Che Guevara: the politics behind the icon
Who was Che Guevara? Ernesto Guevara was born in 1928 to middle class parents in Argentina. He studied medicine at the University of Buenos Aires and after qualifying as a doctor travelled through Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Columbia and Venezuela in 1953 – recorded in his Motorcycle Diaries. In 1954 Guevara was in Guatemala when a CIA-backed coup overthrew the reforming Arbenz government, which turned him towards political activity. In 1954, he moved to Mexico City, where he met Fidel Castro and joined the July 26 Movement. It was at this time he acquired the nickname Che, meaning mate. In 1956...