RT: Ms. Guevara, welcome and thank you for joining us.You have said that you have been very close to Fidel Castro. Whatdo you think of the media speculation about his health; somereports claiming he’s dead, some reports claiming he’s alive? Whatdo you think about that?
Aleida Guevara: Fidel is a totally unique man. He doesn’tget offended easily; it has to be something really offensive andusually something about other people for him to get offended.That’s why, for example, right now he is upset over all this mediahype around Hugo Chavez’s medical problems. But Fidel never caredwhat others said about him. He pays no attention to such things,unless it is something really offensive or something about thepeople. That’s when he will react immediately.
RT: Aleida, your mother stayed silent about herromance with the fabled Comandante Che Guevara for almost 40 years– until recently, when she published a book revealing some of thedetails. Why did she find it so difficult to tell her story before?Why did she wait so long?
AG: First of all, you should know my mother. She comesfrom a rural area, and village folk in Cuba – like anywhere else, Isuppose – are very sensitive about their romantic experiences. Theyare very tight-lipped about these things, and she was brought up inthat culture. She has always been like that. That said, she wasoverwhelmingly in love with him. It was an incredibly beautifullove story. And it’s one of the things that make me feel so special– not because I am the daughter of a great man, oh no. I feelspecial because I am the daughter of a man and a woman who weredearly in love with each other, and I am the product of their love.That’s what makes me special.
Mother’s book tells the story of their relationship, the storyof her life through the lens of that love. Just imagine what it waslike for my Mother when Father died. He had been her first man. Hewas her fiancé, her comrade, her friend, her mentor, her lover, thefather of her children. He was everything.
And then, just like that, he was gone. Imagine the pain she wentthrough. She had to bring up and support four little children. Soshe was forced to lock up all those memories somewhere deep downand get on with her life. If she had been open, she wouldn’t havebeen able to carry on. A long, long time had to pass before shefelt strong enough to revisit those memories. When she was gettingdown to writing the book I would often see her in tears. She criedso much I once told her, “Mom, why don’t you quit that book.”Luckily, she didn’t listen to me and she finished it. And that bookis a truly incredible gift for me.
RT: That is a beautiful story. In the past ten years,there were lots of movies about Ernesto Che Guevara, and lots ofbiographies written. Which of the works you’ve seen and read givethe most-reliable accounts?
AG: So far, there is not a single biography that I wouldrecommend. When I talk to young people, I usually advise them toread what my Father wrote about himself. He had this habit ofwriting down everything that was happening around him since he was17. Many of his diaries have made it through to us, you can read itfirsthand and make your own conclusions. The only movie I wouldprobably point you to is 'The Motorcycle Diaries,' the only worthyproduction in my opinion. It was made entirely by Latin Americans.It’s a great movie and I highly recommend it.
RT: There are plenty of different views about CheGuevara. Some say he was a hero and a martyr, others say he was aterrorist, a murderer. What do you think about the chapter in hislife when had to kill people for the sake of his ideas?
AG: We are talking about war. When you are involved in aguerrilla war, you either live or die. This is the law of guerrillawarfare. But it is not murder. You don’t murder people. Murder iswhen you attack a defenseless person. But this is not the case whenyou are engaged in a battle. In a battle, you shoot at them becausethey shoot at you. You kill them because otherwise they’ll killyou. This is war. On the contrary, it was Che who was murdered. Hewas captured; he was unarmed and defenseless, and they killed himwithout trial. That was real murder.
But my father never did anything like that. They never killedtheir prisoners; they would take care of them, provide medicalcare; they would even slow down their advance because they had toguard the prisoners and leave them in a safe place.
So people who accuse him of murder simply don’t know the wholestory and have no idea of how great these people were – not onlyChe but everybody who fought together with him, all those people.This war shaped them. The Cuban revolution never involved murder.We were defending ourselves. And we will keep doing this.
RT: There’s also a lot of speculation about Fidel onthis matter. Some even say that Che being dead was much more usefulto Castro than when he was alive.
AG: This is the stupidest thing you can say. When Che wasalive, he was immensely helpful to Fidel in Cuba. Fidel has saidthis many, many times. He said he was at peace working on otherthings, because he knew that Che was the minister of industries.The Cuban economy was in good hands, because Fidel fully trustedChe. But the situation changed when Che left. But Che had to moveon. From the very start, when Fidel and Che were in Mexico, theymade a deal. Che promised Fidel he would stay in Cuba until it isliberated, and then, if he is still alive, he will move on to othercountries in Latin America. Fidel agreed to that, and he kept hispromise.
