Che's Legacy Fading in Latin America

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. (More Che Guevara stories.)