I'm still apologizing for the CIA.
Backstory
While in Chile last month, I met an older taxi driver named Jorge. As I ducked into his cab, I admired the Che Guevara button hanging from his rearview mirror. He quickly said gracias, proudly announcing he was a communist. Although my ride took less than five minutes, during that time we talked about everything from modern day politics to Pinochet's overthrow of democratically elected Socialist President Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973. He told me he was in the Chilean Navy at that time and had been tortured for aiding the Leftists. Even though I was only 6 years old in 1973, I felt compelled to apologize for our government's role in the coup d'etat, then thanked him for his service to the people and said it was an honor to meet him. By the time I tried to pay my fare, Jorge el taxista comunista was wiping tears from his cheeks and refusing to take my money. I will never forget him. by Seraphina_Lullaby in Six Words for America on Apr 22, 2012 | 
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Comments
EnMasse says,
My Cuban father is always amazed and insulted when he sees anything that portrays Che Guevarra as anything less than the murderer he was, same as his buddy Fidel Castro. My parents fled Cuba with little but the shirts on their backs so their children wouldn't have to live under Communist rule, leaving many family members split apart, but they never regretted leaving. And I'm very grateful they did.Seraphina_Lullaby says,
I've questioned the folk hero status of Che for a long time, and I am sure that your father is right to a certain degree--that degree being that soldiers and war heroes are killers by trade.Yes. Your dad is right. Che was a killer. But he was also a source of hope for many people who had none.
The truth is that communism looks good on paper but isn't exactly dreamy in practice. The truth also is that capitalism has done more to help the middle class than most other political ideologies, but at what cost?
So you choose--Batista or Castro? Pinochet or Allende?
In the real world and in my daily living, I find it hard to side with the wealthy and those whose interests always lie in greed and power and the bottom line of a profit balanced on the back of some hapless worker.
Che was no saint, but he did fight for the little guy. And in my ledger, that counts for something.