THE eldest daughter of Cuban revolutionary leader Che Guevara is to visit Glasgow later this year as part of a UK speaking tour to mark the 50th anniversary of her father’s assassination.
Aleida Guevara March will speak at a rally in the city and attend a screening of a film about her father’s life on 11 November.
Kath Campbell, of the Scottish Cuba Solidarity Campaign, which helped organise the visit along with the Havana Glasgow Film Festival, said she was delighted Aleida Guevara will be travelling to Glasgow: “Aleida Guevara is a charismatic figure both for Cuba and for the world. The last time she was in Glasgow her rally sold out many times over,” she said.
“She is a first-class advocate for Cuba – especially its health record – and campaigner for human rights and developing nations.”
Eirene Houston, director of the Havana Glasgow Film Festival said: “We had already planned a specific screening on the 11th November of San Ernesto, Born in Higuero – a documentary about the reverence for Che felt by the local villagers where he was shot – so you can imagine how thrilled we are that Che’s daughter is going to be with us on that very day, to mark this anniversary. “
Aleida Guevara, 56, works as a paediatrician at the William Soler Children’s Hospital in Havana. She is the daughter of Guevara and his second wife, Aleida March.
Her father was born on 14 June 1928 in Rosario, Argentina into a middle-class family. He studied medicine at Buenos Aires University and during this time travelled widely in South and Central America.
The widespread poverty and oppression he witnessed convinced him that the only solution to South and Central America’s problems was armed revolution.
In 1954 he went to Mexico and met Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro the following year when he joined Castro’s “26th July Movement”. He played a key role in the eventual success of its guerrilla war against Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Castro overthrew Batista in 1959 and took power in Cuba. From 1959-1961, Guevara was president of the National Bank of Cuba, and then minister of industry.
The Cuban economy faltered as a result of American trade sanctions and Guevara later left Cuba. After visiting Africa he travelled to Bolivia to lead forces rebelling against the government of René Barrientos Ortuño. With US assistance, the Bolivian army captured Guevara. He was executed on 9 October 1967 in the Bolivian village of La Higuera and his body was buried in a secret location. In 1997 his remains were discovered, exhumed and returned to Cuba, where he was reburied.
The Havana Film Festival runs from 9 to 12 November. The programme will be launched in Oran Mor on Thursday 28 September.
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