Exposing the Real Che Guevara: And the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him: Humberto Fontova: 9781595230270: Amazon.com: Books
KC
5.0 out of 5 starsAn excellent read. The author backs up what he says ...June 9, 2018
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A real eye opener. An excellent read. The author backs up what he says with solid references. To think The United States goes all over the world fighting Dictators of murderous totalitarian governments and allowed Cuba to be taken over by Communist thugs just 90 miles from our shore. Pitiful.
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labsietoots
5.0 out of 5 starsVery well written and truth about the too many people ...July 12, 2018
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Very well written and truth about the too many people to count who are true Idiots to idolize Che as these persons very clearly do not know anything about the real truth about Che and just take, and far too many or them, who run with the idiots who have never read about the real CheGuevara and the assassin he really was, executing the most innocent first.
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Jean Klett
5.0 out of 5 starsA Must ReadSeptember 12, 2018
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This is a must read filled with eye-witness accounts. The tyranny and bloodthirsty nature of this leftist icon, Ernesto “Che” Guevara must be exposed. Fontova does a great job chronicling the evils of the Cuban communist regime.
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William B. Krones
5.0 out of 5 starsA victory for reason and truthDecember 18, 2015
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Fontova breaks through the mythology that surrounds Guevara and the Cuban revolution to finally bring some truth to counter the absurd legend that has been promulgated by the left for the past fifty-plus years. Well written and relying on original sources, this fine book is essential to a true understanding of what really happened in Cuba. The author borrows V.I. Lenin's delicious--and so completely appropriate-- phrase "useful idiots" to describe the fools who continue to romanticize communist butchers such as Castro and Guevara. A must read.
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Paul Corcoran
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent read. This should be required reading in schoolsApril 25, 2018
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Excellent read. This should be required reading in schools.
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catullus
5.0 out of 5 starsDevastating exposure of a useful idiocy now 70 years old.September 7, 2018
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Extensively documented exposure of the Che, Fidel, and Revolutionary Cuba myth. No one who ever reads this book will be disgusted at some pampered hipster punk wearing a t-shirt with the image of a man who got off on shooting people in the back of the neck. Absolutely a must read.
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L. Villalba
5.0 out of 5 starsKnow the truth about this monsterSeptember 4, 2018
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This book exposes “ Che” for what he really was a punk, mass murderer. Well written highly recommend.
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Frank Lyon Mabry
5.0 out of 5 starsFive StarsJuly 12, 2018
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A must read to discover the true monster that was Che Guevara
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A very biased view of Ernesto "Che" Guevara's revolutionary career.
Che has been a hero of mine for as many years as it's been since he was first thrust into the public arena. His life is a fascinating tapestry of the bourgeois and the revolutionary, full of as many contradictions as it is of predictable behaviors.
I've read probably every single biography of Che that's been published in Spanish and English, including those published by the Cuban Revolutionary Government. Between all of them, of which there are more than ten, though I'm too lazy to go and look up exactly how many, they paint a pretty complete picture of his life.
Che wasn't perfect, he wasn't a superman and he certainly made his share of mistakes, some of them as disastrous as the one that cost him his life in Bolivia at the hands of the Bolivian government and our own CIA.
This book's author is one Humberto Fontova, who is a Cuban exile that fled with his parents from Cuba at the time of Castro's takeover, to live in New Orleans.
Now, Mr. Fontova wields a wicked pen, and a lot of his book is interesting, and maybe even guilty of providing the odd nugget of previously unpublished information, but it's inevitably tainted by his background. Far be it for me to stereotype someone based on his nationality and background as an exile, but the unfortunate truth is that the Cuban exile community is chock full of people whining on and on about how much they used to have in Cuba, how unfair the revolutionaries were, and how evil Castro and Guevara behaved.
The truth of the matter is that Cuba in the Batista days was nothing more than a Havana that was a whorehouse and cabaret for rich Americans and the Italian mob, and a countryside that was kept in thrall to the needs of the few in power and their cronies.
Had any of the Cuban leaders at the time funneled even a fraction of the money being thrown left and right in Havana, at the night clubs, casinos and cabarets, back into the countryside, the whole revolution would have been unnecessary and would have floundered or never happened at all.
Castro and Guevara triumphed precisely because the Batista regime created the perfect conditions for a revolutionary venture. And all the 'haves' did nothing to stop it. Then, of course, once Castro came into power he came down hard on those who had created the intolerable conditions he tried to rectify.
Did a few innocent people lose their possessions, and in some (perhaps many) cases their lives? Of course. It was a bloody revolution, no pun intended.
Adding insult to injury, the USA, urged by the exile community and many American companies guilty of bleeding the Cuban masses out of any semblance of profits for their labor and products, instituted an embargo that is still active to this day.
Castro wasn't a Bolshevik communist at the time, and neither was Che. With the embargo we pushed them into the Soviet's arms, since the alternative would have been for them to be excluded from international trading of any sort, with the subsequent collapse of their economy and society this would have provoked.
Mr. Fontova, unfortunately, parrots all the whiny, one-sided complaints of a segment of Cuban society that was actively or passively complicit in the unsavory conditions extant during the Batista regime. One may excuse Mr. Fontova due to his age when all this happened, plus his upbringing in a house where such views must have been his daily bread.
To conclude this impromptu review, I do not regret shelling out some hard cash for his book. As I said, it contains invaluable and previously unavailable information regarding Che, mainly from interviews and research done on members of the Cuban Exile community. But it is the most one-sided tome of all that are out there. Even Castro-sponsored books about Che aren't as one-sidedly complimentary towards Guevara as Fontova's is derogatory.(less)
Che has been a hero of mine for as many years as it's been since he was first thrust into the public arena. His life is a fascinating tapestry of the bourgeois and the revolutionary, full of as many contradictions as it is of predictable behaviors.
I've read probably every single biography of Che that's been published in Spanish and English, including those published by the Cuban Revolutionary Government. Between all of them, of which there are more than ten, though I'm too lazy to go and look up exactly how many, they paint a pretty complete picture of his life.
Che wasn't perfect, he wasn't a superman and he certainly made his share of mistakes, some of them as disastrous as the one that cost him his life in Bolivia at the hands of the Bolivian government and our own CIA.
This book's author is one Humberto Fontova, who is a Cuban exile that fled with his parents from Cuba at the time of Castro's takeover, to live in New Orleans.
Now, Mr. Fontova wields a wicked pen, and a lot of his book is interesting, and maybe even guilty of providing the odd nugget of previously unpublished information, but it's inevitably tainted by his background. Far be it for me to stereotype someone based on his nationality and background as an exile, but the unfortunate truth is that the Cuban exile community is chock full of people whining on and on about how much they used to have in Cuba, how unfair the revolutionaries were, and how evil Castro and Guevara behaved.
The truth of the matter is that Cuba in the Batista days was nothing more than a Havana that was a whorehouse and cabaret for rich Americans and the Italian mob, and a countryside that was kept in thrall to the needs of the few in power and their cronies.
Had any of the Cuban leaders at the time funneled even a fraction of the money being thrown left and right in Havana, at the night clubs, casinos and cabarets, back into the countryside, the whole revolution would have been unnecessary and would have floundered or never happened at all.
