Monday, October 29, 2007
A Very Human Being
The 1950s were a heady time for the United States. With a five-star general in the White House, and the Dulles brothers heading CIA and State, there was little room for democracy to develop in Latin America before being crushed by right-wing death squads under the tutelage of the Pentagon.
In Back on the Road by Ernesto Guevara, we learn how the young intellectuals south of the border viewed the thuggery of the United Fruit administration, and why they chose armed struggle against the Yankee gringo.
More importantly, we see through the eyes of a young, socially conscious physician cum journalist, how the most sensitive of his generation had no choice but to oppose the plantation economy imposed by Washington. We also see how the Pan American social movement he became a part of helped lay the groundwork for the indigenous movement of today.
Written before Ernesto Guevara de la Serna became the radical icon 'Che', this second journal of his travels from Argentina to Mexico concludes just prior to his immersion in the Cuban revolution. These letters of a young man, new father, philosopher, and adventurer are an important counterpart to the then nascent disillusion in the US expressed in similar titles -- a vital counterpoint to the benign image of 1950s America.
If for no other reason, Back on the Road should be read to humanize this very human being. We owe his children that much.
In Back on the Road by Ernesto Guevara, we learn how the young intellectuals south of the border viewed the thuggery of the United Fruit administration, and why they chose armed struggle against the Yankee gringo.
More importantly, we see through the eyes of a young, socially conscious physician cum journalist, how the most sensitive of his generation had no choice but to oppose the plantation economy imposed by Washington. We also see how the Pan American social movement he became a part of helped lay the groundwork for the indigenous movement of today.
Written before Ernesto Guevara de la Serna became the radical icon 'Che', this second journal of his travels from Argentina to Mexico concludes just prior to his immersion in the Cuban revolution. These letters of a young man, new father, philosopher, and adventurer are an important counterpart to the then nascent disillusion in the US expressed in similar titles -- a vital counterpoint to the benign image of 1950s America.
If for no other reason, Back on the Road should be read to humanize this very human being. We owe his children that much.
