The lady speaking to CHE is an Air Hostess pulled from the plane he was on at the last minute,not a translator,and more so ,Che understood what she was saying in English anyway!See for yourself what The Irish Echo claimed to be the "last time he spoke or was seen publicly outside of Cuba":
A Miami man was awarded more than $1 billion today in a lawsuit that he filed against Fidel Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Miami Herald reported. Gustavo Villodo blamed them for his father's suicide. 
* Latin America: A historic colonial Cuban town and a Mexican butterfly reserve were two of the 27 sites added to the list of World Heritage Sites by the U.N.
* Brazil: The G-5 group of developing countries- which includes Brazil and Mexico- did not see eye-to-eye with their wealthier counterparts during this week’s Group of Eight (G8) summit.
* Chile: Authorities continue to seek the world’s most wanted Nazi fugitive – Aribert “Dr. Death” Heim- who may be hiding in Chile or Argentina.
* Bolivia: A “special edition” of Che Guevara’s journals with forewords written by Fidel Castro and Evo Morales will soon be issued by the Bolivian government.
Image- Sydney Morning Herald (“A migrating monarch butterfly”)
Sources- Monsters & Critics, MSNBC, World Heritage Center, BBC News,
* Cuba: Two children of famed revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara denounced the “embarrassing” commercialization of their father’s image.
* Brazil: Military police arrested an army sergeant who recently revealed his homosexuality in a magazine article.
* U.S.: Officials in Massachusetts are suing H&R Block for “unfair and deceptive conduct” against black and Latino mortgage borrowers.
* Mexico: Yesterday we mentioned that some Mexican officials are disappointed with possible human rights conditions to be attached to the Merida Initiative. Turns out that President George W. Bush wants Congress to drop those clauses which he believes are “unreasonable.”
Sources- MSNBC, Los Angeles Times, The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, BBC News
Image- is it just me or is everything shit?
* Puerto Rico: Congrats to actor Benicio Del Toro who won the best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for his portrayal of revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara.
* Mexico: Seven federal police officers were killed and another four were wounded after a drug raid in northwest Mexico.
* Ecuador: According to the results of a poll released on Monday, 41% of Ecuadorians would support a government-backed constitutional referendum.
* Caribbean: Bahamian police fund the dead bodies of four people believed to be Haitian migrants.
Sources- Bloomberg, The Latin Americanist, MSNBC, Reuters UK, CNN
Image- New York Daily News (“Benicio Del Toro sports Che-like beard for filming of the rebel's two-part biopic.”)
Steven Soderbergh’s biopic on famed revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara was previewed for audiences at the renowned Cannes Film Festival. The Los Angles Times entertainment blog gave the opinions of several critics who discussed items like the film’s near five hour length and Benicio Del Toro playing the titular role.Most of the reviews by the press of the film were mixed, as was evidenced by Guardian UK film critic Peter Bradshaw:
Perhaps it will even come to be seen as this director's flawed masterpiece: enthralling but structurally fractured…
This is all about Che the warrior, the ideologue, the public man. It is big, bold, ambitious film-making. Yet I was baffled that Soderbergh fought shy of so many key things in Che's life. Maybe he felt the spectacle of revolution incarnate was more compelling: a secular Passion play. Whatever the reason, Che is never boring and often gripping.
The “Che” biopic isn’t the only Latin American film making waves at Cannes. “Motorcycle Diaries” director Walter Salles has his own entry for the judges to watch, while a documentary on Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona is also being shown.
Sources - The Latin Americanist, Los Angeles Times, Guardian UK, The Offside
Image- New York Times
A four-hour movie on famed revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara is among the early favorites to win top honors at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The film- directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Benecio del Toro- was one of twenty movies selected in the main competition at Cannes.Aside from the Guevara flick, other Latin Americans have made their presence known at the world-famous film fest:
The Latin American theme is strongly borne out in the rest of the main competition, in which there are two Argentinean films and a Brazilian one. The Brazilian director is Walter Salles, whose Motorcycle Diaries - about Che's youthful journey round Latin America by motorbike - was a contender in 2004. This year's offering is called Linha de Passe, about the lives of four brothers from a tough background in Sao Paulo who struggle to overcome their circumstances.
Films by Argentineans Pablo Trapero and Lucretia Martel complete the South American contingent; while Mexican Alfonso Cuarón (director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) will sit on the competition jury.
The 61st edition of the Cannes Film Festival runs next month. If you’re a film buff in New York City this week, then try attending either the Tribeca Film Festival or “100% Venezuela” at NYU.