Castro and Guevara triumphed precisely because the Batista regime created the perfect conditions for a revolutionary venture. And all the 'haves' did nothing to stop it. Then, of course, once Castro came into power he came down hard on those who had created the intolerable conditions he tried to rectify.
Did a few innocent people lose their possessions, and in some (perhaps many) cases their lives? Of course. It was a bloody revolution, no pun intended.
Adding insult to injury, the USA, urged by the exile community and many American companies guilty of bleeding the Cuban masses out of any semblance of profits for their labor and products, instituted an embargo that is still active to this day.
Castro wasn't a Bolshevik communist at the time, and neither was Che. With the embargo we pushed them into the Soviet's arms, since the alternative would have been for them to be excluded from international trading of any sort, with the subsequent collapse of their economy and society this would have provoked.
Mr. Fontova, unfortunately, parrots all the whiny, one-sided complaints of a segment of Cuban society that was actively or passively complicit in the unsavory conditions extant during the Batista regime. One may excuse Mr. Fontova due to his age when all this happened, plus his upbringing in a house where such views must have been his daily bread.
To conclude this impromptu review, I do not regret shelling out some hard cash for his book. As I said, it contains invaluable and previously unavailable information regarding Che, mainly from interviews and research done on members of the Cuban Exile community. But it is the most one-sided tome of all that are out there. Even Castro-sponsored books about Che aren't as one-sidedly complimentary towards Guevara as Fontova's is derogatory.(less)
Jan 14, 2009Phillip rated it it was amazing
Lived as a murdering bastard. Died a coward. It is amazing that people walk around wearing T-shirts with his picture. Why not Hitler? If Che and his murdering crowd had been just a tad bit luckier, or more skilled (he was kind of a clutz and no military genius), we would have had 9/11 a long time ago. The left, in its guilt-driven angst, made a hero of someone who spent most of his time in NY (in the penthouses of idiots) running down this country and telling bozos why he was so great. After he died, when he was no longer a threat to a jealous presidente, Castro made him into a hero. Cuba desperately poor and under the boot of communism, needed something uplifting.
We should have opened trade with Cuba years and years ago. Instead we let their people starve and Castro and Che become folk-heroes. If more Americans could have seen what Cuba was under Castro, the Fidel/Chi PR effort would have had a pretty hard time.
Wear your shirt if you are clueless or if in fact you really don't care for what America has stood for. You dopes.
PEJ (less)
We should have opened trade with Cuba years and years ago. Instead we let their people starve and Castro and Che become folk-heroes. If more Americans could have seen what Cuba was under Castro, the Fidel/Chi PR effort would have had a pretty hard time.
Wear your shirt if you are clueless or if in fact you really don't care for what America has stood for. You dopes.
PEJ (less)
If you are one who worships at the alter of "Che" you will be annoyed here. Since I was in high school (1960s)Che Guevara has been an icon of the political left...the "revolution" of Marxist Stalinism Communism or possibly Stalinist Marxist Communism, or whatever.
The irony, well ironies of this love affair with Che has always seemed humorously sad to me. Being in school in the 1960s he was almost a contemporary and was just coming into his own so to speak. The image that shows up on T-shirts, sweatshirts, posters and so on is from his bookGuerrilla Warfare. It was showing up and the "liberal left" students in our high school were as enamored with him as all the other elite people. This was the first irony as they used their freedom of speech to argue for a "revolutionary Marxist movement" that would take away their freedom of speech.
This kind of thing continues to this day as writers, rock musicians, actors, movie makers, etc., etc. continue to gush over Che they fail to realize that he imprisoned in camps and dungeons the writers, rockers and movie makers in Cuba. He turned the Cuban movie industry into a propaganda machine.
Here you will get eye witness accounts of the atrocities, lies and evil surrounding this icon of the left who was quite likely a psychopath.
I know from the start here that many will not give my review any credence. They get a "shiver up their leg" at the very thought of "Che the heroic Guerrilla". (By the way that's also a lie to as accounts from those who were with him bear out.)They will never read this book. Go to the top of the page and type in Che's name and look at the large number of books about the man holding him up as a great humanitarian...including a graphic version for indoctrination of children.
Held up as a man who eschewed material possessions we never hear how he confiscated one of the biggest mansions in Havana as his own after the owners fled Cuba. A home with multiple bedrooms, baths and 10 televisions including one with a 10 foot screen with remote control in 1959. In 1959 that was extreme luxury. Held up as a paragon of Justice he's the one who said we don't need evidence, we manufacture evidence.
This is the man who said don't let these lawyers delay the executions label them coco0nspiritors.
This is the man who was behind a plot to blow up the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell and the Washington Monument...and this is real. A Canadian news anchor smuggled the dynamite into the US. A New York police cadet infiltrated the plot and reported it to the FBI and Canadian Mounted Police.
Read this book if you have an open mind. Of course some may say mine was made up as I've always "known" the "cult of Che" was nonsense. The book's here if you care to read it. It's information from people who were there. Not starry eyed students and leftist dreamers. (less)
The irony, well ironies of this love affair with Che has always seemed humorously sad to me. Being in school in the 1960s he was almost a contemporary and was just coming into his own so to speak. The image that shows up on T-shirts, sweatshirts, posters and so on is from his bookGuerrilla Warfare. It was showing up and the "liberal left" students in our high school were as enamored with him as all the other elite people. This was the first irony as they used their freedom of speech to argue for a "revolutionary Marxist movement" that would take away their freedom of speech.
This kind of thing continues to this day as writers, rock musicians, actors, movie makers, etc., etc. continue to gush over Che they fail to realize that he imprisoned in camps and dungeons the writers, rockers and movie makers in Cuba. He turned the Cuban movie industry into a propaganda machine.
Here you will get eye witness accounts of the atrocities, lies and evil surrounding this icon of the left who was quite likely a psychopath.
I know from the start here that many will not give my review any credence. They get a "shiver up their leg" at the very thought of "Che the heroic Guerrilla". (By the way that's also a lie to as accounts from those who were with him bear out.)They will never read this book. Go to the top of the page and type in Che's name and look at the large number of books about the man holding him up as a great humanitarian...including a graphic version for indoctrination of children.
Held up as a man who eschewed material possessions we never hear how he confiscated one of the biggest mansions in Havana as his own after the owners fled Cuba. A home with multiple bedrooms, baths and 10 televisions including one with a 10 foot screen with remote control in 1959. In 1959 that was extreme luxury. Held up as a paragon of Justice he's the one who said we don't need evidence, we manufacture evidence.
This is the man who said don't let these lawyers delay the executions label them coco0nspiritors.
This is the man who was behind a plot to blow up the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell and the Washington Monument...and this is real. A Canadian news anchor smuggled the dynamite into the US. A New York police cadet infiltrated the plot and reported it to the FBI and Canadian Mounted Police.
Read this book if you have an open mind. Of course some may say mine was made up as I've always "known" the "cult of Che" was nonsense. The book's here if you care to read it. It's information from people who were there. Not starry eyed students and leftist dreamers. (less)
Oct 15, 2010Carlos Mendoza rated it it was amazing
I used to mentally deduct 20 IQ points from anyone I see wearing a Che T-shirt.
I don't do that anymore.
Now I deduct 50 points.
