Four decades after death, Che still inspires many

The revolutionary was killed by US forces in 1967

HAVANA: Forty years after the death of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the turbulent life of Cuba's revolutionary hero continues to inspire films and books, while his stoic image and self-sacrifice have become iconic for leftists worldwide.

His legacy remains as vivid today in communist-ruled Cuba as it was, with schoolchildren still instructed to pledge each morning that: “Pioneers for communism, we will be like Che.”

A 1960 Alberto Korda photograph of a defiant-looking Guevara, his long, dark hair flying from beneath a beret, is considered one of the best known photos in the world and a classic image of the 20th century.

On October 8, 1967, the Bolivian army and two Cuban-American CIA agents captured Che in the village of La Higuera, Bolivia, where he led a clutch of rebels who survived clashes, hunger and illness.

Che was taken to an abandoned school and was executed by Bolivian sergeant Mario Teran. He was 39.

The Argentine-born Cuban hero will be given anniversary honours in Santa Clara, Cuba where he led the battle of Cuban Revolution and where a mausoleum has held his remains since 1997.

In President Hugo Chavez's Venezuela and Daniel Ortega's Nicaragua, Che's image is also somewhat of an unofficial icon. Gandhi he was not — Guevara was a supporter of political violence.

After studying medicine, Che hooked up with Fidel and Raul Castro in Mexico before joining the bearded guerrillas who toppled US-backed leader Fulgencio Batista and took power in Havana in January 1959.

Guevara also helped steer revolutionary Cuba into Moscow's orbit but later broke with the Soviet notion of peaceful co-existence with the West in favour of seeking power militarily.