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The Diary of Che Guevara. The Secret Papers of a Revolutionary. Bolivia: November 7, 1966 - October 7, 1967
La presente edición coincide con la publicación que en 1968 realizó por primera vez el Instituto del Libro de Cuba. Por su relevancia histórica se han añadido las páginas que no aparecieron en la primera edición, las cuales fueron retiradas por los Servicios de Inteligencia del gobierno boliviano como medida de seguridad. Los días incluidos son los enero (4, 5, 8 y 9); febrero (8 y 9); marzo (14); abril (4 y 5); junio (9 y 10); y julio (4 y 5). Además, el texto de la primera edición fue cotejado y revisado con los facsimilares por la compañera Aleida March, pudiendo aclararse algunos términos y palabras que aparecieron como ilegibles.
191 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 1968
About the author
Ernesto Che Guevara
523 books2,374 followersErnesto "Che" Guevara, commonly known as El Che or simply Che, was a Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, since his death Guevara's stylized visage has become an ubiquitous countercultural symbol and global icon within popular culture.
His belief in the necessity of world revolution to advance the interests of the poor prompted his involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Arbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow solidified Guevara's radical ideology. Later, while living in Mexico City, he met Raúl and Fidel Castro, joined their movement, and travelled to Cuba with the intention of overthrowing the U.S.-backed Batista regime. Guevara soon rose to prominence among the insurgents, was promoted to second-in-command, and played a pivotal role in the successful two year guerrilla campaign that topled the Cuban government.
After serving in a number of key roles in the new government, Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to foment revolution abroad, first unsuccessfully in Congo-Kinshasa and later in Bolivia, where he was captured by CIA-assisted Bolivian forces and executed.
Guevara remains both a revered and reviled historical figure, polarized in the collective imagination in a multitude of biographies, memoirs, essays, documentaries, songs, and films. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, while an Alberto Korda photograph of him entitled "Guerrillero Heroico," was declared "the most famous photograph in the world" by the Maryland Institute of Art.
His belief in the necessity of world revolution to advance the interests of the poor prompted his involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Arbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow solidified Guevara's radical ideology. Later, while living in Mexico City, he met Raúl and Fidel Castro, joined their movement, and travelled to Cuba with the intention of overthrowing the U.S.-backed Batista regime. Guevara soon rose to prominence among the insurgents, was promoted to second-in-command, and played a pivotal role in the successful two year guerrilla campaign that topled the Cuban government.
After serving in a number of key roles in the new government, Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to foment revolution abroad, first unsuccessfully in Congo-Kinshasa and later in Bolivia, where he was captured by CIA-assisted Bolivian forces and executed.
Guevara remains both a revered and reviled historical figure, polarized in the collective imagination in a multitude of biographies, memoirs, essays, documentaries, songs, and films. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, while an Alberto Korda photograph of him entitled "Guerrillero Heroico," was declared "the most famous photograph in the world" by the Maryland Institute of Art.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 4, 2023
Leí la primera edición que se publicó en Cuba, con fotocopias que se recuperaron del diario, pero me gustaría contrastarlo con la edición “autorizada”.
De cualquier manera, resulta interesante ver algunos de los pensamientos del Che en su última campaña en Bolivia.
De cualquier manera, resulta interesante ver algunos de los pensamientos del Che en su última campaña en Bolivia.
August 9, 2023
THE REVOLUTIONARY’S DIARY FROM THE FRONT IN BOLIVIA
The Publisher’s Note explains, “This Bantam edition contains the first English-language book publication of the diary of Che Guevara, Bolivia: November 7, 1966---October 7, 1967, as originally published by Ramparts magazine on July 3, 1968.” The Editor’s Note to the Ramparts Edition adds, “This special issue of Ramparts magazine contains… the Diary written by Ernesto Che Guevara during the 12 months of the guerrilla campaign in Bolivia.”