Image- BBC News (“The poster for this year's festival is adapted from a David Lynch photo.”)
Sources- Guardian UK. AFP, New York Times, The Latin Americanist
Got several hundred thousands dollars to spare? Want to woo guests at your next cocktail party or itching to buy an early holiday gift? Then why not buy a lock of Ché Guevara’s hair (image). A
Politics is the alleged reason behind the auction of the piece of hair along with other artifacts that belonged to the collection of Gustavo Villoldo- a Cuban-born former CIA operative:
“(Villoldo) doesn't like the way Che has become a political icon, so he's anxious to get the whole story out,” (Heritage Auction Galleries’ Tom) Slater told AFP. “He feels that Che was a murderer and a bandit and it was appropriate to hunt him down.”
Previous posts on Guevara's legacy have looked at the revolutionary’s connection to his image in
Sources- BBC News, The Latin Americanist, International Herald Tribune,
Image- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
* Follow-up: Despite controversy over a supposed “dirty” campaign” a slim majority of Costa Rican voters backed a free trade pact with the * Are you a gringo seeking a cheap dentist? Then head to
* Nearly 10,000 Cubans are attending a ceremony at the mausoleum of Ché Guevara commemorating the 40th anniversary of his execution.
* The widow and five children of ex-Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet were freed on bail two days after being arrested.
* November 26th is the scheduled trial date for former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori.
Sources- The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, International Herald Tribune, BBC News,
AFP, Reuters
Image- Al Jazeera (Costa Rican president Oscar Arias voted in yesterday’s free trade referendum)
* Follow-up:
* "We have contingency plans for a possible massive exodus," said Caleb McCarry- the U.S. Cuba Transition Coordinator- last week.
* According to data obtained by AFP, famous Marxist rebel Ché Guevara was the target of an operation headed by right-wing Latin American dictators.
* The International Court of Justice is expected later today to rule on a maritime border dispute between
* The new U.S. Ambassador to
Sources- The Latin Americanist, CNN, AFP, International Herald Tribune, earthtimes.org
Image- Al Jazeera
* Was 1992 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Rigoberta Menchu discriminated against by *
* Amazon rainforest deforestation has gone down by 25% according to figures from the Brazilian government.
* Colombian ambassador to the
* The Cuban-born daughter of “Che” Guevara became a nationalized Argentine citizen over the weekend.
* Follow-up: Actor Mel Gibson dined with Guatemalan president Oscar Berger approximately one month after meeting with
Sources- Monsters & Critics, Newsday, ABC Online, People’s Daily Online,
Image- Cambio
Actor Benicio del Toro (image) will play famed revolutionary Ernesto “Ché” Guevara in an upcoming movie directed by Steven Soderbergh. Soderbergh previously directed Del Toro in the 2000 movie “Traffic” which led to an Academy Award for the Puerto Rican-born actor.The film has been tentatively titled “Guerilla” and will also star Julia Ormond and Catalina Sandino Moreno. According to the movie’s IMDB entry, the plot involves Ché Guevara’s 1964 visit to speak at the United Nations in
Sources- Monsters & Critics, International Herald Tribune, IMDB
Image- Sydney Morning Herald
For better or worse, Ernesto “Che” Guevara is a cult hero known around the world and whose image graces many items from t-shirts to massive futbol banners. For some Latin Americans, Che is revered as a mythical figure of the left.However, what happens if the admiration for him is co-opted by sanguinary rebel groups in
This seems to be the case according to a post published today by a New York Times’ news blog:
“A previously-unknown group is using Che’s image in leaflets announcing a ‘movement of Iraqi Communists and Marxists experienced in armed struggle, leftist Iraqi nationalists, and their supporters,’ according to Iraq Slogger.”
Not everyone on the Iraqi far left who invoke el Che believes in the terrorist insurgency, however; a spokesman for
Links- TIME, Wikipedia, New York Times – The Lede
Image- Lonely Planet (Cuban propaganda billboard of Che Guevara)
* Will
* Relatives of slain journalist Bradley Will suspect Mexican officials were behind his death last October in
* Chileans are rediscovering herbal medicine from the indigenous Mapuche people, according to Reuters.
* First it was George W. Bush, now it’s Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper who will be touring
* Where in the world is Che Guevara? According to an ex-CIA agent it isn’t at his supposed burial site in
Links- UPI, Prensa Latina, The Latin Americanist, CTV.ca,
Image- NNDB.com