Once I came to Fidel. We had a very long conversation; we talkedfor several hours, and eventually I said to him, “Tell me aboutyour disagreements with Dad. Tell me about these arguments peoplekeep talking about.”
So he told me how one time, when they were in Mexico, they knewthey would all be arrested, and Fidel told everybody to keep theirmouth shut about their political views. And then he asked me, “Whatdo you think your father did?” When he was in prison, he startedtalking to prison guards about politics. He even talked to themabout Stalin! As a result, everybody was released except Che,because police said he was a Communist. Fidel tried talking to himbut eventually he realized that Dad could not lie.
He was too honest; he could not lie. And there was nothing Fidelcould say; there was nothing to talk about. “How can I argue withsuch a person?” Fidel said. So, that’s one of the arguments peoplesay they had. But that was not even an argument. And Fidel stayedin Mexico and did not leave until my father was released, eventhough this jeopardized the entire plan they had for Cuba. And thiswas the beginning of a unique friendship between Fidel and myfather. Dad realized that Fidel was a true general who always feltresponsible for each of his soldiers.
That very evening, when I had that conversation with Fidel, Ilaughed and he asked me what was so funny. I said, “Uncle, – he wasalways Uncle Fidel to me – I’m laughing at you.” He said, “Why?” Isaid, “You don’t even notice it but you speak about Dad in thepresent tense, as if he was still alive.” He gave me a very seriouslook and said, “No, your dad is really here with us.” And that wasthe end of our conversation that night.
RT: The whole world knows your father’s face, andpeople buy merchandise with his picture on it. What do you feelwhen you see this?
AG: Sometimes I get angry because in many cases peopleabuse his image. Sometimes I even joke that I will sue them fordistorting his face because Dad was a handsome man. Some of hisimages are just ugly. On the other hand, I always say that thosepictures mean nothing if you don’t know what they represent, if youare not familiar with his life and what he did. Sometimes I wouldask someone, “Why did you put on this T-shirt with Che?” And theysay, “I have an exam coming up, and I’m not sure I’ll pass. So Iput the T-shirt on, look at Che and tell myself not to give up,because if he made it, so can I.” Some responses are justmarvelous. It means that, despite all the propaganda and nonsensetold about him, people are not fooled. They don’t believe thoselies. They understand what sort of people those revolutionarieswere.
RT: Traveling across Latin America changed CheGuevara’s mindset. It made him a revolutionary. If he were to takea similar trip today, what would he see? Would it strike him asmuch as back then in the 1950s?
AG: Sadly enough, what made Che seek social justice forall is still alive and has even gained ground since then. The gapbetween the rich and the poor is only getting bigger, and people inLatin America know this very well. However, in recent years we haveobserved a new trend, with more leaders caring about people’sneeds. Latin American leaders are beginning to understand that, ifwe join our efforts, nothing will stop us.
My dad would have certainly loved to find out that a NativeAmerican like Evo Morales has made it to the presidency. I thinkChe would’ve tried to support him and offer whatever assistance hecould. He would have also endorsed the Bolivarian Revolution inVenezuela. For the first time in history, a president made hispeople the sole owner of all the oil resources in the country. Itis unique in modern history. I think Che would have welcomed it andwould have done his best to help Chavez. So many things nowadayswould have made him a little happier, but the same things wouldhave made him even more zealous because there is still so much moreto do.
RT: How do you think Che would respond to today’sintegration across Latin America? Would he support it?
AG: Well, that has long been a dream, and not just forChe. Che would say that unity among all Latin Americans is our onlyhope of standing strong against our common foe. And he made itclear that Latin America’s worst enemy is the United States.
RT: What about Cuba? If Che were to see the situationand the quality of life in today’s Cuba, would he feel proud aboutit?
AG: He would realize that there are still many issuesthat need to be addressed, and many things that need to beimproved. But my Father would always stand by the people of Cuba.He had this manner of voicing bare-knuckled criticism, and thepeople were always willing to listen. So if he were still with ustoday, he would be working just like everybody else, trying to makethings better. I guess he wouldn’t hold back his criticism, either,but he would be committed to finding solutions. He would be verybusy.
