THE MYTH

Che Guevara's death signalled the passing of a national hero, but out of the ashes a different legend arose. While he was alive, he enjoyed immense popularity, but little political support - indeed, is ideology didn't necessitate it. He was famous for liberation, not consolidation. However, his Man and Socialism in Cuba had only been published after he had left the government, and his social reforms were little known and largely unemployed until shortly before his death.

Castro reclaimed and nurtured Che's socialist image in an attempt to conceal his strengthening bond with the USSR. By this stage, Cuba had become fully embroiled in the global politics of the Cold War. Castro was becoming frustrated with Cuba's level of dependence on Russia, and sought to distance Cuba from an increasingly volatile confrontation between the world superpowers. He became wary of the Soviets' intentions, and sought to improve moral and political legitimacy. Ironically, he turned to the socialist trajectory laid down by Guevara. But when the plan failed, Cuba was forced to diplomatically re-enter the Soviet fold. Guevara's socialist model was kept in place, but in a perverted form - instead of seeking independence, the system served as an authoritarian tool of repression.

Indeed, Che's image is a complex one. Much has been altered in the process of his idolisation. The parts of Che's life that conflicted with what he represents were forgotten - heroes are not murderers. However, not everybody worshipped him for his socialist streak. One must remember that his original rise to fame revolved around revolution, sacrifice, and violence. Guevara's "social" revolution was a revolution fuelled on non-specific hate:

"Hated is an element of struggle; relentless hatred of the enemy that impels us over and beyond the natural limitations of man and transforms us into effective, violent, selective, and cold killing machines. Out soldiers must be thus; a people without hatred cannot vanquish a brutal enemy"

This raw Machiavellian concept of power served Guevara well in the Cuban Revolution. It lies at the heart of what he thought to be rebellion and defiance. His fatalistic call for "one, two, three, many Vietnams" highlights both the Don Quixotian trajectory that would eventually lead to his martyrdom, and a homicidal disregard for consequence.

THE ICON

Che's enormous popularity has been immortalised thanks, largely, to one of the most recognised photographs in history. It is the visual symbol that concreted Che's image of a hero in isolation; the fighter for the cause. The steely eyes, mournful brow, and socialist star render a narrative that people seem to understand. In an instant, the viewer is given a glimpse of a history, an ideology, and a hero all in one. The photo achieved what few do: it became an icon.

The photo was taken at a rally in 1960. The photographer, working for Revolucion, took it almost by accident while panning across the podium. Surprisingly, the photo almost faded into obscurity after it was taken, featuring only on an inside page. But photographer Alberto Korda saw the value in the print. He kept it on the wall of his studio for seven years before giving two prints to an Italian publisher. Two weeks later, Che was captured and killed. Giangiacomo Feltrinelli used one of the pictures for the cover of Che's diaries, and sent the other to poster printers. From there, the image moved to T-shirts, album covers, and advertising.

Korda didn't make any royalties off the print, despite the fact that Feltrinelli used them without permission. He wasn't even credited with the shot. Worse, Korda couldn't even contend for rights until Cuba ratified the International Copyright Convention in 1997. Eventually, he sued an advertising company that used the photo for an Smirnov ad, and won an out-of-court settlement. He immediately donated the money to charities in Cuba, saying that he only sued because Guevara didn't drink.

THE FALSE IDEOLOGUE

For the most part, the people buying Che merchandise know little or nothing about what Guevara stood for. Yet he is still celebrated, despite being divorced from his ideology. It's probably better that way. At best, he was a misguided, misinformed, and inept leader, responsible for the death of many of his men, and the men that trained under him. At worst, he was a homicidal fascist zealot, with little regard for the consequences or ramifications of his actions. If history remembered him for his actions, people would be less hasty to wear him on their chest.

Hero-worship has stripped Che of his ideology and his history, replacing them with an irrelevant narrative. The implication behind wearing a T-shirt with the revolutionary on it are multiple and fraught with connotation. But in Che's case, it seems you can wear him with impunity. Or can you? In wearing a shirt with Che's image, you are implying support for him and his cause. But Che had several "causes", both real and posthumously constructed. Socialism and reform were among his better traits, but he was inadequately trained or experienced to institute such change. But these traits pail in contrast to his predominant predilection: open revolution - war.

His notoriety is borne of something separate to his actual history. His image and ideology have become nothing more than a framework to support his grossly undeserved fame, and his identity has become a rendered projection of false ideals. The re-appropriation and commodification of his image marks a polar shift from Castro's use of the image. To him, and the Cuban people, Guevara's image became charged with vitality and ideology. Now it has been raped of that meaning, and the people who bear his image in ignorance are continuing offenders.