The New York Times
December 2, 2008, 7:00 am — Updated: 10:42 am -->
(Photo: David Gonzalez/The New York Times)
Che Guevara has been put on a pedestal in Manhattan. This is something not lacking in irony, since Manhattan might not exist today had the Argentine-born, Cuban-tested revolutionary had his way and unleashed the Soviet nukes against the United States during the 1962 missile crisis.
Are New Yorkers really allowing such an homage to occupy the southeast corner of Central Park? Technically, no. The statue actually depicts a Barcelona street performer portraying Che, part of three bronze sculptures by Christian Janowski, which were recently installed by the Public Art Fund.Such distinctions may be lost on passers-by, who may well think the temporary installation is a marketing stunt for the upcoming Benicio del Toro movie, “Guerrilla.”
Monday morning, passers-by whipped out cellphones to snap quick shots of the statue. Some tourists put down their maps long enough to stand next to the statue and flash a peace sign. Most assumed the bronze was of Che (even if the figure was thicker and bore little facial resemblance to the real thing).
“That’s Che Guevara, right?” said Sean Kelly, who was visiting from Ames, Iowa. “I’m kind of interested in his beliefs and the kind of stuff he did.”
There were the executions when he presided over the prison at La Cabaña. Or his stated willingness to have let the missiles fly had they been under Cuban control, according to a newspaper interview cited by the biographer Jon Lee Anderson. And as several conservative commentators have noted, soon after the 1962 crisis, Che was preparing to export revolution while Cuban diplomats in New York were implicated in a plot to blow up, among other targets, department stores in New York City on the day after Thanksgiving. (More examples can be found in Humberto Fontova’s book “Exposing the Real Che Guevara and the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him.”)
For some, the statue might call to mind the recent controversy over a banner depicting Stalin at Cooper Union. Arguably, one does not have to be politically conservative to be appalled by idolization of Che Guevara; just being a New Yorker ought to be reason enough. Instead, his face is a common sight on T-shirts, posters and watches (the latter sold, briefly, in the gift shop at the New York Public Library).
“I am always fascinated to see all the examples of how, I don’t know, foolish and ill-informed people are,” said a man who gave his name as Peter. “I’m a student of the idiocy of Che Guevara worship, and I bet 99 percent of the people who see this think, wow, that’s cool. But he was just a thug. A butcher.”
So, what is the appeal?
“He fought for the ideals of the people,” said David Araya, a bike messenger who is originally from Costa Rica. “He believed in socialist liberation for people who were oppressed by corrupt governments at the time in South America.”
He added that now today’s Cuba might fall into that category, too, considering that the Castro brothers have been in power for almost half a century. For some Cubans, liberation means rolling the dice on a raft trip across the Florida Straits.
There are no statues erected to them in New York. But remember, the piece in the park is not of Che. Only of someone portraying Che.
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