In North Korea, the cult of personality surrounding Kim Jung Il has its narrative so well-controlled that citizens there really, truly believe that he has superhuman powers. This happened because there is no other available, realistic counter-narrative about him there. The propaganda machine controls every aspect of the story about his life. Such was the case for many Che disciples. This book should help to open many eyes.
That's if they bother to read about him at all. For most, simple circular logic is sufficient.
-----
"Che is totally cool because so many celebrities idolize him."
"So many celebrities idolize Che because he is totally cool."
-----
Rage Against the Machine fails to see the sweet irony in using Che as their mascot, then quoting Orwell in song. "He who controls the Present, controls the Past. Who controls the Past, controls the Future." They fail to see how Che's history has been either written by the members of the Castro regime itself, or by psycophantic communist sympathizers who so desperately need a figurehead for whom they can claim a cool, celebrity status.
The truth is Che was a murderer, a tool for doing Castro's wetwork, and a coward when facing death. The documented evidence of his crimes after the revolution, often in his own words, and with eye-witness accounts, is overwhelmingly presented in this book. The very same useful-idiots who call men torturers for pouring water on the face of enemy combatants have no qualms wearing the t-shirts of a man who delighted in conducting, and participating in, trial-less executions.
I could do without some of Mr. Fontova flippant remarks, but I don't doubt his research into the real Che, nor the facts he presents. The trail of bodies and ruined lives is still too fresh, and fortunately, unlike North Korea, enough have escaped to share the real truth.
(less)
I don't do that anymore.
Now I deduct 50 points.
In North Korea, the cult of personality surrounding Kim Jung Il has its narrative so well-controlled that citizens there really, truly believe that he has superhuman powers. This happened because there is no other available, realistic counter-narrative about him there. The propaganda machine controls every aspect of the story about his life. Such was the case for many Che disciples. This book should help to open many eyes.
That's if they bother to read about him at all. For most, simple circular logic is sufficient.
-----
"Che is totally cool because so many celebrities idolize him."
"So many celebrities idolize Che because he is totally cool."
-----
Rage Against the Machine fails to see the sweet irony in using Che as their mascot, then quoting Orwell in song. "He who controls the Present, controls the Past. Who controls the Past, controls the Future." They fail to see how Che's history has been either written by the members of the Castro regime itself, or by psycophantic communist sympathizers who so desperately need a figurehead for whom they can claim a cool, celebrity status.
The truth is Che was a murderer, a tool for doing Castro's wetwork, and a coward when facing death. The documented evidence of his crimes after the revolution, often in his own words, and with eye-witness accounts, is overwhelmingly presented in this book. The very same useful-idiots who call men torturers for pouring water on the face of enemy combatants have no qualms wearing the t-shirts of a man who delighted in conducting, and participating in, trial-less executions.
I could do without some of Mr. Fontova flippant remarks, but I don't doubt his research into the real Che, nor the facts he presents. The trail of bodies and ruined lives is still too fresh, and fortunately, unlike North Korea, enough have escaped to share the real truth.
(less)
Initially I was reluctant to read EXPOSING THE REAL CHE GUEVARA: AND THE USEFUL IDIOTS WHO IDOLIZE HIM because of the idiotic title. I felt (and still feel) that while the author probably meant the title to be provocative, it actually makes the book sound like it is an unscholarly and heavily biased Republican tirade against a leftist hero. The last thing I wanted to do was waste my time and clutter my mind with a book that had as much intelligence, sophistication, and historical basis as something Faux News pundits and neo-conservative clowns Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity would put out. Especially given the fact that Humberto Fontova has been featured on such nauseating shows as Bill O'Reilly's and other Faux News brain debilitating entertainment for Tea-bagging, Israeli worshiping, "knee-pad" conservatives.
Surprisingly, I'm glad I took a chance and read this book. Although Fontova, who escaped Fidel's Cuba as a child with his immediate family, has an axe to grind, his assertions are all backed up with sources and eyewitness testimony from ex-Fidelista Cuban guerillas, Bay of Pigs survivors, CIA agents (not the most trustworthy sources, I admit), and people who were close friends to both Che and Castro.
Having read and enjoyed Jon Lee Anderson's biography of Che, I was shocked to realize how truly biased and one sided Anderson's highly sympathetic portrayal of Che is. In fact, given the mass of information that Anderson omitted to mention in his biography of Che, and his lionizing of Che as some kind of humanitarian genius with a courageous soul, he goes much further than simply being sympathetic toward Che. His biography is more like a worshipful and uncritical homage to someone he adores. For instance, Anderson never mentioned that there is absolutely no real evidence of Che having obtained a medical degree. Anderson portrays Che as being a self sacrificing warrior who lived a Spartan life who was disdainful of material possessions, when in reality Che lived in one of the most luxurious mansions in Cuba after the revolution, complete with pool and several large television sets. Anderson also portrays Che's victories in battle such as the Battle of Santa Clara and the Bay of Pigs as being of much greater significance than they actually were, actually being small skirmishes with low casualties on both sides.
Anderson's subtle, but pervasive distortion of facts makes sense when one realizes that the sources that he uses were approved and published by Castro and Che's widow such as Che's diaries.
What really gets me is that Che admirers love to try to excuse Che and Castro's crimes away by pointing out that Batista was a corrupt dictator who was living a life of luxury while Cuba's poor starving peasants lived in squalor and filth. While this is certainly true, Che supporters are constructing a false dichotomy whereby they offer only two choices: Castro or Batista while believing that anyone who fought for or was associated with the latter were counterrevolutionary capitalist fascist pigs who deserved being tortured, put in concentration and labor camps, and execution.
Fortunately, reality isn't so simple, and there are more choices to choose from than between two tyrants. Many of the men fighting in Batista's army were poor backward peasants who enlisted for the pay with no real loyalty to Batista, while many of those who were fighting against Batista were leftist nationals, liberals, Cuban nationalists, and anti-communists. Many of the people who Che had executed ranged from these (both Batista and anti-Batista fighters) to peasant women found aiding people deemed enemies of Castro to teenage males between the ages of 14 and 17. Would someone please explain to me how these victims of the Cuban revolution were "counterrevolutionary" threats? Was killing them and dumping their bodies unceremoniously in mass graves (estimated to be around 14,000) truly necessary? Were they all really just "CIA agents and informers" as Che so callously generalized them, while he extra-judiciously condemned them to death using "revolutionary justice?"
The rebels were right to oust Batista from power, but Batista was quickly replaced by a regime that was just as corrupt and tyrannical and as quick to squash through violence and coercion any opposition, including that which came from those who fought alongside Castro who saw Fidel's seizure of power as a betrayal to all those who viewed the revolution as a pathway to democracy and free elections.
Fontova points out the abject hypocrisy from Che admirers like U.S. senator Eugene McCarthy who was adamantly against the death penalty yet was willing to overlook the show trials and subsequent executions carried out by Che's firing squads. This same starry eyed attitude toward one of communism's most blood-thirsty executioners by people so ready to condemn capital punishment in other countries is typical of many of Che's admirers and perfectly summed up by Carlos Santana's inane response to being informed about Che's atrocities. Santana's response was to protest that one should not "get hung up on the facts" and that Che was all about "compassion" and "love."
