Today, I begin an “Oslo Journal,” which mainly brings notes on the Oslo Freedom Forum. The opening installment mentions Martín Guevara — who was a participant in this year’s forum. He is the nephew of the man on a billion T-shirts. Or 10 billion, whatever it is. Like uncle, like nephew? No, not at all.
Here on the Corner, I’d like to say another word about Che Guevara. In Oslo, I interviewed Danilo Maldonado, the Cuban street artist and dissident known as “El Sexto.” (I’ll explain the nickname in a future piece.) Though a young man, he’s an ex-political prisoner. There are many ex-political prisoners in Cuba, as well as current ones. They are in and out, as the regime decides.
In Oslo, I asked him whether there was something he wished people could know. He answered: Che Guevara was a murderer, a sadist, a totalitarian, an enemy of humanity. If Danilo’s fellow Cubans wear Che shirts, he will excuse them, to a point: because they are propagandized from birth (as he himself was). He has a much less easy time excusing foreigners — people who live in free countries, and can avail themselves of the truth.
On his very flight to Oslo, he sat next to a man — probably French — wearing a Che shirt. This makes his blood boil.
As anyone who knows about Che Guevara can well understand.
Che Guevara: That Damnable Man on Their Shirts