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A review by bgg616
Che on My Mind by Margaret Randall
A few people asked me why I was reading this book. The simplest response is that Che has become an icon but few understand what he represents and who he was. Young people wear t-shirts and his image has been commercially exploited (not unlike images of Malcolm X). There are many books written about Guevara, but this slim volume does offer a condensed version of who he was. The author is 80-year-old Margaret Randall, an unapologetic leftist. She has, it seems, begun to modify some of her beliefs - wanting to thank those serving or who have served in the military, while abhorring war and strongly criticizing the Cuban and Russian revolutions for getting bogged down in bureaucracies, and leaders such as Fidel refusing to give up power held for decades. She critiques Che, though I suspect her criticisms are common. His arrogance, his devotion to the strict hierarchy of leadership when he was in command, as well as his willingness to engage in violence.
This book is probably as much about Randall as it is about Guevara. She does refer briefly to the change in enemies of the US from fascists (World War II) to communists (up to the fall of the USSR and Iron Curtain) and currently "Muslim terrorists". Current terrorism focused on urban bombings and shootings is a real threat to people in many countries. But she offers few insights except to comment on globalization and the rise of technology. However given these changes, it is hard to imagine that the US government was threatened by this Argentine/Cuban guerilla who went to the Bolivian jungle to start a revolution. Guevara didn't know the languages of the indigenous people who lived in the jungle and what they saw was a white Argentine with a ragtag band urging them to join him. This is where he died, and Randall points out, his death at age of 39 in these circumstances have contributed to views of him as a "saint" of sorts.
This book is probably as much about Randall as it is about Guevara. She does refer briefly to the change in enemies of the US from fascists (World War II) to communists (up to the fall of the USSR and Iron Curtain) and currently "Muslim terrorists". Current terrorism focused on urban bombings and shootings is a real threat to people in many countries. But she offers few insights except to comment on globalization and the rise of technology. However given these changes, it is hard to imagine that the US government was threatened by this Argentine/Cuban guerilla who went to the Bolivian jungle to start a revolution. Guevara didn't know the languages of the indigenous people who lived in the jungle and what they saw was a white Argentine with a ragtag band urging them to join him. This is where he died, and Randall points out, his death at age of 39 in these circumstances have contributed to views of him as a "saint" of sorts.