On October 8 1967 a small battalion of Bolivian Army Rangers captured a group of 'guerilleros' near the village of of La Higuera, Bolivia. The next day Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, known throughout the world simply as Che, was executed. TONY SAUNOIS* examines his life and political legacy. Thirty years after his death the legacy of Che Guevara lives on throughout the world. From a Marxist point of view what he has bequeathed is double-edged. As a self-sacrificing, uncorrupted internationalist and revolutionist, he remains an inspiring symbol of struggle. Alternatively, his wrong methods and mistakes have served to misdirect the energies of many youth.

Born in Rosario on 14 May 1928, Che was initially drawn to study medicine and graduated as a doctor in 1953. It was his experience during two tours of Latin American countries which changed his perception of what was necessary to end poverty and exploitation. During his second trip in 1953-54, whilst in Guatemala, he entered active political life for the first time.

Following the overthrow of the left wing Arbenz government in Guatemala, Che went to Mexico where in 1955 he met Fidel Castro for the first time and eventually joined his group, the July 26th Movement.

The subsequent guerrilla war fought by the July 26th Movement lasted three years. A small force of 81, led by Castro and including Che, landed in Cuba on 2 December 1956. An heroic struggle was conducted in the rural areas which managed to win the enthusiastic support of big sections of the peasantry.

Batista fled for his life on New Year's Eve 1958 and the guerrillas entered Havana. The dictator's downfall unleashed an explosion among the urban masses. The peculiar combination of events involving the momentum of the mass movement and the reaction of US imperialism resulted in the revolution going much further than the majority of its leadership had intended. Che also played an important role in pressuring Castro so that by 1960, capitalism and landlordism had been abolished. Based on the overthrow of capitalism, and with the aid afforded it by the USSR, the life of the masses was transformed. Within two years illiteracy was abolished. Healthcare was developed for the entire population at levels which eventually ranked among the best in the world.

However, because of the character of the revolution had taken, it did not result in the establishment of a systematic workers' democracy but the eventual crystallisation of a bureaucratic elite.

Che continued to live a frugal lifestyle. He refused to take a higher salary and insisted on lving on the minimal wage as a 'commandante'. Having travelled to the USSR he was appalled at the lifestyle of the bureaucracy. He sarcastically quipped, 'So the proletariat here eats off French porcelain, eh?'

However, although repelled by what he saw in the USSR he lacked a clear explanation of it or how it had developed. This lack of understanding of Stalinism meant he was unable to engage in effective struggle against the policies adopted by the the Communist Parties in Latin America. All he could offer was a guerilla campaign, but in the main this was not attractive to the powerful industrial working class which was growingup in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, or even Bolivia. Nevertheless a stream of delegations asked him to take up armed struggle in a variety of Latin American countries.

In 1965 Che departed from Cuba for the Congo. The mission was ill-prepared and ended in a disaster from which the Cuban forces eventually had to withdraw. He wanted to return to Argentina but it proved impossible so, in 1967, he emerged in Bolivia with a small force. This proved to be another adventure, however heroic - his forces failed to win any support among the local peasantry. Che was captured and killed.

Che was wedded to the idea that socialism had to conquer throughout Latin America as the means to break free of imperialist domination. However, he lacked an understanding of how it was to be done and which class was to achieve it. The most important deficiency in his ideas was his lack of understanding about the decisive role of the industrial working class. In other words, he lacked an understanding of the processes of permanent revolution which could alone could ensure that the democratic tasks of the revolution were carried through by passing on to the socialist stage. Yet Che's memory as a flighter is imperishable. In Latin America in 1997 young people ate once again wearing the T-shirts of Che. He symbolises a willingness to fight oppression and exploitation and, contained within this, the idea of socialism. revolutionaries can salute his heroism, honesty and self-sacrifice. However, alone they are insufficient. At the same time the lessons of his mistaken methods must also be learnt if the international socialism he aspired to win is to be conquered.

*This is a much abridged version of an article which appeared in the July-August edition of Socialism Today.