Hasta Siempre?

Not long after after the Cuban revolution Castro sent Che Guevara to China. The public reason was that he was looking for a third way to avoid antogonizing the US by becoming too close to the Soviet Union.

The real reason was that Guevara was so barking mad that he was dangerous to have around. The main thrust of Guevara's economic policy while in charge of Cuba's finances in the early years of the republic was to take treasury employees into the courtyard and shoot them in the back of the head.

This he did in between posing with his shirt off for propoganda shots with peasents loading bags of grain into trucks.

Guevara is unusual as an icon. He won't go away. Most post-modern icons lose their value after a relatively short period of time. Think Jim Morrison amongst students just before Brit-pop, he was everywhere and nowhere overnight. We all get bored.

That Jesus style pic of Guevara, however, remains on mouse mats, mugs, posters, slip mats without any sense of irony. I'd like to see someone poncing about on Upper St wearing flip flops and a goatee with a picture of Hitler on their t-shirt.

People forget that this man wanted to drop an atomic bomb on Western Europe in order for a socialist utopia to grow out of the rubble.

That's why he was in China. Mao had the bomb and Guevara had a plan.

Now, my old man, the Chairman, was mad as a brush, but even he wasn't crazy enough to give Guevara the secrets to nuclear technology. He loved the plan and nicked it for himself and got rid of Ernesto.

And that's where he went wrong, you see. If we'd done what Guevara had suggested a true socialst society might only be 250,000 years away (half life).

So it was with pleasure that I saw this game being advertised which basically allows you to become a Geuvara style activist and blow the shit out of South Americans in the interests of international solidarity. Watch the demo here and live the dream .

Look out Chavez - we're coming for you!!