Comandante Compañero Ernesto Guevara

He thought one has to be protected from the traps of greed without ever lowering the guard. When he was president of Cuba's National Bank, he signed Che on the bills to mock the money. For the love of people, he despised material things. The world is sick, he believed, where having and being mean the same. He never kept anything for himself, nor asked for anything in return. To live is to give, he thought, so he gave.

El Che was a man whose spirit lives and touches the souls of many around the world; and in Cuba, he lives as a symbol of freedom and strength. El Che was a man who said what he thought and did what he said. If you ask me, that is remarkable and very rare in a world where words hardly ever meet with actions. He defied power and money and risked his life in many occasions pursuing his ideals; reason why many consider him to be reckless and also the reason that led him to his death. Most of the time his work and thoughts are reduced to his military experiences when in reality there is more, much more to him than just a guerrilla leader. Che is a man who asked of people to love more and to grow stronger without losing tenderness. 

Cubans hold him in high esteem, they all call him "compañero" ("fellow") and it's not for less. He had a vision of a free, just and equal society; he became part of the people. When Minister of Industries, he didn't work from behind a desk, instead he went on to the field, put on a hat and cut and collected sugar cane with his fellow citizens. He fought for what he had envisioned and his ideals are kept intact in the minds of millions of people. I encourage everybody to get to know the true Ernesto Guevara. In him you will find a humble man who was larger than life. A revolutionary whom at a very early age understood that his mission in life was to fight for those without a voice and doing so by any means necessary. 

As his friend and mentor Fidel once said, Che is no longer with us but he is present everywhere, wherever there is a just cause to defend.

 

- Diego Paredes