The African Dream: The Diaries of the Revolutionary War in the Congo by Ernesto Che Guevara

The African Dream: The Diaries of the Revolutionary War in the Congo Reviews

• 
  Arnoldo Garcia

  Only Ernesto Che Guevara could disappear into a sugar cane field as a volunteer worker in Cuba and re-emerge as an internationalist fighting for liberation in Africa, living his words with deeds. Guevara learned bitter lessons leading a guerrilla column in the Congo (1965) that in any case would still cost him his life almost two years later in Bolivia. He starts his diary with a gut-wrenching transparency of truthfulness that only he, Che, mastered. So much that this work of his time in the Congo would not be published for more than two decades because of what his critical views of the national liberation struggles and the role and responsibilities of the socialist countries. He wrote something like:
  
  This is the story of a failure.
  
  Would he have said the same of his time in Bolivia, could any one say this about his life and work? Only he could. Yet, he did not get to sum up his year in Bolivia organizing guerrilla movement of internationalist dedicated to a national liberation struggle,
  
  The beauty of his efforts in Cuba, the Congo, and Bolivia was that he did not expect any of his comrades in arms to do what he could do himself. Leadership of a new type, the new human that is still desperately needed, however, to struggle with non-violent strategies. Not at any cost.
  
  In Africa, Che learned (or maybe he didn't) that solidarity and internationalism alone could not transform and convene, converge a fragmented revolutionary movement. That he had to have executive power to make tactical and strategic moves and positions to advance what he believed was the way to advance a revolutionary transformation. In the field, in the camps, in the supply and support lines, in the thinking and development of revolutionary consciousness embedded in practical and revolutionary actions. When he was the subordinate in Africa, because he was there to support and serve, he learned that without unity of vision and a stellar commitment to victory or death that mistakes not his making decisively led to unravel his project. The moral of his troops, all Black Cubans except for him and a few others, was not helped when they would see the warriors they were there to work with and support fail to step up to the front lines of their struggle. Even a seemingly small announcement, when Fidel Castro read Che's letter of resignation -- a tactical maneuver nonetheless to throw imperialism off balance believing there was a riff among the Cuban leadership -- impacted and confused and demoralized his comrades-in-arms in Africa.
  
  Guevara's plan all along was to use his experience and work in the Congo to prepare for carrying out an internationalist mission somewhere in Latin America. He was thinking two, three revolutions ahead of everyone else. Che wrote about the importance of revolutionary movements, if not coordinating at least guided by the same belief that their struggles and blows in different spaces against imperialism could bring about if not its downfall, at least setbacks to create breathing room for national liberations.
  
  Che was a brilliant writer, on top of being a brilliant thinker and self-less warrior. Even as the Cuban internationalists were being pulled out of the Congo, Che was trying to convince himself and others to stay behind, saving face and showing that human determination and invulnerable human will to fight to the end that could only be dubbed Che Guevara. He spent time in clandestinity, writing about his internationalist foray in the Congo. Che was even joined by his wife who came to provide salve and solace to his predicament: a failure in the Congo, publicly disassociated from the Cuban revolution, he did not want to return to Cuba. He written elsewhere that in a real revolution one either wins or one dies. And here he was alive.
  
  In clandestinity Che Guevara was also the keen photographer, taking selfies in his room somewhere in a Cuban embassy. Clean-shaven, the physique of a demigod, Guevara looks like the twenty-something in the photographs of him in Mexico City. Che returns again in clandestinity to Cuba, already with plans to continue his internationalist work and project. He has photos with his wife, they look more like a Hollywood couple on a get-away than two revolutionaries in love and struggle consoling each other with tenderness that could heal the wounds of having being separated.
  
  In Bolivia, Che wanted to collaborate with his ideological counterparts but would not share the leadership of the guerrilla movement with the Bolivian communist leadership. He had learned a hard lesson in Africa and a new lesson appeared with new variations in the Bolivian mountains: that different types of leadership and expertise are needed to transform the transformers. His communication and supply lines, both for cadre and food, weapons and a leadership body that might approximate peers, solidarity from those in Bolivia that mattered the most, and historical timing -- what was possible in Bolivia -- were all off and/or missing. Beset by early losses, illness and lack of medicines and food, a enemy that was adapting new surveillance technology to hunt down the guerrillas tilted the moment in favor of the U.S. and its Bolivian partners.
  
  Read Guervara's Adrican diary for his brilliant thinking, his fearless critiques and self-critiques, the harrowing experiences of true band of brothers who were trailblazers in making the road on international resistance possible. Che's exploits in Africa, Bolivia and elsewhere built Cuba's capacity to support national liberation movements at strategic turning points, helping defeat the South Africa apartheid regime's incursions in southern Africa that laid the groundwork for successful national liberation movements and the ultimate defeat of apartheid.
  
  My grandmother said that for any one of us to be successful, a thousand others will have tried and failed sometimes the same exact action or dream. Che Guevara was one of those unique thousand trailblazers that implemented his beliefs and theories of revolution so that others could one day be successful.
• 
  Rob G.