On the other hand, Fontova is not critical at all of Batista's regime, openly supports neo-liberalist economics, and scoffs at the idea of the United States ever having imperialistic tendencies or repressive foreign policies. His description of Che Guevara never even tries to give an impression of being even handed or balanced, which at least Anderson gives the facade of doing so. Although this probably has more to do with the fact that the right has never been as successful as the left in its ability to mask their ulterior objectives.
In any case, EXPOSING THE REAL CHE GUEVARA is an essential book to read back to back with Anderson's biography so as to give the reader a better idea of who Guevara really was. (less)
Surprisingly, I'm glad I took a chance and read this book. Although Fontova, who escaped Fidel's Cuba as a child with his immediate family, has an axe to grind, his assertions are all backed up with sources and eyewitness testimony from ex-Fidelista Cuban guerillas, Bay of Pigs survivors, CIA agents (not the most trustworthy sources, I admit), and people who were close friends to both Che and Castro.
Having read and enjoyed Jon Lee Anderson's biography of Che, I was shocked to realize how truly biased and one sided Anderson's highly sympathetic portrayal of Che is. In fact, given the mass of information that Anderson omitted to mention in his biography of Che, and his lionizing of Che as some kind of humanitarian genius with a courageous soul, he goes much further than simply being sympathetic toward Che. His biography is more like a worshipful and uncritical homage to someone he adores. For instance, Anderson never mentioned that there is absolutely no real evidence of Che having obtained a medical degree. Anderson portrays Che as being a self sacrificing warrior who lived a Spartan life who was disdainful of material possessions, when in reality Che lived in one of the most luxurious mansions in Cuba after the revolution, complete with pool and several large television sets. Anderson also portrays Che's victories in battle such as the Battle of Santa Clara and the Bay of Pigs as being of much greater significance than they actually were, actually being small skirmishes with low casualties on both sides.
Anderson's subtle, but pervasive distortion of facts makes sense when one realizes that the sources that he uses were approved and published by Castro and Che's widow such as Che's diaries.
What really gets me is that Che admirers love to try to excuse Che and Castro's crimes away by pointing out that Batista was a corrupt dictator who was living a life of luxury while Cuba's poor starving peasants lived in squalor and filth. While this is certainly true, Che supporters are constructing a false dichotomy whereby they offer only two choices: Castro or Batista while believing that anyone who fought for or was associated with the latter were counterrevolutionary capitalist fascist pigs who deserved being tortured, put in concentration and labor camps, and execution.
Fortunately, reality isn't so simple, and there are more choices to choose from than between two tyrants. Many of the men fighting in Batista's army were poor backward peasants who enlisted for the pay with no real loyalty to Batista, while many of those who were fighting against Batista were leftist nationals, liberals, Cuban nationalists, and anti-communists. Many of the people who Che had executed ranged from these (both Batista and anti-Batista fighters) to peasant women found aiding people deemed enemies of Castro to teenage males between the ages of 14 and 17. Would someone please explain to me how these victims of the Cuban revolution were "counterrevolutionary" threats? Was killing them and dumping their bodies unceremoniously in mass graves (estimated to be around 14,000) truly necessary? Were they all really just "CIA agents and informers" as Che so callously generalized them, while he extra-judiciously condemned them to death using "revolutionary justice?"
The rebels were right to oust Batista from power, but Batista was quickly replaced by a regime that was just as corrupt and tyrannical and as quick to squash through violence and coercion any opposition, including that which came from those who fought alongside Castro who saw Fidel's seizure of power as a betrayal to all those who viewed the revolution as a pathway to democracy and free elections.
Fontova points out the abject hypocrisy from Che admirers like U.S. senator Eugene McCarthy who was adamantly against the death penalty yet was willing to overlook the show trials and subsequent executions carried out by Che's firing squads. This same starry eyed attitude toward one of communism's most blood-thirsty executioners by people so ready to condemn capital punishment in other countries is typical of many of Che's admirers and perfectly summed up by Carlos Santana's inane response to being informed about Che's atrocities. Santana's response was to protest that one should not "get hung up on the facts" and that Che was all about "compassion" and "love."
On the other hand, Fontova is not critical at all of Batista's regime, openly supports neo-liberalist economics, and scoffs at the idea of the United States ever having imperialistic tendencies or repressive foreign policies. His description of Che Guevara never even tries to give an impression of being even handed or balanced, which at least Anderson gives the facade of doing so. Although this probably has more to do with the fact that the right has never been as successful as the left in its ability to mask their ulterior objectives.
In any case, EXPOSING THE REAL CHE GUEVARA is an essential book to read back to back with Anderson's biography so as to give the reader a better idea of who Guevara really was. (less)
Oct 19, 2007Varmint rated it really liked it
Do you know someone who is "Gay for Che"? A person who considers themselves tolerant and humane and progressive, but for some reason idolizes a dictators right hand goon?
I got into an ugly little argument at the bookstore while buying this. An old hippie explained that she'd just come back from cuba. And that I shouldn't believe the work of some miami fascist. She insisted "The people", loved their Che. This is the mindset you will encounter from these imbeciles. She thinks people who live in a communist dictatorship, who would be thrown in prison just for owning this book, are somehow more reliable than refugees and survivors living in a free country with a free press.
An important work that suffers from the authors passions. It feels disorganised, jumping around in time and place. I understand that it couldn't have been easy reliving the murder of various relatives and family friends, but I would have preferred something more linear. (less)
I got into an ugly little argument at the bookstore while buying this. An old hippie explained that she'd just come back from cuba. And that I shouldn't believe the work of some miami fascist. She insisted "The people", loved their Che. This is the mindset you will encounter from these imbeciles. She thinks people who live in a communist dictatorship, who would be thrown in prison just for owning this book, are somehow more reliable than refugees and survivors living in a free country with a free press.
An important work that suffers from the authors passions. It feels disorganised, jumping around in time and place. I understand that it couldn't have been easy reliving the murder of various relatives and family friends, but I would have preferred something more linear. (less)
I always wondering what the hell was the deal with this guy? It never made sense to me why people made him into this Jesus figure when he worked alongside Castro whom everyone hates and he was a guerilla, which means he killed people (A LOT OF INNOCENT PEOPLE). Che was a disgusting, demented man along the likes of Hitler, maybe even worse.
If you have some retarded poster or T-shirt of this guy burn it now before you humiliate yourself even further - this goes for you too Carlos Santana (stupid hippie, I never liked him anyway).
Oh and might I say I don't like how the author makes it sound like every liberal likes this guy, he has that part completely misconstrued. (less)
If you have some retarded poster or T-shirt of this guy burn it now before you humiliate yourself even further - this goes for you too Carlos Santana (stupid hippie, I never liked him anyway).
Oh and might I say I don't like how the author makes it sound like every liberal likes this guy, he has that part completely misconstrued. (less)
Jan 08, 2009Tim P rated it liked it
Not the most scholarly work ever written, but contains enough information and details to shoot massive holes through most of the popular memory of Che.