The Introduction by Fidel Castro states, “thanks to his invariable habit of jotting down the principal occurrences of each day, we have at our rigorously exact, priceless and detailed information concerning the heroic final months of his life in Bolivia… It should be kept in mind that they were written … in the middle of an heroic and superhuman physical endeavor… In the diary, detailed analyses of the incidents of each day, the faults, criticisms and recriminations which are appropriate to and inevitable in the development of a revolutionary guerrilla are made evident.” (Pg. 7-8)
He continues, “Che contemplated his death as something natural and probable in the process and tried to emphasize … that this eventuality would not impede the inevitable march of the revolution in Latin America… He considered himself a soldier of this revolution without every worrying about surviving it… From Che’s diary it is possible to gather how real the possibilities of success were and how extraordinary they catalyzing power of the guerrilla was.” (Pg. 11-12)
Che wrote, “I spent the day talking and having some discussion clearing up some points … El Frances … came to stay but I asked him to return in order to organize an auxiliary network in France… I have to write to Sartre and B. Russell to have them organize an international fund to help the Bolivian Liberation Movement. He should also talk to a friend and have him organize everything that he can to help, especially in the way of money, medicine and electronics, sending an electrical engineer and equipment.” (Pg. 79 [21])
He observes, “The North Americans announced that the military advisors which they had sent to Bolivia did not have anything to do with the guerrilla, but that this corresponded to an old plan. Perhaps this is the first episode of a new Vietnam.” (Pg. 94 [13])
He states, “With much delay, message No. 35 was deciphered completely, which had a paragraph in it asking me for authorization to put my signature on a bill in favor of Vietnam, headed by Bertrand Russell.” (Pg. 104 [29])
He notes, “The friends call me a new Bakunin, regretting the blood spilled at that to be spilled in case of three or four Vietnams.” (Pg. 145 [24])
He recounts, “At night I brought everybody together and gave them the following lectures: we are in a difficult situation; Pacho has gotten better today but I am just a human carcass, and the episode of the little mare proves that at some moments I have lost control; that will be modified, but the situation must weigh squarely on everybody and whoever does not feel capable of sustaining it should say so. It is one of those moments when great decision must be taken; this type of struggle gives us the opportunity not only to turn ourselves into revolutionaries, the highest level of the human species, but it also allows us to graduate as men; those who cannot reach either one of these two stages should say so and leave the struggle.” ((Pg. 153-154 [8])
He acknowledges in a Monthly Analysis: “The characteristics are the same as those of last month, except that now the army is showing more effectiveness in action, and the mass of peasants does not help us at all and have become informers.” (Pg. 186 [30])
This book will be of keen interest to those studying the life and words of Che.
The Publisher’s Note explains, “This Bantam edition contains the first English-language book publication of the diary of Che Guevara, Bolivia: November 7, 1966---October 7, 1967, as originally published by Ramparts magazine on July 3, 1968.” The Editor’s Note to the Ramparts Edition adds, “This special issue of Ramparts magazine contains… the Diary written by Ernesto Che Guevara during the 12 months of the guerrilla campaign in Bolivia.”
The Introduction by Fidel Castro states, “thanks to his invariable habit of jotting down the principal occurrences of each day, we have at our rigorously exact, priceless and detailed information concerning the heroic final months of his life in Bolivia… It should be kept in mind that they were written … in the middle of an heroic and superhuman physical endeavor… In the diary, detailed analyses of the incidents of each day, the faults, criticisms and recriminations which are appropriate to and inevitable in the development of a revolutionary guerrilla are made evident.” (Pg. 7-8)
He continues, “Che contemplated his death as something natural and probable in the process and tried to emphasize … that this eventuality would not impede the inevitable march of the revolution in Latin America… He considered himself a soldier of this revolution without every worrying about surviving it… From Che’s diary it is possible to gather how real the possibilities of success were and how extraordinary they catalyzing power of the guerrilla was.” (Pg. 11-12)
Che wrote, “I spent the day talking and having some discussion clearing up some points … El Frances … came to stay but I asked him to return in order to organize an auxiliary network in France… I have to write to Sartre and B. Russell to have them organize an international fund to help the Bolivian Liberation Movement. He should also talk to a friend and have him organize everything that he can to help, especially in the way of money, medicine and electronics, sending an electrical engineer and equipment.” (Pg. 79 [21])
He observes, “The North Americans announced that the military advisors which they had sent to Bolivia did not have anything to do with the guerrilla, but that this corresponded to an old plan. Perhaps this is the first episode of a new Vietnam.” (Pg. 94 [13])
He states, “With much delay, message No. 35 was deciphered completely, which had a paragraph in it asking me for authorization to put my signature on a bill in favor of Vietnam, headed by Bertrand Russell.” (Pg. 104 [29])
He notes, “The friends call me a new Bakunin, regretting the blood spilled at that to be spilled in case of three or four Vietnams.” (Pg. 145 [24])
He recounts, “At night I brought everybody together and gave them the following lectures: we are in a difficult situation; Pacho has gotten better today but I am just a human carcass, and the episode of the little mare proves that at some moments I have lost control; that will be modified, but the situation must weigh squarely on everybody and whoever does not feel capable of sustaining it should say so. It is one of those moments when great decision must be taken; this type of struggle gives us the opportunity not only to turn ourselves into revolutionaries, the highest level of the human species, but it also allows us to graduate as men; those who cannot reach either one of these two stages should say so and leave the struggle.” ((Pg. 153-154 [8])
He acknowledges in a Monthly Analysis: “The characteristics are the same as those of last month, except that now the army is showing more effectiveness in action, and the mass of peasants does not help us at all and have become informers.” (Pg. 186 [30])
This book will be of keen interest to those studying the life and words of Che.
February 28, 2024
Al principio este libro me interesó mucho pero en realidad estuvo un poco aburrido. Solo porque muchos días me parecieron iguales, y en el fin solo leí los resúmenes de los meses para entender la esencia. Todavía disfruté el diario y siento que aprendí más sobre el Che y por eso estoy contento.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews