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Transcript Provided by YouTube:
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he is the worldwide symbol of rebellion
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and revolutionary struggle his
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silhouette is familiar to billions
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representing the epitome of cool
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anti-establishment ISM yet few people
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know the real story behind the legends
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of Che Guevara and in this week’s
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biographic we discover the man behind
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the myth
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to reveal an individual whose passion
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for social justice saw no bounds
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[Music]
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Ernesto Guevara de la Serna was born on
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June the 14th 1928 in the town of
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Rosario Argentina
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his family was Arastoo critique with his
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father Ernesto Guevara Lynch operating
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construction and shipbuilding businesses
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born prematurely the infant Guevara who
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soon acquired the nickname che struggles
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with asthma as well as pneumonia his
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mother was the dominant figure in his
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life teaching him to read and write and
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impressing her belief in social justice
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upon him J was the oldest of five
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children the family were exposed to a
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wide range of political and
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philosophical thought with his father
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being friendly with many veterans of the
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Spanish Civil War the boy develops a
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strong interest in sport excelling as
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athletics swimming and rugby he was
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known for his aggressive style of play
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and the mental drive to push his body to
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the limit che also develops a passion
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for intellectual pursuits by the age of
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ten he had become a very good chess
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player and a voracious reader the
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Guevara home was overflowing with books
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on a wide range of subjects exposing him
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to the ideas of men like Karl Marx
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Sigmund Freud and Friedrich Engels che
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also showed a great love for poetry in
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his early teens chase interest in the
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philosophies of great fingers of the
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past that didn’t to keep a personal
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journal in which he would summarize
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their main ideas as he formulated his
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own outlook on life at school che he was
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confident and determined a schoolmate
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remembered him as incredibly sure of
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himself and totally independent in his
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opinions very dynamic Restless and
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unconventional he acted more maturely
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than many of his peers and associates
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while still in high school he surrounded
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himself with university students proving
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to be their intellectual equal and
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showing a political insight that often
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even surpassed theirs on one occasion
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his university pals urged him to join
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them in a political rally he replied go
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out in the streets so the police can hit
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us with their clubs nothing doing
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I’ll go and demonstrate only if you give
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me a gun in later life Guevara made
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their comments that was certainly the
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case for himself an ANA 15 already knows
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what he wants to die for India’s no
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afraid of giving his life if he has
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found an ideal which makes the sacrifice
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easy at age 15 Guevara is ideal was
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still in a raw state consisting of
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little more than a passion for equality
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for all and a rejection of materialism
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still at this age he was more interested
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in sport than politics he impressed
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everyone with his fierce self-discipline
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his asthma made it a challenge for him
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to stay on the rugby fields but he saw
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his condition as a barrier that could be
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overcome with sheer force of will Shay’s
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self-discipline translated to his
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academic life as well after graduating
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from high school he completed a six year
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university medical degree in just three
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years
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his aunt later recalled we would listen
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to him gasping studying as he lay on the
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floor to ease his breathing but he never
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complains
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for him there was a challenge
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[Music]
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J began his university studies at the
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University of Buenos Aires in 1948 at
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the age of 20 he refused to involve
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himself with the political movement
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against the Perron government staying
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focused on his studies he found his
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respite from academia on the back of his
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500cc Norton motorcycle which he
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nicknamed lap Ponderosa meaning the
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mighty one yet Shay’s first major
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excursion was actually on the back of
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the bicycle though one that he had
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fitted a small motor tube in 1950 he
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embarked on a solo trek across northern
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Argentina
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that would seem peddling some 2,800
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miles a year later he paired up with a
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university friend Alberto Granado for a
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massive motorcycle track across the
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South American continent
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the two men traveled from one location
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to another finding work as laborers as
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they went at some Pablo they volunteered
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to work in a leper colony it was here
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that Guevara recalled seeing the most
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impressive example of solidarity and
