The Death of Che Guevara

by Jay Cantor

  SHIT HEAD: And Shit Head.

  SUCK BUTT: Yes, and Shit Head.

  BIG ASS: And we will fight, when his son returns. For he fathered a son who lives among us now, in disguise, as an Indian.

  DOG’S BREATH: For they buried an ax in Che’s head after they shot him. BIG ASS: And hanged him.

  DOG’S BREATH: Yes, after they shot him and hanged him, they buried an ax in his head, and every time they abuse a peasant or cheat a worker, the ax will work itself free from his skull.

  SHIT HEAD: By the breadth of a leaf of coca.

  BIG ASS: And when it comes out, his son will declare himself. And when he announces himself we will follow him.

  DOG’S BREATH: But until he does, we should drink chicha, so we will not see how disgusting we are.

  SUCK BUTT: Yes, we must drink chicha and dance the Camba.

  DOG’S BREATH: Though if our lord Che had had his way, there would be no dancing.

  SCUM MOUTH: Yes, he lacked a certain feeling.

  DOG’S BREATH: But we will drink and dance now before we fight.

  [And so they all dance around the corpse on its two sawhorses, like the ones I write this scream on. And they make a big circle around him, passing the bottle filled with chicha from hand to hand, moving faster and faster, suddenly more graceful than you could have imagined, until you cannot see the corpse anymore within their rapid circling. Then they let the circle part. And the corpse is gone.]

  AUGUST 1

  Notes for revisions:

  The boy with the freckles, the doll-faced one who sold Ernesto a game of catch for pieces of candy, is like the peasants who sold us information and food. They would help us, but they kept their faces blank, indifferent, to demonstrate to everyone that they had no part in our struggle, that we weren’t friends—didn’t have our cooties.

  Running ahead of us in his floppy white shorts.

  Drinking ink; killing soldiers—transgressing the natural order. Showing he is willing to risk more than others. Testing things on his own body first—beginning the struggle. On his own body: military and political leader the same.

  His father and he—their distance. Becoming the peasants’ judge, inviting their guilt (and their anger).

  A scene where Prado and the other soldiers put his head under the water in the well at La Higuera, bringing on an attack?

  The soccer team of slum children. Show that I was already there, one of the children.

  The board and the smoky light from the peasants’ candles. The child’s sickroom during an attack.

  He would say perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, and then, as if he couldn’t bear the world made cloudy by uncertainties, by different possibilities—he would act.

  Jiggling with pain. He fell down at the foot of his parents’ bed.

  His mother returns from the ocean to gather him up.

