Che Guevara

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna was born in Rosario, Argentina, but the exact date of his birth is unknown. He was the eldest of five children in a family of mixed Spanish and Irish descent; both his father and mother were of Basque ancestry.
Guevara's family was an upper-class family with some leftist views. He became known for his dynamic personality and radical perspective even as a boy.
While a student, Guevara spent long periods traveling around Latin America. Through his first-hand observations of poverty, oppression, and powerlessness of the masses, Guevara soon became highly influenced by his informal Marxist studies. He concluded that the only solution for Latin America's economic and social inequities lay in revolution. His travels also inspired him to look upon Latin America not as a collection of separate nations but as a single entity, the liberation of which would require a continent-wide strategy; he began to imagine the possibility of a united Ibero-America without borders, bound together by a common 'mestizo' culture, an idea that would figure prominently in his later revolutionary activities.
After completion of his formal studies, Guevara traveled to Guatemala. Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán headed a populist government that through various programs, particularly land reform, would attempt to bring about a social revolution. Explaining his motive for settling down for a time in Guatemala, Guevara wrote, "In Guatemala I will perfect myself and accomplish whatever may be necessary in order to become a true revolutionary."
Guevara's main political contact in Guatemala was Hilda Gadea. Gadea introduced him to high-level politicians in the Arbenz government. Gadea was a member of the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA), a political movement led by Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre. While in Guatemala he also renewed contact with a group of Cuban exiles linked to Fidel Castro whom he had initially met in Costa Rica.
Guevara briefly left Guatemala for El Salvador but returned to Guatemala when a CIA-sponsored coup attempt led by Carlos Castillo Armas began. Guevara joined an armed militia organized by the Communist Youth for several days, along with performing medical duties. Following the coup Guevara volunteered to fight, but Arbenz told his foreign supporters to leave the country, and after Gadea was arrested, he briefly took refuge in the Argentine consulate and then moved on to Mexico.
The overthrow of the Arbenz government by the coup d'état, backed by the Central Intelligence Agency cemented Guevara's view of the United States as an imperialist power that would consistently oppose governments attempting to address the socioeconomic inequality endemic to Latin America and other developing countries. This strengthened his conviction that socialism achieved through armed struggle and defended by an armed populace was the only way to rectify such problems.
Shortly after arriving in Mexico, Guevara renewed his friendship with Cuban exiles that he had known in Guatemala. Guevara was introduced to Raúl Castro, Fidel's brother. Some weeks later, Fidel Castro arrived in Mexico City after his release from political prison in Cuba. Raúl introduced Guevara to him. Guevara became convinced that Castro was the inspirational revolutionary leader for whom he had been searching and he immediately joined the "26th of July Movement" that intended to overthrow Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Although it was planned that he would be the group's medic, Guevara participated in the military training along with the other members of the Movement.
In 1956 Guevara and the “Movement” moved into the Cuban interior and began operations against the Batista government. Guevara became a significant member of the revolution, second only to Fidel Castro. By 1 Jan 1959, Batista had fled Cuba for the Dominican Republic, and the “Movement” was effectively in control of the country.
Guevara held several significant posts in the Castro government, and in the last months of 1959, began organizing revolutionary expeditions overseas, all of which failed. He tried to raise a revolution in the African Congo, and Bolivia, but both failed miserably. The Bolivian campaign led to his eventual capture and execution.
Guevara’s beliefs and actions were guided by the experiences and influences throughout his early and formative years, and later, through his exposure to Marxist Revolutionaries. He was raised in a climate of privilege and comfort, yet his hypocrisy was such that under a Marxist system which he wished to force on others, all would be equal except those who were destined to lead the masses.