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loyalty and this was among men who had
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nothing materially he was also deeply
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affected by the intense poverty that he
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saw in every corner of the continent in
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his mines this was an indictment of the
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failing capitalist system throughout the
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5,000 mile excursion Guevara kept a
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journal in which he recorded his
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experiences these were later published
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as a book which was entitled the
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motorcycle diaries in the 1990s the
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motorcycle journey proved to be a great
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turning points in Guevara ‘s life in
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1960 he wrote the following because of
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the conditions in which I traveled I
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came into close contact with poverty and
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hunger and disease I discovered that I
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was unable to cure sick children through
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lack of means and I saw the degradation
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of undernourishment and constant
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repression in this way I began to
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realize that there was another thing
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that was as important as being a famous
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researcher or making a great
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contribution to medical science and that
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was to help people his experiences over
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the course of his travels also it proven
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to Guevara that he could exist on very
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little he had the ability to push
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himself forward despite food water sleep
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or anything materially these qualities
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were to make him an extremely effective
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guerrilla fighter Guevara had taken a
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year sabbatical from his university
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degree to embark
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upon his epic journey returning he threw
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himself into his studies graduating in
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1953 to officially become a doctor two
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months later however he abandoned this
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career and stepped into the political
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arena
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with another friends Carlos Ferrer
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cavora headed for Bolivia the country
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had just come under his first reformed
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government the big issue was the
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nationalization of the country’s 10
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lines a revolution was forming but she
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refused to be drawn in stating that the
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revolutionaries were not concerned with
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addressing the causes of injustice but
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were merely tinkering with the effects
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rejecting the revolutionary movement in
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Bolivia J and Carlos headed for Peru
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here they found that they were unable to
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open any kind of communication with the
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downtrodden
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Indians who according to Ferrer stared
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at us lips as tight and forbidding as a
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vice that refused to reply to our
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questions still the Peruvian border
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guards were sure that the two foreign
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upstarts were forming some sort of
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agrarian revolution from Peru they
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traveled to Guatemala here a revolution
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had just taken place J had not yet fully
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developed a Marxist philosophy but he
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felt a personal responsibility to help
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the downtrodden his challenge was to
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find a workable way in order to do this
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the new revolutionary government in
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Guatemala was led by acabo our bents who
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had managed to pull together a group of
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young army officers and intellectuals as
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J arrived on the scene Arbenz was in the
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process of redistributing lands that had
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been nationalized from the American
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United Fruit Company to peasant workers
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the ever-present fear was that this
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would provoke a counter-revolution that
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would be backed by the Americans
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che wanted to work as a doctor for the
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Guatemalans in the jungles of Bataan
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however he would be required to join the
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Guatemalan Labor Party which was another
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name for the local Communist Party che
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refused to join claiming that he was a
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revolutionary and that that designation
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superseded any political affiliations
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the arbenz government only lasted a year
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due to the feared American intervention
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becoming a reality
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the CIA trained and financed a
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revolutionary group who managed you
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asked the sitting government courts in
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the middle of it all was Che Guevara who
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commented we are like the Spanish
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Republic betrayed from within and
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without but we did not fall with the
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same dignity
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finally he committed himself to
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revolutionary action yet despite his
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best efforts he could not rally the
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Guatemalan people for a consolidated
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defense
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in the ends are Ben’s weekly resigns she
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had been marked for execution by the
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incoming regime and was forced to flee
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to the argentinian embassy where he was
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holed up for almost two months his
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experiences in Guatemala convinced je
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that America was the great enemy of
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worldwide freedom and that capitalism
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was holding people in a state of
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subjugation it was at this point that he
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began to seriously study the works of
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Marx and Lenin from Argentina je made
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from Mexico where he began to develop
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his skills as a revolutionary in 1955 he
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met Fidel Castro who had been exiled
