At a meeting someone from the floor asks me to compare the figure of Guevara with that of Allende and to say which of them was right.

Behind this question lies the view that only one of them could have been right, and the audience awaits my choice between the path of Che Guevara and the path of Salvador Allende.

At a certain point in his life Guevara abandons his ministerial office, abandons his desk, and goes to Bolivia, where he organises a partisan unit. He dies as its commander.

Allende — the reverse: Allende dies defending his desk, his presidential office, from which — as he always said — “they will carry me out only in a wooden pyjama,” that is, in a coffin.

Superficially these are very different deaths; in reality the difference concerns only the place, the time, and the external circumstances. Allende and Guevara give their lives for the power of the people. The first — defending it; the second — fighting for it. Allende’s desk is only a symbol, just as Guevara’s peasant boots are a symbol.

To the last both are convinced they are following the most righteous path: for Guevara it is the path of armed action — a path that assumes the necessity of human sacrifice. For Allende it is the path of political struggle — he wishes to avoid sacrifice at any cost.

Both were doctors by profession. Guevara was a surgeon, Allende an internist. The shots that end their lives were not fired from ambush. Both accept their deaths consciously, knowing the end is coming. Each of them could save himself — each has every chance, has time.

In the way Guevara and Allende die there is an absolute determination, a consciously chosen irreversibility, a kind of insane dignity. In those last hours everything that might serve their salvation is cast aside: bargaining, manoeuvring, compromise, surrender, or flight. The path clears and straightens, leading only into death.

Both deaths are manifestations — challenges. The desire to publicly attest to one’s convictions, and the willingness, free from hesitation, to pay for them at the highest price.

Can one say which of them was right? Both were right. They acted in different circumstances, but the goal of their action was the same. Both inscribe the first chapter in the history of the Latin American revolution. That history is only beginning — only being made.

Ryszard Kapuściński

source: kapuscinski.info