Oct 13, 2008Don Incognito rated it really liked it
An eye-opening account, documented with many endnotes, of who Ernesto "Che" Guevara was and how he behaved. The sources are usually Cubans--exiles in Miami; surviving relatives of people executed on Guevara's orders (Fidel Castro put him in charge of executions); Bay of Pigs invasion survivors; and former Cuban Communists who defected to the U.S. Most biographies of Guevara are hagiographies, some written by the Cuban government itself. Some of the principal facts you will learn are:
-Guevara wasn't Cuban, but a native of Argentina. (My personal observation: Being not born in the country they rule, or help rule, is something common among major Communist and socialist leaders. Guevara was Argentinian; Joseph Stalin was ethnically Georgian, not Russian; Adolf Hitler was Austrian-born; Napoleon was not French but Corsican.
-Guevara enjoyed killing people and/or watching them die. How do we know? He said so once, in a letter to his father after the first time he killed someone. Also, he had a window installed in his office so he could watch his firing squad execute people outside. This is in contraindication to most biographies, which present Guevara as saintly. (Some even equate him with Jesus Christ, calling him "Chesucristo.")
-He passionately hated the United States, and, in a famous speech given before the UN, declared a desire to see it destroyed. (The author implies that Guevara wanted to launch the nuclear weapons that the Soviets placed in Cuba.)
-As a military strategist and field commander, he was totally incompetent, and once admitted to a colleague that he knew nothing about military strategy. (Despite that, he wrote a famous primer on how to conduct guerrilla warfare.) The "revolution" that took over Cuba consisted of nothing but Che bribing the military commanders of the Batista regime, with very little actual combat occurring. Batista's officers were already not very motivated to fight, because the Batista regime was corrupt and unpopular.
During Guevara's campaigns in other countries, trying on Cuba's behalf to help local Communists take over, his military performance simply makes him look ridiculous. He fails to recruit local peasants as guerrillas, and can't even lead his men without getting lost--for months! That last part is in Bolivia, where Guevara is finally captured and killed in a joint operation by the Bolivian army and CIA.
-When not clearly possessing superior force, Guevara was a coward. In the Bolivian capture that I mentioned above, when facing Bolivian soldiers, Guevara surrendered quickly, repeatedly telling them he was "worth more alive than dead." The other thing noted in the book is, Guevara was terrified of Fidel Castro, and sucked up to him whenever possible, including in a famous farewell letter. (The sucking up didn't help. Castro bullied Guevara a number of times, and in fact, the real reason Castro sent Guevara abroad in the first place was to get rid of him.
The weakness of the book is that the author, being a Cuban exile who lost family and friends to Guevara's firing squads, writes with an obviously angry and contemptuous attitude. However, facts are facts, and if his anger throws the reader into doubt, the footnotes are there to be checked. (less)
-Guevara wasn't Cuban, but a native of Argentina. (My personal observation: Being not born in the country they rule, or help rule, is something common among major Communist and socialist leaders. Guevara was Argentinian; Joseph Stalin was ethnically Georgian, not Russian; Adolf Hitler was Austrian-born; Napoleon was not French but Corsican.
-Guevara enjoyed killing people and/or watching them die. How do we know? He said so once, in a letter to his father after the first time he killed someone. Also, he had a window installed in his office so he could watch his firing squad execute people outside. This is in contraindication to most biographies, which present Guevara as saintly. (Some even equate him with Jesus Christ, calling him "Chesucristo.")
-He passionately hated the United States, and, in a famous speech given before the UN, declared a desire to see it destroyed. (The author implies that Guevara wanted to launch the nuclear weapons that the Soviets placed in Cuba.)
-As a military strategist and field commander, he was totally incompetent, and once admitted to a colleague that he knew nothing about military strategy. (Despite that, he wrote a famous primer on how to conduct guerrilla warfare.) The "revolution" that took over Cuba consisted of nothing but Che bribing the military commanders of the Batista regime, with very little actual combat occurring. Batista's officers were already not very motivated to fight, because the Batista regime was corrupt and unpopular.
During Guevara's campaigns in other countries, trying on Cuba's behalf to help local Communists take over, his military performance simply makes him look ridiculous. He fails to recruit local peasants as guerrillas, and can't even lead his men without getting lost--for months! That last part is in Bolivia, where Guevara is finally captured and killed in a joint operation by the Bolivian army and CIA.
-When not clearly possessing superior force, Guevara was a coward. In the Bolivian capture that I mentioned above, when facing Bolivian soldiers, Guevara surrendered quickly, repeatedly telling them he was "worth more alive than dead." The other thing noted in the book is, Guevara was terrified of Fidel Castro, and sucked up to him whenever possible, including in a famous farewell letter. (The sucking up didn't help. Castro bullied Guevara a number of times, and in fact, the real reason Castro sent Guevara abroad in the first place was to get rid of him.
The weakness of the book is that the author, being a Cuban exile who lost family and friends to Guevara's firing squads, writes with an obviously angry and contemptuous attitude. However, facts are facts, and if his anger throws the reader into doubt, the footnotes are there to be checked. (less)
The book covers the real Che Guevara. In a packed 208 pages, Humberto Fontova, covers the story of this plucky Irish expat from Argentina’s non-hiding Nazi minority ethic group as he backpacks upwards in an effort to visit Jimmy Dean of the Norte Americano movies, to his initial keyboard fumblings in the NY elcto-trash scene before switching to turntables and finding success with Rage Against the Machine in which he made the guitar sound unguitar whilst poster boy Tom Morello mimed. Along the way its an inspiring philosophical tale of never selling out and keeping your head in the slipstream of pop culture.
Obviously the above is a joke review of this joke of a book.
Firstly to highlight my biased mindset that could have impacted on my reading. I consider myself fairly left leaning, in that its easy to be pink with a comfortable life kind of way, much like Richard Burton considered himself a socialist. I’ve moshed to Rage against the machine. I have read much about revolutions and Che since my early teens. I visited Cuba. I owe a screen print of the Korda photgraph and have a wallet featuring Che. Yet I have the print because it is an impressive piece of art, I appreciate the irony of the wallet and I don’t think he was “the most complete human being of our age”.
I read this hoping for a second view point on the myth of Che. Debunk the half truths, unravel the spin and maybe even explore the capitalistic misappropriation of the image and marketing of Che. Sadly what you get with this book is a collection of ham fisted they say/ we say examples and deliberate misinterpretations to present the case, mocking asides on any A to C grade celebrity who make have mentioned Che, wore a shirt, visited Castro Cuba, produced a film, drank rum or listened to Son. Worst of all is much of the evidence in this book is on the level of puerile insults written on a school toilet wall.
Examples :
Che stank……………repeated throughout “….down to the swimming hole on many afternoons – not that Che got wet”
A febble attempt to link Nazism to the 26 July Movement by the choice of a Red and Black colour scheme. Senor Fontova totally over looks the historical link to left wing politics caught up in the colours.
Che bribed the disenchanted Cuban army comanders to avoid fighting is dragged up as an example of an ineffective geurrilla and military leader. Sounded very clever to me.
There seems to be an anti-argentinian slant in some points. It seems the Argentinians may be considered the arrogants of latin america.
Alot of the anger seems to be in that Che as a matyr has been marketed better than what the counter point could muster. That will not change with this book.
I understand the Cuban “exiles/ refugees” of which the author is one are likely to be burdened with pained hearts at least until the Castros shuffle off but producing hymn books like this for the choir isn't really going to achieve much.(less)
Obviously the above is a joke review of this joke of a book.
