Latin American revolutionary and political leader, whose refusal to join both the capitalism and the orthodox comunism, turned him into an emblem of the socialist struggle. Due to his wild, romantic semblance, Che Guevara means today a legend for the  revolutionary youth of the world, an example of faithfulness and total devotion to the union of the subjugated peoples.

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna was born in Rosario, Argentina on 14 June 1928, in the bosom of an aristocratic, yet socialist-minded family. Since he was a child he has suffered from asthma attacks and because of that in 1932 they move to the sierras of Cordoba. He studied most of the primary school at home, taught by his mother. In their library there were works by Marx, Engels and Lenin, which he got familiar to in his adolescence.

In 1947, Ernesto starts to study Medicine at the Buenos Aires University, motivated firstly by his own desease and then getting interested in leprosy. During 1952, he carries out a long journey through Latin America with his friend Alberto Granados, travelling the south of Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela. They observe, get interested in everything, analyse the reality with critical eye and deep thinking. Ernesto returns to Buenos Aires decided to conclude the career and on 12 July 1953 he is given the title of doctor.

Then he starts out his second journey through Latin America. This time he visits Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala. When visiting the brass mines, the indigenous villages and the leprosy hospitals, Ernesto gives examples of his profound humanism, keeps growing and making big his revolutionary way of thinking and his firm anti-imperialism.

In Guatemala, he meets Hilda Gadea and marries her. Some months later, his first daughter is born.

Convinced that the revolution was the only possible solution to end with the social injustices seen in Latin America, in 1954 Guevara marches to Mexico, where he joins Cuban revolutionaries leaded by Fidel Castro.

That was when he was given the nickname "Che", in a reference to his Argentinean way of speaking. In the late 1950s, when Fidel and the guerrilleros invade Cuba, Che follows them, first as a doctor and then taking over the command of the revolutionary army. Finally, on December 31st 1958, Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista is deposed.

After the triumph of the Revolution, Che Guevara becomes Castro's right hand in the new Cuba government. He is designated Minister of Industry and later on President of the National Bank. He performs simultaneously various other tasks of military, political and diplomatic natures. In 1959 he marries his struggle companion, Aleida March de la Torre, with whom he has other four children. They visit several comunist countries in Eastern Europe and Asia.

Enthusiastically opposed to the American influence in the Third World, Guevara's presence was crucial to the configuration of Castro's regime and the Cuban approach to the comunist block, abandoning the traditional ties that had connected the island and the United States.

In 1962, after a conference in Uruguay, he comes back to Argentina and visits Brazil. Che Guevara was also in several African countries, mainly in Congo. There, he supported anti-Belgian revolutionaries, taking a force of 120 Cuban men. After many battles, they were defeated and in the Autumn of 1965 he asked Castro to withdraw the Cuban troops.

From then on, Che was never seen again in public activities. His mission as an embassador of ideas had reached its end. In 1966, with Fidel Castro, he prepares a new mission in Bolivia, as the leader of peasants and miners opposed to the military government. The attempt ended up meaning his capture and later execution on October 9th 1967. The mortal rests of Che rest in the mausoleum of Ernesto Che Guevara Square in Santa Clara, Cuba.

"I was born in Argentina; this is no secret for anyone. I am Cuban as well as Argentinean and, if the highly illustrated lordships of Latin America may not feel offended, I feel such a patriotism for Latin America, for any country in Latin America, that in the moment it might be necessary, I would be ready to yield my life for the liberation of any Latin American nation, without asking anybody anything, without demanding anything, without exploiting anyone."

THE MAN AND THE SOCIALISM IN CUBA (1965) 

«The road is long and full of difficulties. At times we wander away from the path and must turn back; at other times we go too fast and separate ourselves from the masses; on occasions we go too slow and feel the warm breath of those treading on our heels. In our zeal as revolutionaries we try to move ahead as fast as possible, clearing the way, but knowing we must draw our sustenance from the mass and that it can only advance more rapidly when inspired by our example.»

MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD  (1967)

«Our every action is a battle cry against imperialism, and a battle hymn for the union of the peoples against the great enemy of mankind: the United States of America. Wherever death might ambush us, it shall be welcome, provided that this, our battle cry, has reached some receptive ear, that another hand is extended to wield our weapons, and that other men are ready to intone our dirge with the thumping of machine guns and new battle cries of war and victory. »