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Che's Legacy Fading in Latin America

Today's leftists pick ballots over armed rebellion

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 6, 2007 6:13 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Che Guevara’s face still adorns T-shirts, mugs, even bikinis, but today's Latin leftists are picking modern means to his ends, Reuters reports. Recent articles are blasting the cult of Guevara while lefty leaders plug elections over armed rebellion. “Ours is 21st Century socialism," says Ecuador’s president. "We don't believe in class war or dialectical materialism."

Many Latin rebels have laid down arms of late, save Columbia’s cocaine-smuggling guerrillas. And while the 2004 film The Motorcycle Diaries dramatized Che for today's youth, it also portrayed him as a naive dreamer. The 40th anniversary of his death will be marked at a concert in Cuba, but Che's old comrade, Fidel, has not signaled any plans to attend.

Cubans hold an image of Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara at a May Day parade in Havana, Tuesday, May 1, 2007. Cuba marks the anniversary of Che Guevara's death on Oct. 8, although he was killed on Oct. 9, 1967.(AP Photo/Javier Galeano)
Cubans hold an image of Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara at a May Day parade in Havana, Tuesday, May 1, 2007. Cuba marks the anniversary of "Che" Guevara's death on Oct....   (Associated Press)
A worker paints a sculpture depicting Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara at the National Engineering University, UNI, in Managua, Friday, Oct. 5, 2007. The 40th anniversary of Guevara's death is Oct. 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
A worker paints a sculpture depicting Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara at the National Engineering University, UNI, in Managua, Friday, Oct. 5, 2007. The 40th anniversary...   (Associated Press)
Humberto Lopez, dressed as Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara, smokes a cigar during a theater performance in Caracas, Friday, Oct. 5, 2007. The theater performance was one of several events organized by the Venezuelan government to mark the 40th anniversary of the death of Che Guevara. Che Guevara...
Humberto Lopez, dressed as Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara, smokes a cigar during a theater performance in Caracas, Friday, Oct. 5, 2007. The theater performance was one...   (Associated Press)
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