Che and Fidel - Images from History

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A photographic testimony to the extraordinary bond that existed between two extraordinary individuals, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.

Introduced and selected by Che Guevara’s widow, Aleida March, this book offers a photographic testimony to the extraordinary bond that existed between two extraordinary individuals, whose example still serves today to inspire all those seeking a better world of justice and dignity for all humankind. Includes text in Spanish and English and over 50 remarkable photographs of Che and Fidel together.

Published July 2015 by Ocean Press in association with the Che Guevara Studies Centre. Hardback.

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Just when you might have thought there couldn’t be room for another Che Guevara book, whose photo by Korda is possibly the most famous photo in the world, along comes this one. So how is this different?

Many of the photographs may have been previously published but have been selected here by the Che Guevara Studies Centre in Havana, led by Che’s widow Aleida March. The photographers, possibly unknown, are not named in the book, some pictures must have been taken in Korda’s presence if not by him, but the unifying point is that the photos capture fleeting moments “in the field” and in between historic events from 1956 to 1965, which reveal the extraordinary bond that existed between Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.

The foreword by Cuban writer Graziella Pogolotti poetically focuses on the two’s first encounter in Mexico: “That night beside the volcanoes” before the Granma expedition in 1956, and interspersing the photos are intriguing quotes by Che and Fidel on each other. For example, Fidel recalls noticing Che’s determination to climb to the top of Popocatepetl volcano every weekend in Mexico: “he made a colossal effort, and never reached the top…But he would keep going back to try again, as if he could spend his entire life trying…his perseverance was one of his characteristics I most admired.” The quotes and images together speak volumes about their relationship. The photos of them listening to each other as Fidel discusses manoevres or Che demonstrates weapons in the Sierra Maestra exude mutual respect and admiration, and those of their first meeting after the triumph of the revolution in Camaguey airport are intimate moments of shared joy and exhaustion. Full of smiling youthfulness, it’s easy to forget how they devoted their lives to improving life for others.

The introduction by Aleida March, tells the history behind the photos, from the first meeting to Che leaving Cuba, despite her difficulty in explaining the bond between Che and Fidel as her own feelings are “buried so deep”. In his farewell letter to Fidel in 1965, Che still wrote “I have lived magnificent days and at your side I felt the pride of belonging to our people…I am also proud of having followed you without hesitation…” Private photos in 1965 of Fidel with Che, while disguised as Ramon Benitez prior to leaving for the Congo are also included and a previously unpublished photo of Che in Cuba during training before leaving for Bolivia in 1966.

This book is not a huge ‘coffee table’ tome, for the very reason it offers a close look at the quiet human moments captured in the lives of these giants.

This review appeared in CubaSi magazine Autumn 2015.