Che Guevara, Richard Goodwin, and the Almost Peace of 1961

[Judi Lynn]

1 May 2017 by S.T. Patrick
The Rise of Ernesto “Che” Guevara

Che Guevara was an Argentine. More importantly, Che Guevara was a revolutionary. Guevara had left a privileged life in Buenos Aires to become a physician for the poor. He traveled throughout Latin America immersing himself in the lifestyle of the people for which he would fight. He chronicled these travels in a work he called The Motorcycle Diaries.

Goodwin had come to Washington D.C. just out of college in the 1950’s to work as a congressional investigator during the television quiz show scandals. Like Kennedy, Goodwin had come from an affluent Massachusetts family. Also like Kennedy, Goodwin believed in the power of the Latin American people more than the oppressive oligarchies that had dominated the region throughout the 1950’s.

Che’s first direct contact with America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) came in defense of the democratically-elected Guatemalan government of Jacobo Arbenz in 1951. This fight inspired Che to dedicate his life to armed revolution. If the oppressive governments were armed, why should the revolution not be?


Richard Goodwin and President Kennedy

Richard Goodwin was part of a group of young, idealistic, Northeastern liberals who entered the oval office with President John F. Kennedy in 1961. At 31, Goodwin had joined the administration as Ted Sorensen’s speechwriting assistant before being appointed to the role of JFK’s point man on Latin American affairs.

Guevara joined Fidel and Raul Castro’s Cuban uprising after meeting them both in Mexico in 1956. Che shared the black beret, olive fatigues, and combat boots that would become a symbol of Castro’s 26th of July Movement for decades. Castro’s victory over the Fulgencio Batista regime led to Che’s appointment as Cuba’s economic minister.

The Kennedy Men vs. The Military-Industrial Complex

The 1961 Bay of Pigs disaster led to Kennedy’s distrust of the national security establishment that he believed had lied to him. It was this same “military-industrial complex” that outgoing President Dwight D. Eisenhower had warned the nation about in his farewell address. Now it would be Kennedy, a Democrat, whose struggle with the same military-industrial complex would later possibly cost him his life.

More:
https://midnightwriternews.com/che-guevara-richard-goodwin-and-the-almost-peace-of-1961/

[Kid Berwyn]

1. Prescient President

“We can’t embrace every tin horn dictator who tells us he’s anticommunist while he’s sitting on the necks of his own people,” Kennedy once told Goodwin. “And the United States government is not the representative of private business. Do you know in Chile the American copper companies control over 80% of all the foreign exchange? We wouldn’t stand for that here. And there’s no reason they should stand for it. All those people want is a chance for a decent life, and we’ve let them think that we’re on the side of those who are holding them down. There’s a revolution going on down there, and I want to be on the right side of it. Hell, we are on the right side of it. But we have to let them know it, that things have changed.”

[sandensea]

2. Certain characters don't like that kind of talk from a president.

"But Allen. Who'd believe a single bullet could do all that!"

"Hell, Edgar. They believe you and Clyde are "colleagues"!"

[Kid Berwyn]

3. Neither shed a tear over President Kennedy's passing.

Come to think of it, neither was sad to hear of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy’s passing.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/284746/1079348-interview-with-lisa-pease-revisiting-the-rfk-assassination-is-crucial-to-palestinian-rights-and-bds-today

What's a real coincidence is how the CIA failed to tell the FBI and the Warren Commission that it was involved in plots with the Mafia to murder Fidel Castro -- even after being ordered to stop by then Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3669640

RFK told his intimates that he suspected a conspiracy involving the money trumps peace crowd.

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/10022416498

[sandensea]

4. They would be crocodile tears, in any case.

Since both were probably involved (especially Allen Dulles).

I doubt we'll ever really know though.