  Dates

  1967 Ernesto Che Guevara, captured in battle by the Bolivian Army, is executed at a schoolhouse in the mountain town of La Higuera, Bolivia. His voice is gone from these pages. Regis Debray, at his court-martial in Camiri, Bolivia, says, “It is not individuals who are placed face to face in these battles, but class interests and ideas; but those who fall in them, those who die, are persons, are men. We cannot avoid this contradiction, escape from this pain.” He is sentenced to thirty years’ imprisonment. “Bustos”—Ciro Roberto Bustos—is also sentenced to thirty years in prison. Fidel Castro declares a three-day period of national mourning for Guevara’s death. There is a resurgence of difficulties between the Soviet Union and Cuba, on the issue of aid and of “moral incentives” for workers; Castro takes Guevara’s position that socialism is built, that Socialist Man is formed, on the basis of a new morality, and not when work is done for material rewards. (Or perhaps the economy is such that there are no material rewards to offer.) The United Nations recommends sanctions against Portugal until she frees her African colonies—Angola, Mozambique, and Portuguese Guiana. Guerrilla movements in these countries continue their struggle against the Portuguese Army (including the indoctrination, the education, of the Portuguese soldiers that they capture). 1968 (Year of the Heroic Guerrilla) Fidel Castro introduces gasoline rationing for the Cuban people; he declares that the dignity of the revolution does not allow Cuba “to beg for Soviet supplies.” Nine members of the Cuban Communist Party—members from before the revolution, members who were never part of the guerrilla struggle—are tried for divisive counterrevolutionary activities, for sectarianism that is harmful to the revolution; they are given sentences of three to fifteen years. The Cuban people—with less Soviet aid to rely on—are mobilized for voluntary work in agriculture, particularly sugar harvesting. Labor cards are introduced, to record acts that show “lack of discipline.” Students and workers in France take to the streets against the bourgeois government of De Gaulle. The students are condemned by the French Communist Party as “Guevarist adventurers.” (Are they his voice?) The demonstrations continue, gaining support from workers who occupy their factories. The Communist Party, running to keep up with the class it is leading, calls for a general strike. Dubcek becomes first secretary of the Czechoslovakian Communist Party; he announces the Party’s decision to build “socialism with a human face.” The Soviet Union—Czechoslovakia’s main “trading partner”—sends its tanks into Prague; Dubcek is stripped of his party position. The Vietnamese Communists launch the Tet offensive in Vietnam, against six cities in the South. (The country surrounds the city.) The U.S. embassy in Saigon is occupied for six hours by Viet Cong guerrillas. 11,000 people die in the offensive. President Johnson sends 10,000 more troops to Vietnam. Those who die are persons, are men. We cannot avoid The United States begins Operation Complete Victory, involving 100,000 soldiers, and killing people here and there throughout the country. The United States ceases its bombardment of North Vietnam; the Paris Peace Talks begin. Liu Shaochi is expelled by the Chinese Communist Party, for taking the capitalist road, for revisionist activities contrary to the people’s interest, for stressing production of goods over Communist principles of production. Lin Piao, Minister of Defense, is named Mao’s successor. Fidel Castro announces his approval of Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia; the Cuban and East German governments issue a joint proclamation on the necessity of fighting against all forms of revisionism and opportunism. The President of Peru is deposed by a left-wing military coup; General Juan Velasco Alvarado decrees a radical agrarian reform. In Bolivia, the Minister of the Interior of General Barrientos’s government admits that he sent a copy of Guevara’s diary (seized by the army, never released to the public) to Cuba; Barrientos’s Cabinet resigns. 200,000 students and others demonstrate against the Mexican government in Mexico City. The army occupies the university, jails, and then kills the leadership of the demonstration (and a good number of others). The Guatemalan guerrillas (the FAR) under Yon Sosa, break with the Communist Party; the Party sets up its own “FAR.” Brazilian urban guerrillas kidnap the United Nations ambassador; he is exchanged for seventeen political prisoners. President Costa e Silva assumes emergency powers, and dissolves the legislature. 1969 (Year of the Decisive Harvest) The Cuban government introduces sugar rationing. The Revolution (in difficulty, or having come to its senses) declares its solidarity with the Soviet Union, and its admiration for the achievements of Stalin. Jan Palach, a student, burns himself to death in Prague, protesting Soviet control of the press. President Barrientos of Bolivia is killed in a helicopter crash; he is succeeded by Vice-President Salinas; Salinas is deposed by General Ovando (shuffling the deck a bit for the same game). Inti Peredo, still hiding, still fighting, in the Bolivian mountains, is killed by the army. In Panama, Brigadier General Omar Torrijos Herrera, a left-wing member of the National Guard, takes power. Brazilian urban guerrilla leader Carlos Marighela is killed. Dr. Mondlane, leader of Frelimo, the Mozambique liberation movement, is assassinated in Dar es Salaam. King Idris of Libya is overthrown by a left-wing military coup led by Colonel Qaddafi. (Pieces of a new interpretat
ion:) The United States government, responding to the drain on its resources, the massive demonstrations against the war, its lack of success, begins a “phased withdrawal” of U.S. troops from Vietnam; the War in Vietnam continues. Neil Armstrong hits a golf ball across the moon’s surface. The population of Latin America is 272 million. 