Firstly to highlight my biased mindset that could have impacted on my reading. I consider myself fairly left leaning, in that its easy to be pink with a comfortable life kind of way, much like Richard Burton considered himself a socialist. I’ve moshed to Rage against the machine. I have read much about revolutions and Che since my early teens. I visited Cuba. I owe a screen print of the Korda photgraph and have a wallet featuring Che. Yet I have the print because it is an impressive piece of art, I appreciate the irony of the wallet and I don’t think he was “the most complete human being of our age”.
I read this hoping for a second view point on the myth of Che. Debunk the half truths, unravel the spin and maybe even explore the capitalistic misappropriation of the image and marketing of Che. Sadly what you get with this book is a collection of ham fisted they say/ we say examples and deliberate misinterpretations to present the case, mocking asides on any A to C grade celebrity who make have mentioned Che, wore a shirt, visited Castro Cuba, produced a film, drank rum or listened to Son. Worst of all is much of the evidence in this book is on the level of puerile insults written on a school toilet wall.
Examples :
Che stank……………repeated throughout “….down to the swimming hole on many afternoons – not that Che got wet”
A febble attempt to link Nazism to the 26 July Movement by the choice of a Red and Black colour scheme. Senor Fontova totally over looks the historical link to left wing politics caught up in the colours.
Che bribed the disenchanted Cuban army comanders to avoid fighting is dragged up as an example of an ineffective geurrilla and military leader. Sounded very clever to me.
There seems to be an anti-argentinian slant in some points. It seems the Argentinians may be considered the arrogants of latin america.
Alot of the anger seems to be in that Che as a matyr has been marketed better than what the counter point could muster. That will not change with this book.
I understand the Cuban “exiles/ refugees” of which the author is one are likely to be burdened with pained hearts at least until the Castros shuffle off but producing hymn books like this for the choir isn't really going to achieve much.(less)
Aug 04, 2011Cindy rated it really liked it · review of another edition
The cover art/title are enough to grab any person's interest. As Fontova begins, I associate myself with the many that thought of him as a freedom fighter, as the protagonist in Motorcycle Diaries who grows to be a hero for the masses. And then I see this title that labels me a "useful idiot" and my opinion changes as I read. I loved reading a different perspective of Che. Told from the point of view of a child of refugees, his bias is blatant and I think his anger clouds his writing. He lacks organization and cohesion, making his argument sloppy. But he does raise some very interesting questions and sites many alternate sources for the "facts" of Che's life. If you have the inclination, it's an interesting read and has plenty of sources for further reading. (less)
Dec 30, 2008J Aurelius marked it as to-read
I am very concerned that some people don't realize that Castro had good intentions when he started out but Communism is only good in theory. There is a lot of fascist shit going on in America but to each their own. Needless to say, I am not above gaining information from both sides.
Dec 14, 2014Kitty Red-Eye rated it liked it
Read about 2/3 of this book and I think I get the point. Actually, the point is in the title. The book goes on to elaborate why the personality cult really is a stroke of idiocy (given that we trust the author's version of events, then obviously he is right to say "idiots").
Actually, I don't doubt that Cuba is every bit the dictatorship and that the Cuban revolution was every bit as bloody and unfair as all other revolutions I've heard about. I do have a problem with the tone of the author, though, since it's impossible to disagree with passion. Even to question passion is difficult. The book is very aggressive in tone, tearing its subject apart bit by bit, then stomping on the remains, shouting TAKE THIS! AND THIS! AND THAT AND THAT AND THAT! - So even if I actually do sympathize somewhat, it's a little difficult to read. I guess I'd prefer a more sombre style. I won't hold it against the author, though, since he is personally affected, and that his family's, and other families', tragedy turned upside-down in a mockery of history, equal to the "war is peace, lies are truth, ignorance is strength"-slogans from 1984. The personality cult of Che and lack of outrage against the Cuban regime adds insult to injury, and this book is very marked by that.
Personally, I'd prefer a "lower tone", not sure how to put it. I mean, I don't mind the level of critisism. If it's true, then it's true, no matter who likes or dislikes it. Maybe the author is overdoing it, I can't be the judge of that, since I'm no expert in history or in Cuban affairs. It just rings true, as I've heard so many stories like it before. But I can't really judge. So then, understandable as the author's outrage is, it would have been easier to read if I didn't constantly have the feeling he was writing with the caps lock on.
I'd be very interested in the history, though, could I only trust what I was reading. But it's a bit like reading about Venezuela. No matter what you say, someone's gonna start screaming at you about how stupid-lefty or stupid-righty you are. Argh.
Check book, couldn't find it on goodreads yet, recommended:http://www.amazon.com/Guerillas-Histo... (less)
Actually, I don't doubt that Cuba is every bit the dictatorship and that the Cuban revolution was every bit as bloody and unfair as all other revolutions I've heard about. I do have a problem with the tone of the author, though, since it's impossible to disagree with passion. Even to question passion is difficult. The book is very aggressive in tone, tearing its subject apart bit by bit, then stomping on the remains, shouting TAKE THIS! AND THIS! AND THAT AND THAT AND THAT! - So even if I actually do sympathize somewhat, it's a little difficult to read. I guess I'd prefer a more sombre style. I won't hold it against the author, though, since he is personally affected, and that his family's, and other families', tragedy turned upside-down in a mockery of history, equal to the "war is peace, lies are truth, ignorance is strength"-slogans from 1984. The personality cult of Che and lack of outrage against the Cuban regime adds insult to injury, and this book is very marked by that.
Personally, I'd prefer a "lower tone", not sure how to put it. I mean, I don't mind the level of critisism. If it's true, then it's true, no matter who likes or dislikes it. Maybe the author is overdoing it, I can't be the judge of that, since I'm no expert in history or in Cuban affairs. It just rings true, as I've heard so many stories like it before. But I can't really judge. So then, understandable as the author's outrage is, it would have been easier to read if I didn't constantly have the feeling he was writing with the caps lock on.
I'd be very interested in the history, though, could I only trust what I was reading. But it's a bit like reading about Venezuela. No matter what you say, someone's gonna start screaming at you about how stupid-lefty or stupid-righty you are. Argh.
Check book, couldn't find it on goodreads yet, recommended:http://www.amazon.com/Guerillas-Histo... (less)
Sep 24, 2012Bliss Tew rated it really liked it
"EXPOSING THE REAL CHE GUEVARA-AND THE USEFUL IDIOTS WHO IDOLIZE HIM" is a book the entire world should read, especially the "useful idiots who idolize him." Their idolization of the late communist terrorist, murderer, revolutionary, and invader of foreign lands would likely discontinue, even though such idolization is popular in some circles, if they knew the eye-witness facts presented in Mr. Fontova's excellent book about Che.
The irony of movie stars and politicians giving a standing ovation of the debute of Robert Redford's movie "MOTORCYCLE DIARIES," a movie that "glorified a man [Che] who jailed or exiled most of Cuba's best writers, poets, and independent filmakers" is brought out early in the book's introduction.
Mr. Fontova who is himself part of a refuge family that fled Castro and Che's Cuba, used eye-witnesses to assemble his book about the blood-thirsty Che "the Pig" Guevara. I highly recommend to anyone with a desire for truth to read Mr. Fontova's book to get a better understanding of the life and deeds of Che Guevara including the way he died in a foreign country he had invaded to bring about an insurrection. (less)
The irony of movie stars and politicians giving a standing ovation of the debute of Robert Redford's movie "MOTORCYCLE DIARIES," a movie that "glorified a man [Che] who jailed or exiled most of Cuba's best writers, poets, and independent filmakers" is brought out early in the book's introduction.
