Che Guevara's Children: Stop Using Our Father's Image to Sell T-Shirts & Coffee Mugs

Ernesto “Che” Guevara has been a namesake for the past few decades. Two of Guevera’s children have stepped forward and complained about their father’s image being used for profit.

Today, you can see the face of Ernesto “Che” Guevara just about anywhere from t-shirts, to posters, and other commercial brands. Many see that the image of Che Guevara seems to be a trend. I myself wondered what was so popular about the design of Che Guevara’s face. Guevara is a Marxist revolutionary from Argentina along with being a guerilla leader. He had even fought alongside former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Even though you might not know who Che Guevara is, you should be able to recognize his face. On a side note, there is a vertical shooter game called “Guerilla War” by the company known as SNK before it became SNK-Playmore. Many things had been edited in the North American version. In the original Japanese version, player one takes on the role of Che Guevara and player two takes on the role of Fidel Castro. The setting takes place in Cuba in which the players must overthrow the government of Fulgencio Batista. Che helped Fidel Castro overthrow Batista in 1959. But, he was captured and executed in Bolivia in 1967 for trying the same thing. But, Che Guevara has been a name brand. Aleida Guevara, the eldest daughter of Che Guevara and his second wife Cuban revolutionary Aleida March, has stepped forward. Alieda Guevara said she was tired of seeing the image of her father used for commercial purposes. She complained that because of her father’s image being used for commercial purposes, tension between the upper and lower classes in some countries have started to stir. “Something that bothers me now is that the appropriation of the figure of Che that has been used to make enemies from different classes. It’s embarrassing,” Guevara said in regards to her father’s image. Her speaking out came as a result of an offer to use the father’s image for British vodka and French soft drinks. Safe to say, Guevara was angry. She said that it was disrespectful to her father, her father’s memory, and her family. So far, Che’s son Camilo does not mind the Hollywood movies about his father. He said it is all right as long as they do Che’s image justice. However, they have voiced their anger and frustration over the commercialization of their father’s image.