The Geometry of Innocence Flesh On the Bone ~

photo Walker Evans

CHE WANTS TO SEE YOU ~

Che Guevara
by Ciro Bustos
Che Wants to See You
Verso, 2013

"After 40 years of keeping his tale largely private, Bustos, a crucial member of Che's operation to launch an Argentine revolution, delivers a seamless memoir that relates his role and Che's plans for South America before the latter's 1967 execution by the CIA in Bolivia. Bustos left Buenos Aires for Cuba soon after Castro's revolution—he'd heard a radio broadcast from Cuba in which Che had placed the Cuban struggle in the context of achieving Latin American self-determination. In Havana's suspicious atmosphere his loyalty and identity were questioned, which continued across a decade of reconnaissance for Che throughout South America and Europe. He narrates with nuance his devotion to Che as well as doubts about their enterprise's feasibility. In one absurdist drama, Bustos answers a mysterious invitation to China, refuses to repudiate Castro, and is promptly sent home. Castro eventually abandons the Argentine project: "Havana had taken off its earphones and pulled down its antennae." In prison, Bustos denies all guerilla activity and is eventually granted asylum in Sweden. Bustos's powers of observation and critical commentary make this required reading for both historians of revolution and future world-changers." Publishers Weekly