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from Cuba after a failed coup Castro was
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actively looking for revolutionaries to
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join second attempts to overthrow the
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regime a full hence EO Batista shaped
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liked what he heard and he
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enthusiastically signed up the Cuban
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revolutionaries hadn’t even left Mexican
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asurs when they were intercepted by
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Mexican intelligence services and thrown
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in prison
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it was J’s first experience of
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incarceration the screams of his fellow
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inmates as they were being beaten and
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immersed in water it had a powerful
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impact on Castro though he was able to
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exert influence through the Russian
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embassy forgot all of the men released
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from 1956 the small band of men were
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undergoing guerrilla warfare training on
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the Rancho San Miguel near Hal Co che
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proved to be the outstanding student
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among the group despite his ever-present
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asthma the 82 revolutionaries they sat
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out for Cuba on November the 25th 1956
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on board a dilapidated yacht called
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Granma none of the men on board were
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sailors and they all got seasick with
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most of the supplies being lost in a
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storm
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they finally landed in a swampy area
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that led to a mountain range in the
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southeast of Cuba for the next few weeks
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they wandered around somewhat aimlessly
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they found a guide but he betrayed them
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to Batista’s forces the rebels were
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surrounded as they lounged around in the
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jungle with their boots off and weapons
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laid aside in the ensuing firestorm all
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but 12 of Castro’s men they were wiped
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out Castro he was wounded in the neck
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but he managed to escape with four of
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his comrades in doing so he had to make
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a fateful choice of this he later wrote
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this was perhaps the first time
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to choose between my education for
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medicine and my duty as a revolutionary
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soldier at my feet were a pack full of
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medicines and a cartridge box together
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they were too heavy to carry I chose the
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cartridge box leaving behind the
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medicine back Jai led his group to the
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Sierra Maestra to meet up with any other
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survivors he used what he thought was
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the north start and guide him but it was
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actually another star and the group got
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hopelessly lost
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they eventually arrived at the meeting
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place by sheer luck for the next few
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weeks the men had to rely on the
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generosity of local peasants just to
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survive it was a small victory and the
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group struggled to enlarge their numbers
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as they settled into life in the Sierra
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Maestra mountains though few peasants
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joined the rebellion they did build up a
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network of sympathizers any who showed
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any signs of allegiance to the
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pâtisserie government were put to death
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often on the orders of Guevara it was
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during this time that she developed the
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cold ruthlessness that he felt was
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necessary to the makeup of a
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revolutionary over the next two years he
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was to order the deaths of hundreds of
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p’tee stew followers by May of 1957 the
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guerrilla force had been rebuilt to
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about 80 men and they had built up a
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sizeable cache of weapons they overcame
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another army barrack since before long
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the entire Sierra Maestra region had
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become a liberated zone where that
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Easter’s forces to go during this time
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that rebel army had transformed itself
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from something of a clueless mob to an
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actual seasoned guerrilla force this was
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almost entirely due to the training and
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guidance of Che Guevara Castro had made
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him a commandant second in rank only to
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himself as well as training the men in
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fighting tactics he also established a
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field hospital the tailor’s shop bakery
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and a printing shop Guevara also set up
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a radio station so that the rebels could
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speak directly to the peasant population
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as a result of his prominent work at the
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core of the rebel army Guevara ‘s name
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came to the attention of the authorities
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being mentioned in the same breath as
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the Castro brothers as an enemy of the
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state within the group he also garnered
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his own loyal following and in time he
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would become a threat to Fidel himself
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by the end of autumn 1958 the rebel
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force had won a series of victories in
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the south of Cuba this precipitated
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chaise longue
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march toward Savannah during which is
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small but determined force traveled by
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night and attacked the villages and
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towns that they encountered along the
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way during the day the ultimate
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objective was to gain control of the
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province of las viejas effectively
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cutting cuba in half che proved himself
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to be a brilliant tactician he perfected
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the art of setting up rural bases
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expanding them until a town fell and
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then isolating cities and squeezing the
