prejudices come through, and he has a right to them. But in being so emotional, he gives his detractors something to point at and belittle. This allows people, and disingenuous reviewers on this site, to distort the book by attacking his obvious emotional bent without touching on the truth in this book. For the most part Fontova substantiates most of what he says, and some of it is truly shocking. Still, I keep coming back to my desire for a more scholarly approach to this text. The book suffers from redundancy and that again takes away from his thesis. This text is imminently readable, which I think accounts for some of the author's simplistic style choices, and I hope it serves as a jumping off point for even more scholarly research into the joke that is the myth of Che Guevara.
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