Evaluate Ernesto "Ché" Guevara's impact on the success of the Cuban Revolution.

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Ahmed Ismail

December 8, 2003

A   Plan of the Investigation

The scope of this investigation is to evaluate Ernesto “Ché” Guevara’s impact on the success of the Cuban Revolution.  Emphasis will be placed on Guevara’s influential relationship with Fidel Castro and how he contributed to the downfall of the Batista regime.

In order to carry out this investigation a number of different sources will be utilized.  Firstly, a source solely describing Guevara’s life and secondly a number of sources critiquing his influence on the Cuban revolutionary scene.  The plan is to include in B, the summary of evidence, the following:

1.        Background to the Cuban political climate prior to the revolution

2.        Guevara’s life and career before his involvement in the Cuban Revolution        

3.        Guevara’s activities and how his relationship developed with Fidel Castro

4.        Guevara’s role in the 26th of July Movement and involvement in the invasion of Havana

The two main sources used will be evaluated in C, the findings and results of the investigation will be discussed in D, and the conclusion reached will be stated in E.

B        Summary of Evidence

  1. Background to the Cuban political climate prior to the revolution

Prior to any revolutionary activity in Cuba, the state had been ruled by the pro-U.S. dictator Fulgencio Batista.  He had opened the way for large-scale gambling in Havana and reorganized the Cuban state so that he and his political appointees could make the best of the country’s riches.  Cuba was profitable for American business and organized crime with very little being said about democracy or the rights of the average Cuban (Sierra Internet Site).  Socially, Cuba was in severe turmoil with widespread discontent dominating the scene.

2.        Guevara’s life and career before his involvement in the Cuban Revolution        

Ernesto Guevara was born in Rosario, Argentina on June 14, 1928 to a fairly privileged and politically active middle class family.  As a university student he went on a couple of motorcycle trips with friends which would be significant as through them he began to exhibit strong sympathies toward the poor and the oppressed, later fueling his political tendencies (Anderson 60).  His next travel took him to Guatemala, where he became increasingly involved in the resistance against U.S. intervention to expel Guatemalan president Jacobo Arbenz (Anderson 149).  After his first political experience in Guatemala he left for Mexico City where he would later meet Fidel Castro.

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3.        Guevara’s activities and how his relationship developed with Fidel Castro

Guevara first met Raul Castro, Fidel’s brother, through a common friend, Nico Lopez, and they became instant friends as Raul Castro was described as being “a dedicated revolutionary” (Anderson 165).  In the coming weeks, Raul arranged for Guevara to meet his older brother Fidel who, during the first night of knowing Ché, offered Guevara to join the 26th of July fighters, as their doctor, on their expedition to Cuba to begin a revolution.  Guevara accepted and became officially one of the future “expeditionaries”.    

4.        Guevara’s ...

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