Che Guevara's Face: How a Cuban Photographer's Image Became a Cultural Icon
CAPTURED WORLD HISTORY CHE GUEVARA'S FACE HOW A CUBAN PHOTOGRAPHER S IMAGE BECAME A CULTURAL ICON by Danielle Smith Llera Content Adviser Daniel C Hellinger PhD Professor of International Relations Webster University COMPASS POINT BOOKS a capitone imprint
Chapter One TRAGEDY IN HAVANA Stone angels bent over graves inside Havana’s Colón Cemetery Palm trees swayed against a gray sky on an unseasonably cold day for a Caribbean island A block away thousands of Cubans filled the streets stunned with grief Before them stood their country’s leader Prime Minister Fidel Castro high on a stage built on a flatbed truck Microphones boomed his voice over the crowd as he began There are moments of great importance in the life of a nation There are minutes that are extraordinary One of these is this moment this tragic bitter moment we are going through today Castro retold the terrible events of the day before March 4 1960 Dockworkers at Havana Harbor had been unloading a cargo of 76 tons 69 metric tons of weapons from the French ship La Coubre Suddenly an explosion had ripped through the ship blowing debris across the harbor waters and alarming people across the city Thirty minutes later a second explosion had shaken the harbor More than 200 had been wounded many losing limbs As many as 100 dockworkers sailors rescuers and others had died many of their bodies damaged beyond recognition Castro firmly believed the explosions had not been accidental but sabotage He declared that for the weapons to explode they must be set off Castro told the crowd that the weapons were destroyed deliberately by those who do not want our country to have defensive strength He bellowed into the microphone We know our enemies
Two explosions rocked Havana Harbor on March 4 1960 causing speculation on who was behind the tragedy Holding exploded bomb casings Castro accused the United States of attacking Havana Harbor Do they want to frighten us he asked Standing in front of a waving Cuban flag he vowed Cuba will not be intimidated In the audience close to the stage Alberto Korda pointed a camera up at Castro taking photographs He was on assignment for the newspaper Revolución Korda’s lens didn’t stop moving for long It traveled between Castro and two famous visiting French philosophers the writers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir Castro had invited them to sit on the stage and they were listening intently Then Korda saw something unexpected in his viewfinder The president of Cuba’s
