Che: His Own Worst Enemy
Abstract
World War II (WWII) not only left the international community recuperating from years of brutal war, but would also usher in a new age of revolutionary warfare. The weakening of colonial powers due to WWII effects would deteriorate their control over colonies or semi-colonies. This diminishing of colonial powers ruling would give way to a rise in nationalism in many states, which sparked new revolutions in the post-WWII era. At the same time the world would witness to the emergence of the Cold War. As tensions intensified with the Cold War, both the Soviet Union and the United States sought beneficial relationships with emerging states or new governments to support their position. These efforts fueled some of the tensest events of the Cold War, but also supported the fanning flames of revolutionary fire burning throughout the world. This new threat was not confined to a specific state, region, or continent. The rekindling of revolutionary warfare mentality was felt globally, to include South America. Arguably the most widely known instance of revolutionary warfare in the western hemisphere was that which took place in Cuba from 1956-1959. The success of this revolution would spawn multiple revolutions in Latin America, some successful while others were failures. One such specific case was the attempted 1967 Bolivian revolution, which was spearheaded by the legendary Ernesto Che Guevara (Che). Che drew from his experience in the Cuban revolution, along with lessons learned from his trips to other states while employed by the Cuban government, in an attempt to spark insurrection in Bolivia. Che believed he could transplant the Cuban revolution model to Bolivia, and further hoped it would grow and spread further countries in Latin America. Although achieving some early successes, his efforts would ultimately fail and cost Che the ultimate price, his life.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2015
- Accession Number
- AD1012784
Entities
People
- Joseph S. Valentino
Organizations
- Air Command and Staff College