Mr. Fontova who is himself part of a refuge family that fled Castro and Che's Cuba, used eye-witnesses to assemble his book about the blood-thirsty Che "the Pig" Guevara. I highly recommend to anyone with a desire for truth to read Mr. Fontova's book to get a better understanding of the life and deeds of Che Guevara including the way he died in a foreign country he had invaded to bring about an insurrection. (less)
Oct 25, 2013Kelsey rated it liked it
Ernesto (Che) Guevara has been compared by some to Jesus Christ and yet described by many who left Cuba as a murdering psychopath. I think it makes more sense to believe those who knew him and fled rather than the handful of sycophant celebrities who, even now, wear his engraved image. His firing squad eventually taped their victims's mouths shut so they would no longer yell out, "Long Live Christ the King." In a letter to his father, Che wrote about his humble beginnings which led him into Fidel Castros' favor, "I'd like to confess,Papa, at that moment I discovered that I really like killing."
Humberto Fontova's collective accounts from escaped Cubans of Che and his influence are sickening. Quantifying just how many suffered and died is impossible as long as it remains closed in its communist state. I cannot understand how the superficiality of branding has won so many empty heads and hearts without giving Castro some nod for marketing brilliance. Evil? Yes. But also genius. (less)
Humberto Fontova's collective accounts from escaped Cubans of Che and his influence are sickening. Quantifying just how many suffered and died is impossible as long as it remains closed in its communist state. I cannot understand how the superficiality of branding has won so many empty heads and hearts without giving Castro some nod for marketing brilliance. Evil? Yes. But also genius. (less)
I knew what I was getting into when I started reading this, and I wasn't expecting Fontova to claim an unbiased viewpoint. He didn't. But I'm much more willing to listen to someone who loudly professes their biases than pretends they don't have any. So there.
I thought the book was easy to read, interesting, with a lot of personal stories. The pro-Che side to the story is so prevalent in America (unfortunately) that I don't feel like I need to go read Motorcycle Diaries. The history of communism around the world shows that the process for putting it in place is the same time after time after time. Mr. Fontova explains that Cuba's path was no different than the others, despite what so many would like to believe. (less)
I thought the book was easy to read, interesting, with a lot of personal stories. The pro-Che side to the story is so prevalent in America (unfortunately) that I don't feel like I need to go read Motorcycle Diaries. The history of communism around the world shows that the process for putting it in place is the same time after time after time. Mr. Fontova explains that Cuba's path was no different than the others, despite what so many would like to believe. (less)
Dec 17, 2017Christina Zamora rated it did not like it
Argentine hobo. Castro's court eunuch. Fontova exposed nothing other than the depths of his disgust for Che Guevara. At one point, the author claims "The stifling economic and social conditions created by the Cuban Revolution leave Cuban women today as the most suicidal in the world." Really? According to The WHO, Guyana actually ranks as having the highest female suicide rate in the world. But thank you Fontava, for your expert analysis. If you enjoy hyperbole and rhetoric, this book is for you. (less)
Dec 13, 2010Jeff rated it did not like it
While the idolization of Che Guevara is a complete joke, the author's transparent hatred makes the book far too slanted to take seriously.
Nov 16, 2014Michael Bury rated it did not like it
You know who else killed a shit-ton of innocent people? The American government. This dude is from the Cuban exile community and has an ax to grind, plain and simple.
May 13, 2017Travis rated it liked it
I read this a while ago and am just reviewing it now - this is pop-culture product (non-academic), so you have to go into it with those expectations. I wasn't apart of the generation that grew up with Che, but I was interested in seeing what the fascination was about (in my 7 years of college, I never saw a single student on our campus wearing a Che t-shirt). One has to take books like this with a gram of salt - I don't think Che was a saint, and it seems likely he committed many horrendous and ...more
Aug 06, 2018Joey Woodard rated it really liked it
A good, albeit an incredibly biased (for good reason), view of Ché and the horrendous actions taken by him in the name of “the greater good”. A number of good sources and firsthand accounts are used throughout, but the facts are almost drowned in rhetoric. This does make the book readable, but also takes away from the issues it tries to cover.
Sep 25, 2018Structure rated it really liked it
4 stars because it is what it is, and it’s the anecdotes that really make it worth reading. From here I want to read about Cuban social history, particularly the role of women. glad I read the Anderson book beforehand, it saved time in terms of the hard facts which came with critique.
Jan 15, 2010Nick Wallace rated it liked it
I've never been able to understand people's fascination and fawning over Guevara. A full discussion of the reasons behind this would become too far removed from the subject of this book. I believe it's sufficient to say that 90% of the people who wear a shirt with that picture screened on have next to no idea who is depicted. Even when those who knowingly show off this pseudo-religious icon, they too often espouse the glories of the Cuban Revolution and how it was pushed into communism and one-man rule due to the United States' pressure. I can only say that if that's the case, why did those at the top seem to take to it with such relish and strive against all odds to maintain one-party control for over fifty years if they truly always wanted to be a democratic nation.
Back to the book, much of the information is based on interviews with Cubans who fled the country during and following the revolution. Understandably, there isn't much direct documentary evidence used, since access to much of this is in the hands of the Cuban government or those who hold positions therein. The author has a tendency to ramble often, as well as a fondness for repetition that makes it seem as if the various sections were from separate articles written for different publications. As such, I can't give this book the four stars it would deserve otherwise. (less)
Back to the book, much of the information is based on interviews with Cubans who fled the country during and following the revolution. Understandably, there isn't much direct documentary evidence used, since access to much of this is in the hands of the Cuban government or those who hold positions therein. The author has a tendency to ramble often, as well as a fondness for repetition that makes it seem as if the various sections were from separate articles written for different publications. As such, I can't give this book the four stars it would deserve otherwise. (less)
May 17, 2011Andy rated it really liked it
This is the 4th or 5th Che Guevara bio I've read and it is very different from all the others. This one comes from a conservative perspective and is minus the praise the other biographers heap on Che. OK, to be fair, I don’t think the other biographers were as enamored with Che as Fontova makes them out to be but the others do seem to hold him up as more of a hero than as a killer. This is an interesting and needed perspective, even if it does go over the top a little bit and focus too often on minor things - how often is it necessary to mention the mansion Che moved into and the huge TV there? I got a sense from the other bios that Che wasn't the hero people made him out to be. Many are just familiar with "the image" - that flowing hair, distant gaze, and beret wearing image. The other bios are more in depth while this one focuses on Che's time in leadership and his adventures outside of Cuba afterwards. The book would be more interesting if it took in the whole of Che's life and was as methodical in its telling as, say, John Lee Anderson's. In the end, I enjoyed the book. It's a quick read and offers a little bit of balance to the Che myth. It make me wonder where the truth really lies. Did Fidel set up Che? Was Che really as inept as Fontova portrays? I lean towards yes to both but who really knows? (less)
Aug 07, 2011Malison rated it really liked it
This book, cannot leave you indifferent which I think should be the purpose of a good book. It challenges you, prvokes your critical thinking. I am thoroughly amazed by the brainwashing machine subtly programmed by people like Fidel Castro. I cannot deny his manipulation is sucessful, when I walk in the streets I constantly see ypung people, such as myself, wearing T-shirts of Che. However, if you ask them why, all you are to hear is their learnt by heart speech that they repeat like parrots, words that someone put in their mouths. Young people are prone to be more naive, they are idealists and can be easily influenced, such is their nature and character. That is why the brainwash is concentrated on them. They know nothing of past history, they proclaim Che a hero, without even supposing that Humberto Fontova's family is one of many who had to flee from their own country, that also his is one of few that survived. Che was an unsuccessful want-to-be medical student. He had serious complexes. This book reveals really what was happening in Cuba. I personally put this book in the shelf of of George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm, these are books that reveal the reality behind a masterfully created deceit, that unfortunately many still believe in.