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resistance out of it the final attack on
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the provinces capital of Santa Clara
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involved a suicide squad attack that
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surahs men outnumbered ten to one the
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victory that resulted was the most
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decisive battle in the entire revolution
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with the rebel victory at Santa Clara
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and the rebels heading for the capital
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for Henze Oh Batista knew the game was
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up he abandoned the country and on the
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1st of January 1959 headed for the
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Dominican Republic with an alleged
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fortune of 300 million dollars the next
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day che entered ivana like a conquering
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hero Fidel derived six days later to
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proclaim that a new era had begun
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[Music]
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the men who now inherited the
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governments of Cuba were predominantly
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uneducated and ill-prepared for the task
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the clear exception was Che Guevara
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while he had no direct governmental
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experience he was the university
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graduates who was steeped in
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philosophical thought further during the
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time in the mountains he had proven his
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ability to organize men surely
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organizing a country wouldn’t be much
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more difficult as a result she became
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the brains of the new government for the
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next six years he remained in Cuba
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implementing his own form of guerrilla
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government his first focus was to shift
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Cuba from an agrarian to an industrial
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society in order to become independent
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from foreign imperialists Cuba had to
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become self-sufficient che spoke less
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about the peasantry and more about the
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urban worker in 1961 he was appointed
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Minister of Industry and instituted a
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program of converting agricultural
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implements into raw materials so many
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people buy such policies che he was
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deserting the peasant class she never
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appreciated the complexity and financial
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resources that were needed to set up new
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industries the factories that resulted
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ended up producing goods that were of
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low quality and high price by the end of
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1964 Guevara had established himself as
15:20
an international expert on revolutionary
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action during a three-month world tour
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II visited China North Korea Algiers
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Ghana Tanzania and a few other countries
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espousing his anti-capitalist ideology
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and claiming that the Cuban Revolution
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was something spiritual that would can
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send all boarders at the beginning of
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1965 Guevara went to the Congo to lend
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his support to the revolutionary
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struggle there for seven months he led
15:45
an afro-cuban force of about a hundred
15:47
men however his movements were
15:49
constantly monitored by the Congo
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National Army and the American CIA and
15:53
he was unable to make any traction
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[Music]
16:01
after spending time in exile at the
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Cuban embassy in dar elsalam Sheikh
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quietly returned to Cuba then in October
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1966 he slipped into Bolivia there he
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believed that he could ferment an
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uprising that would lead to the eventual
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overthrow of imperialism throughout all
16:18
of Latin America during his time in
16:20
Bolivia Guevara caps a detailed daily
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account of his experiences which had
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been published as the Bolivian Diaries
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the account reveals that the specter of
16:29
death was ever-present though it is
16:31
clear that he didn’t go to Bolivia
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wanting to get killed he was well aware
16:35
that the odds of emerging from the
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struggle alive were slim at best J and
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the Cubans who came with him not
16:41
welcomed with open arms by thei Bolivian
16:44
revolutionaries the Bolivian Indians
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they distrusted the Cubans as foreign
16:48
white men as a result during the entire
16:50
11 months che was unable to recruit a
16:53
single Bolivian Indian to his cause che
16:56
divided his small rebel group into two
16:58
divisions he lacked the decisiveness and
17:00
aggression of the actions that he had
17:02
during the Cuban Revolution he was also
17:04
suffering physically at this point with
17:06
his asthmatic bouts becoming chronic
17:07
still his resolve to go on in never
17:10
wanes as long as he could breathe he
17:12
could fight each rebel division was
17:14
systematically hunted down by the
17:16
Bolivian forces on October the 7th 1967
17:19
an informants led Bolivian Special
17:21
Forces troops to Castro’s camp in the
17:23
gyro ravine almost 2,000 soldiers
17:26
surrounded the camp and moved in for the
17:28
kill all but 10 men were killed
17:31
Guevara threw up his hands and he yelled
17:33
do not shoot I am Che Guevara and I am
17:36
worth more to you alive than dead
17:38
the wounded che was captured bound and
17:40
taken to a nearby schoolhouse attempts
17:43
to interrogate him failed as he refused
17:45
to speak one of the Bolivian soldiers
17:46
present recalled that che held his head
17:48
high looked very one straight in the eye
17:50
and asked only for something to smoke a
17:53
pipe was handed to che and he contently
17:55
puffed on it until a Bolivian officer
17:57
entered the room and grabbed it from his
17:58
mouth in response Guevara kicked out at
18:01
the officer on the morning of October
18:03
the 9th Guevara requested an audience
18:05
with the local schoolteacher
18:07
the young woman was summoned and she
18:09
listened respectfully as che brought our
18:11
attention to the dilapidated condition
18:13
of a schoolroom and
18:14
transitive to the lavish conditions
18:16
which government officials enjoyed he
18:18
told her that is what he was fighting
18:20
for the teacher
18:21
Julia Cortes later related that she
18:23
could not meet Shay’s gaze because it
18:25
was unbearable piercing and so tranquil
18:28
soon the news came through the Bolivian
18:30
president Rene barrientos had ordered
18:33
the death of Che Guevara before the
18:34
execution the soldiers paraded him
18:36
outside the schoolroom and took photos
18:38
with him then he was taken back inside
18:41
where his executioner entered Guevara
18:43
stood as he spoke the last words to his
18:46
killer I know you’ve come to kill me
18:47
shoot coward you are only going to kill
18:51
a man the assassin soldier named Mario
18:54
Terran then opened fire hitting Che in
18:57
the arms and legs he was careful to
18:59
inflict wounds in such a way that the
19:00
story could be told that Shay was killed
19:03
during a firefight the revolutionary
19:05
icon was pronounced dead at 1:10 p.m. on
19:08
October the 9th 1968 the manner of its
19:10
death created a martyr while the
19:12
substance of his life created a legend
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as strong today as it ever was
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so I really hope you found that video
19:19
interesting if you did please do hit
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19:40
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Previously published on YouTube.
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Photo credit: Screenshot from video.
