Che Guevara's Face: How a Cuban Photographer's Image Became a Cultural Icon

Che Guevara's Face: How a Cuban Photographer's Image Became a Cultural Icon — page 1
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