1970 China and the United States hold talks in Warsaw to discover their common interests. (A sadness. Or worse: big powers make deals; little countries squabble among themselves, hope for survival, vie for favors. Who needs heroes now? This play’s turning into a farce! Good night, sweet prince!) Palestinian guerrillas blow up a Swiss aircraft in Germany as a step towards the liberation The War in Biafra ends with the near total destruction of the Biafran people by the Nigerian Army; from battle and starvation more than 500,000 people die. The Portuguese government, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, estimates that twelve thousand rebels have deserted Frelimo; the struggle in the colonies continues. Ethiopia declares a state of emergency in Eritrea; the Eritrean people continue their battle for independence. The Cambodian Army, with the aid of the United States, overthrows the government of Prince Sihanouk; the Khmer Republic is declared; Lon Nol makes himself military dictator of the Republic. The United States and the South Vietnamese attack Communist bases in Cambodia. Demonstrations against the War in Vietnam and the U.S. social system break out at Kent State and Jackson State; six people are killed by local police, and by national guardsmen (to freeze them in their tracks; to terrify them). A U.S. diplomat is kidnapped in Guatemala; the Japanese consul is held by guerrillas in Brazil; the West German ambassador to Guatemala is kidnapped; the West German ambassador to Brazil is exchanged for forty political prisoners; in Uruguay the urban guerrillas—Tupemaros—kill a U.S. adviser to the police. The Swiss ambassador is kidnapped in Brazil. (Our participation is not asked for; terror is spectacle. Sit still!) The Argentine military overthrows President Ongania. Worker unrest among both left- and right-wing Peronists—and urban guerrilla activities—continue throughout Argentina. General Torres, a left-wing member of the Bolivian Army, becomes head of the government in an urban putsch; Regis Debray is freed. Salvador Allende—despite the efforts of many corporations and the U.S. government—is elected the first Marxist-socialist President of Chile. The CIA and ITT begin operations for his overthrow. The World Bank cooperates in “destabilizing” thegovernmentbydenyingitloans. 1971 The South Vietnamese Army invades Laos to destroy Communist bases and is badly bloodied by the opposition. The United States sends a Ping-Pong team to China (our enemy’s enemy is perhaps our friend). Lin Piao, Mao’s designated successor, is accused by the Chinese government of being an agent of Soviet imperialism; he has been “ultra-leftist” in the Cultural Revolution in order to hide his rightist deeds, to create disorder, chaos. The government reports that the traitor’s plane has, on its way to Russia, crashed. Or not. In any case, he’s dead. The British ambassador to Uruguay is kidnapped; 100 Tupemaro guerrillas escape from prison in Montevideo. (Pieces of a) In Bolivia, General Torres (not having armed the people) is deposed by a right-wing army coup under General Hugo Banzer Suarez (as if the name mattered). Middle-class demonstrations (a march of housewives, banging pots with spoons; a strike of truck owners and taxi-drivers) break out in Chile; a state of emergency is declared. The United States suspends hostilities in Vietnam, but continues to supply the South Vietnamese Army. 1972 The President of the United States, Richard Nixon, visits China; the United Nations admits China to its membership and expels Taiwan. 13 civilians are killed in demonstration in Londonderry; the IRA blows up the British embassy in Dublin. (is spectacle. Sit still!) The United States and the North Vietnamese sign a cease-fire agreement in Paris. The struggle in Vietnam continues. Eleven Israeli Olympic athletes are murdered by the PLO as piece of nw intri, for the librtni sit still! General Peron, invited by the army, returns to Argentina. 1973 The Revolutionary Workers’ Party explodes bombs in Lisbon to protest the war in the colonies Amilcar Cabrai, leader of the liberation movement in Portuguese Guiana, is killed. Arab oil-producing states, in response to the outcome of the Yom Kippur War with Israel, cut oil production five percent. The oil companies find this convenient; they raise prices and tremendously increase their profit. (Terror of police; terror of conspiracies; terror of shortages. Our lives are in others’ hands.) In Argentina General Peron becomes head of state; he amnesties political prisoners. Salvador Allende, attacked by the armed forces, without the means to arm the working people of Chile, is assassinated in the Presidential Palace (though many working-class groups in Chile do what they are able to protect him). General Pinochet takes power for the army, for the corporations. Serving different powers, Pinochet has the working-class leadership of Chile imprisoned, tortured, and then murdered 1974 The Khmer Rouge, the guerrilla force in the Cambodian countryside, attacks Phnom Penh. Marshal Lon Nol declares a state of emergency. (The country surrounds the city. All fall down.) A left-wing army coup of officers who have spent long—and educational—periods in the colonies, fighting the guerrillas, comes to power in Portugal. Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau will be freed. Rebels aided by Cuban soldiers will battle rebels aided, at least monetarily, by the United States; the Communist guerrillas come to power. (The country. A children’s nursery rhyme.) General Peron’s Army Day address prompts fighting between left- and right-wing “Peronists.” A matter of interpretation soon made clear: the army begins a drive against the People’s Revolutionary Army. Peron dies; Mrs. Isabel Peron succeeds him. (The first time is tragedy; the second farce; and the third is I’m tired I’m not sure how to make sense of I’m not sure what to make sense of) Emperor Haile Selassie, Lion of Judea, is deposed by the Revolutionary Council, army officers called the Dirgue. They execute opposition elements within and without their ranks; they conclude treaties with the Soviet Union and pledge to build socialism. Hilda Gadea dies in Havana, of cancer. 1975 Khmer Rouge offensive begins around Phnom Penh. The United States reinforces the city with ships and supplies. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong capture Phouc Binh; a tremendous number of frightened refugees clog the road moving south towards Saigon. Avoid this contradiction, escape from this pain. Now is the hour of the furnaces and only A state of emergency is declared by the Ethiopian government for the province of Eritrea. (The Cuban Army will assist the Ethiopian Army with its difficulties, a Communist government, an ally of the Soviet Union.) The North Vietnamese Army takes Da Nang. In Cambodia, Marshal Lon Nol flees. Lbrtoin The country surrounds The North Vietnamese take Qui Nhon. The American evacuation of personnel in Cambodia (called Operation Eagle Pull) begins. Tan Son Nhut air base in Saigon is shelled by the Vietnamese Communists. At 7:52 p.m., April 29, the United States leaves Vietnam, flying its embassy staff out by helicopter (refugees, clinging to the struts, have their hands beaten away by Marine guards). The Communists advance in Laos, taking the southern area of the country. A general strike is declared in Argentina; the army moves against Isabel Peron. A more right-wing group of officers in Peru takes power. The Khmer Rouge take Phnom Penh. Now is the Lbrt impris I can’t read this story anymore The Khmer Rouge guerrillas, many of them not more than fourteen years old, evacuate all people in Phnom Penh to the countryside. A forced march that empties the hospitals

