Che's America in Myth, Memory, and Contemporary Reality

Abstract

Pacho O’Donnell’ s biography, the first major 21^st century re-assessment of Che Guevara, draws on many new interviews and previously unavailable documents. This revealing bio demonstrates that the importance of Che in the 21^st century lies less in his inspiring yet troubled life than in how we remember it and the memory of Che is inevitably split between the two Americas. The United States either admires or reviles Che due to his implacable opposition to North American imperialism. A different sort of memory prevails in “ our America,” as José Martí called it - - Latin America, for the sake of which Che styled himself a Simón Bolívar-style liberator.