Renzo Llorente - The Political Theory of Che Guevara

June 14, 1928

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna is born in Rosario, Argentina. He is the first of the five children of Ernesto Guevara Lynch and Celia de la Serna.

May 1930

Guevara endures his first asthma attack. He will continue to suffer from asthma for the rest of his life.

19471953

Guevara studies medicine at the University of Buenos Aires.

January 1950

Using a motorized bicycle, Guevara journeys to various provinces in northern Argentina.

December 1951August 1952

Accompanied by his friend Alberto Granado, Guevara travels throughout Latin America, including visits to Chile, Peru, and Colombia.

June 1953

Guevara receives his medical degree.

July 1953

Guevara begins a second trip to Latin American countries with his friend Carlos (Calica) Ferrer. The trip includes visits to Bolivia, Ecuador, and Guatemala.

December 1953

Guevara arrives in Guatemala, where he meets exiled Cuban revolutionaries.

June 1954

Guatemalas democratically elected government, headed by president Jacobo A rbenz, is overthrown by reactionary forces supported by the United States. Guevara joins the resistance fighting against the coup dtat.

August 1954

Guevara takes refuge in the Argentine embassy in Guatemala City.

September 1954

Guevara arrives in Mexico City.

July 1955

Guevara meets Fidel Castro in Mexico City and joins Castros group of expeditionaries.

August 1955

Guevara marries Hilda Gadea, an exiled Peruvian economist and political activist.

February 1956

Guevaras first child, Hildita, is born.

June 1956

Guevara is arrested by Mexican police, along with more than two dozen of the future expeditionaries, including Fidel Castro. Guevara spends several weeks in jail.

November 25, 1956

Guevara is one of the eighty-two revolutionaries aboard the Granma yacht as it leaves Tuxpan, Mexico, for Cuba.

December 2, 1956

Castros revolutionaries land in southeastern Cuba.

July 1957

Guevara is put in charge of the Rebel Armys Fourth Column and promoted to comandante (major, but also commander), the Rebel Armys highest rank.

AugustDecember 1958

Guevara leads the invasion of the province of Las Villas and the conquest of central Cuba.

December 28, 1958

Guevara commands the Rebel Armys forces in the decisive Battle of Santa Clara, part of the Rebels final offensive.

January 1, 1959

Guevara achieves victory in the Battle of Santa Clara. Dictator Fulgencio Batista flees Cuba.

January 3, 1959

Guevara assumes control of Havanas La Cabaa military fortress.

February 9, 1959

The Council of Ministers grants Guevara Cuban citizenship.

May 1959

Guevara divorces Hilda Gadea.

June 2, 1959

Guevara marries Aleida March, whom he had met in 1958 and who had been one of his collaborators during the revolutionary war. Guevara goes on to have four children with MarchAleida, Camilo, Celia, and Ernesto.

JuneSeptember 1959

Guevara visits the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe and signs trade and cultural agreements on behalf of Cuba.

October 7, 1959

Guevara is chosen to head the Department of Industrialization at the National Institute for Agrarian Reform.

November 26, 1959

The Council of Ministers appoints Guevara president of the National Bank of Cuba.

March 4, 1960

A French ship carrying Belgian arms explodes in Havana Harbor. Apparently caused by sabotage, the explosion kills around one hundred people.

March 5, 1960

At a memorial service for the victims of the explosion the previous day, photographer Alberto Korda takes the picture that will become the single most famous photoand imageof Guevara.

Spring 1960

Guevara publishes Guerrilla Warfare ( La guerra de guerrillas ).

OctoberDecember 1960

Guevara travels to various socialist countries: Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, and the German Democratic Republic.

February 23, 1961

The Ministry of Industries is created, and Guevara is appointed minister.

April 16, 1961

Fidel Castro publicly declares that the Cuban Revolution is a socialist revolution.

April 17, 1961

The Bay of Pigs Invasion commences, as 1,500 mercenaries attack Cuba with US backing. Guevara is put in charge of the military in the province of Pinar del Ro, in western Cuba.

April 19, 1961

The mercenaries are defeated.

August 1961

Guevara leads the Cuban delegation to the Organization of American States Inter-American Economic and Social Council conference held in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

AugustSeptember 1962

Guevara visits the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia.

October 2228, 1962