By: Daniel Nardini

In an attempt to promote more tourism to the City of Galway, Ireland, the Galway council has passed a resolution to build a statue in honor of the revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara. One of the reasons given for honoring Guevara is because he was part Irish, and was a descendant from the Lynch clan that hails from around the west of Ireland where Galway is located. In a letter of protest, U.S. House Representative Illeana Ros-Lehtinen (who was born in Cuba and barely escaped from that country) wrote to the Galway council that honoring such a man would defame the memory of all those Cubans who were murdered by him. Normally, I do not always agree with many people in the U.S. Congress, but I had hoped that the City of Galway would honor someone other than Guevara. There are a number of famous Latin Americans of Irish descent who should be honored instead—even if they do not hail from near Galway. Some of them include famous Mexicans of Irish descent such as the actor Anthony Quinn, the former President of Mexico Vicente Fox, and the Mexican muralist Pablo O’Higgins. If Galway really wants to honor a revolutionary and true hero there is the Chilean Bernardo O’Higgins who fought alongside Jose de San Martin in helping to liberate much of South America.

What makes Guevara a truly unacceptable person to honor is the fact that he did not just kill people during the Cuban Revolution, but he killed people after Fidel Castro and the Communists came to power. For the Galway city council, I would highly recommend that they read the Black Book of Communism . Guevara himself is estimated to have ordered the murder of 2,000 people. Put in charge of La Cabana, he ordered show trials, established the infamous Guanahacabibes slave labor camp (which still exists to this day), and had special execution squads who hunted down anyone who had deserted the revolutionary army. One time he even had a 14-year old boy executed for stealing some food. And this is the “hero” the Galway council wants to honor? I have read one person’s commentary that men like George Washington, Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin would be considered “war criminals” like Guevara for their actions during the wars they fought. Sorry, but no dice. These men actually had rules of war. Even during times of war, Washington, Bolivar and Martin did not go around mass executing women and children, and once those wars were over they certainly did not go around slaughtering innocent people.

Guevara slaughtered and butchered innocent people after the Communists came to power. In fact, he was responsible for killing more people when he was put in charge of La Cabana than before the Cuban Revolution. Because of what he did in La Cabana, he was nicknamed the Butcher of La Cabana . That he was caught and executed for trying to foment a similar bloody revolution in Bolivia brings no tears to me eyes. It is sad in my view that the City of Galway did not do its research more carefully for the person they are trying to honor.