hey truth, where the fuck are you hiding?

[isfet]

there are so many different topics out there that have incredibly vague descriptions and answers.  no matter who you speak to, there always seems to be a different version of "the truth."

this topic sprang to my mind last night as i was watching Benicio Del Toro's portrayal of Che Guevara in "Che."  the movie does a pretty good job, in terms of not glorifying Che into a super cute and likable character (a la "The Motorcycle Diaries"), but still doesn't demonize him the way that some are wont to.  i believe it was Mike who first brought my attention to the fact that Che was actually kind of an asshole and was responsible for killing a bunch of people; also, specifically, homosexuals.

perhaps because i like the "idea" of Che, i've made a point of trying to reconcile his image with some kind of reality.  it's not that i doubt what Mike told me, so much as i can never seem to find a straight answer as to what actually happened.

people who didn't agree with him politically seem to claim he was a sadistic mass murderer, while people who supported his cause and worked with him seem to claim he was a pretty stand up kind of a guy.  obviously, both of these opinions are going to be skewed.  any search on the internet for "dirt" on Che inevitibly leads me to some rube's website full of inflamatory remarks about the guy without any sources.  it's cool that you're telling me about "the real Che," but where exactly did you get this from?

in a way, it's kind of like the topic of Cuba itself.  talk to many "liberals," and Cuba is described as a kind of paradise on Earth.  speak to detractors of communism and Cuba is the pit of Hell.  so what's the truth? 

basically, i think it comes down to the answer:  somewhere in the middle.

so what's the point of this long query?  well, primarily, for other people's input, but also i'm wondering if anyone has some actual and credible resources in regard to Mr. Guevara's life.  obviously the guy was at least a little crazy and more than a little violent, but are statements claiming that he only didn't kill as many as Stalin did because he didn't have the chance fair statements?

[dhex]

a history phd i know said a decent book is this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Companero-Life-Death-Che-Guevara/dp/0679759409/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264000382&sr=1-6

again, as you note, everything kinda revolves around what people are willing to forgive or fixate on, generally depending on their preexisting biases.

comparing anyone to stalin who isn't mao is pretty useless and inflammatory; how many people have an entire country of millions upon millions to kill? they were, thankfully, special cases.

regardless, the embargo is bullshit. thanks miami politics!

[isfet]

ah, thanks!  i'll check that out soon, then.

with figures like this, it becomes hard to seperate the wheat from the chaff, especially so with Che.  now that he's in the public consciousness once again and on everybody's walls/bodies/books/video games, it's getting harder to tell what's real and what isn't.

one of my students' fathers actually deals with Cuba fairly regularly in some kind of business venture.  as a result, he's allowed to go there pretty freely and bring family members/friends.

i'm almost tempted to ask a favor, haha.

i imagine it might be interesting to visit the place, at least before it's opened up again and Burger King sets up shop.

[dhex]

burger kings would probably be preferable to the current situation by a long shot. perhaps not to the "slumming it" romantics who see east new york (from a car) as an unvarnished vista of some kind, but to the folks to live there.

[dhex]

actually, on the topic of teams and ideological blindness/tunnel-vision, i've never quite understood the reflexive defense of pinochet in many quarters. no, the 73 coup didn't rack up huge amounts of bodies (comparatively) and allende was an awful leader, but a) tremendous amounts of meddling from the us and other quarters and b) why support any kind of military dictatorship? who cares what kind of de-nationalization programs they instituted? if you're arresting poets, you're probably a bad government. saying "well, at least it wasn't a marxist takeover of the government" doesn't actually mean diddly-shits.

similarly weird when people reflexively defend chavez because he's hated by the right/wrong people.

[dhex]

back on topic:

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/34922/

i'm sure this will be balanced and unemotional.

[isfet]

haha the usage of the words "blood thirsty" definitely implies good things to come from that doc