Bolivia: Legacy of Che Guevara endures

Lainie Cassel
28 February 2009
greenleft.org.au

A half century ago, a young doctor and Cuban guerilla sought to bring revolution to Bolivia and was brutally murdered for his efforts. Forty years after the death of Che Guevara, hundreds of Cuban doctors have been welcomed to assist Bolivians in establishing a fair and just society.

The role of Cubans as a mechanism for development is a trend that began in Venezuela under the direction of President Hugo Chavez and has recently been adopted by countries such as Bolivia and Ecuador.

As Latin America shifts towards the left, Cuban citizens have become the island’s most important “export”, proving to be a potent threat to US influence in the region.

The poorest country in South America, Bolivia’s majority indigenous population has faced a long history of poverty. However, under the direction of the first indigenous president, Evo Morales, the government promises a drastic change from the past.

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February 27, 1989 decreed the beginning of the Bolivarian Revolution

Caracas, Feb 27. ABN.- “February 4 (1992) is a son of February 27 (1989). Those days decreed the beginning of the rebellion. The civilian-military movement was launched,” expressed this Friday the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez Frias, during a mass in honor of the people who fell on the events happened on February 27, 1989, known as the Caracazo.

“I have never shared the opinion that on February 4 (1992) the Bolivarian Revolution started, the second of our history, because the first one was Simon Bolivar's. This revolution, which arrived to triumph and build the socialist Venezuela, started 20 years ago, a day like today, at these streets of Caracas,” said Chavez.

He reminded that at that day, “the streets of Caracas were flooded by people running from the massacre that was falling like hell's rays over these people. We need to remember that to know where we come from, feed the historic consciousness, and of what we are today, but, most of all, to see where we go to.”

“On February 27 people went out [to the streets], [that day] had no soldiers, and the ones it had, just went out to violate and massacre it [the people]. On February 4, we, the rebel soldiers went out, we had people, but they could not join us. Today, we are united in here: people and soldiers making this revolution and building the socialism,” he stressed.

Furthermore, the President stated: “The people of February 27 is the same people who saved me and joined the soldiers on April 13, 2002 [at the coup d'Etat against Chavez], the day of the popular and military revolution;” therefore, he said that April 13 results from adding February 27, 1989 with February 4, 1992.

“Those are moments of our history, and for them we need to take care of people and Army Forces unity. Let's take care of the unity between the Government, the revolutionary force and the conscience. Let's commit more with the battle to give people what belongs to people,” he emphasized.