Quotes from the Congo Diary
~ [Che had decided] to deal with the main things first, to pit myself against the order of things, shield on my arm, the whole fantasy, and then, if the windmills don't break open my head, I 'll write.
~ Our country, the sole socialist bastion on the doorstep of Yankee imperialism, sends its soldiers to fight and die in a foreign land, on a distant continent, and publicly assumes full responsibility for its actions. In this challenge, in this clear position on the great modern-day issue of waging a relentless struggle against Yankee imperialism, lies the heroic significance of our participation in the struggle of the Congo.
~ When it comes to Yankee imperialism, it is not enough to be resolute in defense. It has to be attacked in its bases of support in the colonies and neocolonies that are the foundation of its system of world dominition.
~ There were some things that we no longer had in common, certain sentiments that I had tacitly or explicitly renounced but which each individual holds most sacred: his family, his surroundings and his homeland.
~ Victory is a great source of positive experiences, but so is defeat, especially in light of the extraordinary circumstances that surrounded these events: the protagonists and source of information were foreigners who went to risk their lives in an unknown land, where people spoke a different language, and where they were bound only by ties of proletarian internationalism, thereby initiating a new feature in modern wars of liberation.
~ Only in war does he become a soldier. He might receive a diploma from some college or other, but his real graduation - as is the case with any professional - takes place in the practice of his profession, in the way he reacts under enemy fire, to suffering, to defeat, to relentless pursuit, to adversity.
~ I was leaving behind nearly 11 years of work alongside Fidel for the Cuban revolution, and a happy home, if that is the right word for the abode of a revolutionary dedicated to his task and a bunch of kids who scarcely knew how much I loved them.
~ My diplomatic qualities have never been very refined, and I told him quite bluntly that he must be lying.
~ Our experience must be transmitted in one form or another to the combatants; the urge to teach should be paramount - but not in a pedantic manner, looking down at those who don't know, but with the human warmth that comes with shared learning.
~ We can't by ourselves liberate a country that does not want to fight; you have to create a fighting spirit and find soldiers with the torch of Diogenes and the patience of Job - a task that becomes more difficult, the more fools there are messing everything up along the way.
~ We had not established entirely fraternal relations, and we always felt a little bit superior, like people who had come to give advice.
~ But I was deeply pained at the thought of simply departing as we had come, leaving behind defenseless peasants and men who were armed but defenseless, given their low capacity for fighting. To leave them defeated and feeling betrayed wounded me deeply.
~ The main role of guerrilla warfare is to educate the masses in the possibility of victory and showing them, at the same time, the possibility of a new future and the necessity of change to achieve that future in the process of the armed struggle of the entire people.
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