This month has seen the death of one of the most influential political figures of the late 20th century in Latin America, Augusto Pinochet. For right or wrong he was an influential figure not only in Chile, but also in Southern Latin America.
His physical disappearance has spurred the old Left vs. Right debate. Some hailed him as a hero who saved Chile from a Marxist-Leninist Government, others condemned him as being a ruthless tyrant responsible for the death and disappearance of thousand of Chileans. (1)
I have seen a phenomenon since I traveled to Europe in 2004 that I had been unable to address until now. At that time, I don't know if it still
happens, everywhere you turned in Italy, Spain and France you could find Ernesrto "Che" Guevara merchandise. I don't mean to say that everyone who buys or sells this mechandise support "Che"'s ideals, but at least his image and thoughts are tolerated, he's viewed as a martyr (that's how I see it). No one takes into account the number of people who died during his tenure at La Cabaña Fortress or before and after the revolution (2). People seem to forget that although his objective was to create a fairer society, his means were just as abominable as Pinochet's.The same goes for Mao Zedong, Francisco Franco, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot and Fidel Castro.
People wear Mao shirts, Che Guevara shirts. Why don't we wear Franco shirts, just to set the example? Personal cult of right-wing leaders is just as bad as left-wing ones.
I guess the question boils down to: Why are people more forgiving with left-wing leaders than right-wing ones?
I'm making my Franco Shirt, anyone interested?
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinochet#Suppression_of_opposition
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_guevara#Cuba
4 comments:
Tuturo
there's a mistake in the paragraph
"...Franco shirts, just to set the example? Personal cult of right-wing leaders is just as bad as right-wing ones..."
I think, you wanted to say: personal cult of right - wing leaders is just as bad as left - wing ones.
And about the article, I get the point (and the joke too). I think that personal cults and fanatism should be only applied to sports. I can't find nothing cool on that kind of t - shits.
And just by the records, Melchor used to wear a belt, with the face of "el che".
Mistake corrected. About the Che belt, that's exactly what I mean. I was having breakfast one morning with some delegation friends like 4 months ago and we were discussing the benefits of Neo-liberal policies. My example was Margaret Thatcher, my friend's Pinochet. Suddenly two senior ladies, who were inadvertently listening to our discussion, approached us and said: "ese Pinochet es un perro asesino y la Thatcher es una perra tambien". I bet my ass off would we have been talking about Che or about the benefits of socialism, they would have said nothing.
Please check the post "answer to mourning?"
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