Sunday, September 16 2007
The next time you purchase or light-up a Cuban cigar you might want to think about this article by Matthew Campbell titled,
Behind Che Guevara's mask, the cold executioner that appeared in Sunday's TimesOnline (UK), in which he essays Jacobo Machover's biography, The Hidden Face of Che. According to Mr. Campbell, the book fervently departs from the romantic and idealized perceptions of Che Guevara that have been proffered over the years, revealing the murderous side of the so-called revolutionary icon.
Writes Campbell, "The cigar-chomping Guevara went on to become head of the Cuban central bank where he famously signed banknotes with his nickname Che. But his first job after the rebels marched in triumph into Havana in 1959 was running a 'purifying commission' and supervising executions at Havana’s La Cabana prison."
"He would climb on top of a wall . . . and lie on his back smoking a Havana cigar while watching the executions," the author quotes Dariel Alarcon Ramirez, one of Guevara’s former comrades in arms, as saying.
To read Mr. Campbell's entire article, click here.
