Che Guevara
Life goes on. Now I’m into a whole new genre of reading - teenage grief, parenting grief, general grief, etc…, with no firm timeline of exodus, surety of path or success of endeavor. Times like this is when the habit of reading matters - you can go searching, peeling back the slow wandering thoughts of others.
I just finished the 800 page tome of a book. Searching for the right word, I found ‘tomb’ also works, but is more slang, and means like it sounds - a large heavy ‘and potentially dusty’ object whereas ‘tome’ means large heavy book.
This was that. Both tomb and tome. It had been sitting on my shelf for years, given as a present to me a few years ago - intimidating in its size as well as its subject matter - Che Guevara, the Cuban revolutionary from Argentina. Did I really need to know that much about him?
Once I dug in, I found it very readable, both in the verse and the treatment of the subject matter. I learned a ton about a ton - American policy in South America pre-Kennedy, Cuba’s uneasy and unplanned relationship with both USSR and China, the true ambitions of Che and Castro to spread marxist revolution through each country of South America, the true believer of Che in this effort and the familial and lifestyle sacrifices he made, their efforts in Africa, that the Cuban revolutionaries numbered only in the twenties when they toppled Batista’s Government in the 50’s so on and so on. Very interesting.
My takeaways run both ways - because of all the ‘overwrought communism’ hysteria we’ve been taught was overplayed, it’s easy to downplay the aims and ambitions of Castro and Che. However, hey had every intention of repeating Cuba throughout the hemisphere. The problem of repeating it was multi-fold, and started with the lack of surprise, which was extinguished after Cuba’s overthrow. The fall of Cuba woke up its neighboring states who then fortified their internal defences as well as their intelligence gathering techniques. Three, for whatever reason Cuba’s government was so weak that a few dozen fighters could topple it was both hard to understand as well as hard to replicate in other places.
Lulu basking in the evening glow. She seems to curate her perches thoughtfully.
On the American side, a few things were at play. Long before 1961 and the Bay of Pigs, the US was messing around down there, turning most of the continent into vassal states of big business and American interests. The US’s casino and resort economy of Cuba was just the public face of a ton of interferenc, as it is now, a lot of it provoked by the success of Castro and Che in Cuba. The concern grew from a business interference problem, to a continent-wide Marxist takeover, more of the domino effect you hear about SE Asia and Vietnam. And the US leaders weren’t wrong in fearing what the Che’s had in mind and they got serious about stamping it out.
Of course, this is only one book and one perspective. However it can’t be dismissed like an AI meme since it was 800 pages not 8 seconds. I’m afraid I’m now going to be on a Cuba/South America reading binge, though this topic and books surrounding it also might qualify for my Audible listening, of which I’m quite particular of what gets read and what gets listened to.
Road biking every Thursday.
As an Audible book describes well- “a scruffy handful of self-taught revolutionaries - many of them kids just out of college, literature majors, and art students, and including a number of extraordinary women - who defeated 40,000 professional soldiers to overthrow the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.” Highly unlikely, but it happened, and was never repeated,
Which reminds me of one of my maxims in my business - just cause it worked yesterday, don’t be so sure it will work today and tomorrow. That’s a trap just waiting to spring.
Business continues as I step up to the plate again, buy 7 pieces of land and take a big swing. Why not? Life is short and with my new all star team, I’m able to make it look easy. Step up and spin the wheel of million dollar speculation - a habit I picked up 23 years ago now. Good to end a Cuba post about gambling, as it was a promising mecca until Castro had his say.
Friday night light season.
Grief. It's a horrible club to belong to - tainted and estranged from the everyday pleasures, whispers and two left feet condolences. I'm not on the very front lines of it but certainly close enough, but for those who are, they carry it around, tangibly, where ever they go. Grief is heavy and loud and slippery and quiet. One minute graspable the next an infection into the soul that no hand-wringing, denials, bargaining or prayers can change.