  the I.V. tubes still in his arm, his bed being pushed by another patient. They’re unlikely to make it, aren’t they. Make it from where to where? Im;

  priali

  berao

  n

  His

  voice would be useful to explain here. Pieces of a new intrp It is gone from these pages The old people too All of them The Khmer Rouge do not explain, they enforce When the city is empty the soldiers who are left disdain the buildings, make cooking fires in the streets. The country surrounds the All fall A curse is on the city An image is this the promised end or image of

  —No! (I open myself to his friend’s anger, his correction.) This is no response! (he says). This is only an animal’s howl of pain! You’ve misinterpreted the instruction you must t
ake from the history you’ve been given. Your idealism (which no one asked for) sours into irony. But your irony corrodes only you, and not history. Will you sit still? Let his life interrogate yours; then improvise an answer—the next, the necessary step. Begin again! It all must be done over! 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984

  ALSO BY JAY CANTOR

  KRAZY KAT

  Krazy Kat adores Ignatz Mouse. She sees the bricks he hurls at her head as tokens of love. But when Ignatz and Krazy witness a mega-brick explosion in the desert, Krazy becomes depressed and refuses to perform. To coax her back to work, Ignatz invents his own brand of psychotherapy, orchestrates her kidnapping, and tries to seduce Krazy with promises of stardom from a Hollywood producer. As the mouse confronts the Kat with bewildering new concepts like sex, death, and politics, Ignatz and Krazy begin to yearn for a fullness of body and spirit beyond their two-dimensional realm. Forming an altogether witty and winning counterpoint to George Herriman’s classic comic strip, Cantor’s novel has become a classic in its own right, one of those masterpieces that creates its own unforgettable universe.

  Fiction/0-375-71382-4

  GREAT NECK

  In 1960, a group of friends are plucked from their sixth grade classroom in privileged Great Neck, Long Island, and confronted for the first time with the horrors of the Holocaust. They hear a challenge from the past, a cry from history to set the world on a better course; but it is the murder of a much-loved older brother during Mississippi’s Freedom Summer that makes their mission clear. From the front line of the civil rights movement to Andy Warhol’s New York art scene, from comic-book superheroes to the violent maelstrom of the Weather Underground, Great Neck immerses us in a charged time not so long ago and illuminates the lives of those who were shaped by its energies and ideals. Vigorous, funny, profound and altogether gripping, it is a masterpiece of contemporary literature.