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Feb 26, 2013Azaghedi rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: 21st-century, american, non-fiction
Despite being unabashedly polemical, Fontova is fastidious in providing credible sources along with his assertions. This is not a balanced inspection of Che Guevara's life, so if that's what you're looking for, move right along. Fontova writing about Che is the equivalent of Richard Dawkins writing a history of the creationist movement. But just as Dawkins is a scientist and doesn't need to resort to lies to prove his point, neither does Fontova need to lie to paint an ugly portrait of Che. Fontova can back up what he writes. I'm no fan of Che, and I was aware before coming to this book that he was thoroughly covered in warts, like many leaders are, but some of the things I read were shocking. With that said, they were corroborated by official documents, eyewitness accounts, and in some cases, Che's diaries themselves!
If you're looking for an examination of the less-than-heroic aspects of the man and the myth, look no further. Despite the macabre subject matter, you may even find yourself chuckling at Fontova's Che: a bumbling, groveling coward who couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag, let alone lead a global revolution; an appendical addition to the revolution in Cuba who relied more on his photogenicity than intellect, ferocity, or political skill. (less)
If you're looking for an examination of the less-than-heroic aspects of the man and the myth, look no further. Despite the macabre subject matter, you may even find yourself chuckling at Fontova's Che: a bumbling, groveling coward who couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag, let alone lead a global revolution; an appendical addition to the revolution in Cuba who relied more on his photogenicity than intellect, ferocity, or political skill. (less)
Jun 30, 2014Gregory Dilcox rated it did not like it · review of another edition
This was a terrible read, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised based on the title alone. Don't get me wrong, arguments against Che Guevara exist, and Fontova scratched the surface on some of them but instead of making clearly, well researched points he would just reference something and then insult people. He uses Jon Lee Anderson's biography a lot and insults Anderson almost as much. Fontova uses Cubans that were forced out of Cuba, most of which only had second hand knowledge, as sources and in long stretches presents his narrative on situations as fact offering no sources at all, not even his second hand sources. The whole time I was reading this book I felt like I was watching a Fox news program where the anchor picks and chooses which facts to follow to create their own reality. Although Anderson's bias towards Che exists in his biography, the research is there, he lays out flaws and successes with sourced material, first hand interviews, and research. I will keep hoping to find an anti Guevara book that does the same, not sound like a kid upset someone else is more popular than he is. (less)
Jan 12, 2016Brian rated it liked it
"Exposing the Real Che Guevara" is an interesting text, and certainly sheds some light on a man who was a blight in twentieth century history. I learned some out of the ordinary facts in this text, and I would tell people to read it simply as a starting point to finding out the truth about Che.
Having said that though...Mr. Fontova's prejudices come through, and he has a right to them. But in being so emotional, he gives his detractors something to point at and belittle. This allows people, and disingenuous reviewers on this site, to distort the book by attacking his obvious emotional bent without touching on the truth in this book. For the most part Fontova substantiates most of what he says, and some of it is truly shocking. Still, I keep coming back to my desire for a more scholarly approach to this text. The book suffers from redundancy and that again takes away from his thesis. This text is imminently readable, which I think accounts for some of the author's simplistic style choices, and I hope it serves as a jumping off point for even more scholarly research into the joke that is the myth of Che Guevara. (less)
Having said that though...Mr. Fontova's prejudices come through, and he has a right to them. But in being so emotional, he gives his detractors something to point at and belittle. This allows people, and disingenuous reviewers on this site, to distort the book by attacking his obvious emotional bent without touching on the truth in this book. For the most part Fontova substantiates most of what he says, and some of it is truly shocking. Still, I keep coming back to my desire for a more scholarly approach to this text. The book suffers from redundancy and that again takes away from his thesis. This text is imminently readable, which I think accounts for some of the author's simplistic style choices, and I hope it serves as a jumping off point for even more scholarly research into the joke that is the myth of Che Guevara. (less)
May 22, 2010Ron rated it really liked it · review of another edition
If you want to know what Fidel Castro and his brother Raul along with the Argentinian "doctor" Ernesto "Che" Guevara did to Cuba after Batista, you need to read this book. Having said that, the one major drawback of this book are the personal axes that author Humberto Fontova has to grind. Fontova, along with his siblings and mother were able to escape Cuba in 1961. His father couldn't leave with them at the time as he had been detained for questioning by Che and his henchmen. Usually those detained by Che were never seen by their families again. Luckily Fontova's father was released and able to join the rest of the family in Miami.
Most books about Che idolize him and tell us what a great liberator he was in Cuba, the Congo, and Bolivia. You won't get that in this book. Fontova tells us like it was with well done research and interviews with those who were there when this all happened.
Glad I have it on my shelf. I'll refer to it again and won't read another book that idolizes this brutal executioner by the name of "Che" Guevara (less)
Most books about Che idolize him and tell us what a great liberator he was in Cuba, the Congo, and Bolivia. You won't get that in this book. Fontova tells us like it was with well done research and interviews with those who were there when this all happened.
Glad I have it on my shelf. I'll refer to it again and won't read another book that idolizes this brutal executioner by the name of "Che" Guevara (less)
Oct 13, 2012Curtis Smothers rated it really liked it
Wondering why Che Guevara is marketed as somewhat of a counter-culture iconic hero? It must be the macho charismatic pose with beret and single star and look of dedication that does it. Humberto Fontova, a Cuban exile, sees Che a lot less idealistically, as can be readily deduced from the second half of his title, "...and the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him."
If you're one of those "Why can't we just get along?" types, you'll probably not like all the bias and partisanship in this chronicle of the life of a man that the author truly hates. On the other hand, if you're disgusted with Communism as a failed system, read this book and get the other side of the Che, the Hollywood darling of "Motorcycle Diaries," and "Che," which depict Guevara as a folk hero doomed by American support of South American dictators.
Read my full book review on Helium.com athttp://www.helium.com/items/319323-bo... .
If you're one of those "Why can't we just get along?" types, you'll probably not like all the bias and partisanship in this chronicle of the life of a man that the author truly hates. On the other hand, if you're disgusted with Communism as a failed system, read this book and get the other side of the Che, the Hollywood darling of "Motorcycle Diaries," and "Che," which depict Guevara as a folk hero doomed by American support of South American dictators.
Read my full book review on Helium.com athttp://www.helium.com/items/319323-bo... .
