Talk and Debate on Che Guevara at LALIT

09.10.2011

Saturday 8 October, to mark the 44 years since the assassination of Che Guevara by the CIA, LALIT held a talk and debate session around the film on Che Guevara’s life by the Italian director Ferruccio Valerio. There was also an exhibition on books by and about Che, and people present were given copies of a very old LALIT poster and some old postcards LPT had produced of Che Guevara.
The session was held at GRNW and was in response to a request from a young woman who had, while buying books in Kreol, seen a card at the LPT bookshop on which there was the Che picture and one of his phrase translated into Kreol, “It is the love of humanity that makes a true revolutionary”. This prompted her to ask a LALIT member who happened to present who Che was. She was given a short synopsis of his life and commitment, and how he had over the past couple of decades become a rather enigmatic symbol, having been well nigh taken over by commercial ventures. Next time she was at a commercial bookshop, she sought out and bought a copy of a biography of Che, and then contacted LALIT to ask whether we couldn’t organize something to commemorate his death at the hands of the CIA, and she gave the date, so as to deepen knowledge about the struggle in Cuba for a better society.
So, LALIT did organize it. We were pleased to have not only young people, but also people who told us how they had first read about Che Guevara by buying books from the bookstore, Morisyana, run by Evelyn Bibi and Madu Lew Chin, and having heard about the session in commemoration, had made a point of being present.
At the end, people suggested another session for December. So keep posted.