Che’s Last Struggle (+audio).
On this anniversary of his death, we don’t mourn him: we remember him fighting. Because Che is not just history: he is a burning present, a perennial future.
Every October 9th, the Yuro ravine becomes a symbol and a wound. It was there, in Bolivia, that Ernesto Guevara de la Serna—Che Guevara—was assassinated in 1967, after fighting his last battle. His body, hidden for years, was finally returned to the land that made him a commander, and today he rests in the Santa Clara Memorial, where history embraces him as a son, as a myth, as a flame.
…ONLINE AUDIO
Che’s death did not extinguish his legacy. On the contrary, it multiplied it. An Argentine-Cuban doctor, guerrilla fighter, statesman, writer, strategist, economist, and journalist, his figure rose as an international paradigm of the struggle against injustice and oppression.
His defense of human rights, his dreamy spirit, and his adventurous spirit led him to retrace the paths of the Great Homeland, sowing ideas and battles. Before Bolivia, Che had led Column No. 8 «Ciro Redondo,» extending the revolutionary war to central Cuba and facilitating the fall of the Batista regime.
After the victory, he assumed key responsibilities in the State: military commander of La Cabaña, president of the National Bank, Minister of Industry, and representative of Cuba in international forums such as the UN and the Inter-American Economic and Social Council. He also led the Western Region during the mercenary invasion at Playa Girón and established command in Pinar del Río during the October Crisis.
His internationalism took him to the Congo, where he fought against foreign intervention, and later to Bolivia, where his heroic deeds met with the silence of the jungle and the betrayal of the powerful. But Che didn’t die that day: he lived on in murals, books, songs, trenches, and dreams.
His face, now an emblem, continues to summon generations seeking justice and dignity. His words, even today, challenge the world with the strength of someone who never surrendered.
On this anniversary of his death, we don’t mourn him: we remember him fighting. Because Che is not just history: he is a burning present, a persevering future. And every October 9th, his light is rekindled in every act of rebellion, in every gesture of tenderness, in every trench raised against oblivion.
Written by Yadiel Barbón Salgado.