  Nicely written and easily presented. I enjoy the honesty that
  Che Guevara provides. He admits his mistakes and does not see himself above any other loyal solider. That is something to admire.
• 
  Mariam

  "I learnt certain things in the Congo. Some mistakes I will never make again, others perhaps I will - and there will be new ones that I shall commit. I set off with more faith than ever in the guerrilla struggle, yet we failed. My responsibility is great; I shall not forget the defeat, nor its most precious lessons."
  
  Africa has a long way to go before it reaches revolutionary maturity. - Che
• 
  Chronics

  This is an interesting and often darkly humourous read, it delves into the largely unknown period of Che's time in Africa. I found it written in a similiar style to the retrospective Cuban Diaries as opposed to the "real time" Bolivian Diaries,however he is much more critical of his own and his troops performances in this edition than in the Cuban. It is enlightening from an external viewpoint of what the the war in the Congo was like, external here meaning from a foreign rather than traditional African viewpoint. The diary expresses the time Che spent in the Congo, from his arrival at the main base, to the immediate struggles he faced with the revolutionary leadership, equipment, soldiers and peasants. It then tells the story of the following months, the battles (and lack of battles), and Che deep reflections on the prerequisites for an African revolution. It is both intriguing and immersive, the author wrote this shortly after he left the Congo and the emotions he felt are visibly still quite raw. The epilogue is a must read.n In my own opinion, this, more so than his other two diaries, reveals his passionate and intimate personal feelings, as well as his progressive desire for a global revolution, laying bare the fundamental mentality he exposed and expressed in his actions.
• 
  Ignacio

  “Esta es la historia de un fracaso.”
  
  Con ese célebre mea culpa abre el Che el relato de sus experiencias congoleñas. No hay cómo disfrazarlo, fue un fracaso, pero para el Che alcanza con asumirlo, con explicarlo, y con reflexionar dolorosamente sobre él para salvarse de todas sus consecuencias. Después de unos cuantos meses en Tanzania y en Praga, estará listo para emprender una nueva aventura, esta vez de vuelta en Latinoamérica, y que aunque él no lo sepa será su fracaso definitivo.
  
  En Bolivia, el Che reiteró puntillosamente todos los errores cometidos en el Congo. Otra vez, se materializó de improviso en un país, esperando que lo recibieran con los brazos abiertos, y casi sin excepción fue tratado como un extranjero entrometido. No pudo establecer lazos con los elementos políticos locales, mucho menos con el pueblo al que había ido a liberar. Leyó mal la realidad, la “correlación de fuerzas”, para usar la jerga.
  
  ¿Cómo fue todo esto posible, después de un autoexamen tan severo como el que hizo en su diario del Congo?
  
  El problema de la autocrítica marxista, que llegó a ser un ritual casi institucionalizado en los tiempos de las guerrillas latinoamericanas, es que tiene la obligación de ser dura, pero no tiene la obligación de ser objetiva. El Che podía asumir el fracaso de la aventura congoleña y echar sobre sí todas las culpas; mas no bastaba con eso para que su lectura de los hechos se correspondiera con los hechos.
  
  Curiosamente él mismo anotó en su diario la clave de su derrota futura. Los congoleños, observó más o menos escandalizado, decían poseer un ungüento mágico, la dawa, que los hacía inmunes a las balas. Como suele ocurrir en las historias mitológicas, el hechizo se ofrece bajo condiciones arbitrarias y férreas: el combatiente que quedaba protegido de esta manera tenía prohibido tocar objetos que no le pertenecieran, tener relaciones sexuales o sentir miedo en la batalla. Si rompía esa reglas, la dawa ya no sería efectiva.
  
  “La solución a cualquier falla es muy sencilla” anota el Che “; hombre muerto: hombre con miedo, hombre que robó o se acostó con alguna mujer; hombre herido: hombre con miedo. Como el miedo acompaña a las acciones de la guerra, los combatientes encontraban muy natural el achacarle la herida al temor, es decir, a la falta de fe. Y los muertos no hablan; se les puede cargar con las tres faltas.”
  
  Nunca hubiera entrado en la cabeza del Che la posibilidad de que el pensamiento marxista tuviese algo en común con la brujería congoleña. Pero la operación de la autocrítica era muy parecida. Si los hechos no se ajustaban a lo que la teoría había anticipado, entonces había un problema con los hechos, no con la teoría. O bien un dirigente, en este caso él, no había entendido esa teoría o no había sabido aplicarla correctamente.
  
  La dawa no falla, fallan los hombres.
• 
  Luka

  NetGalley Rezension. Oh no, not the drill
  
  Ernesto Che Guevara beschreibt in seinem Tagebuch die Vorgänge der revolutionären Kämpfe im Kongo, an denen er selbst beteiligt war. Angedacht war ein Aufenthalt von drei bis fünf Jahren, im Endeffekt zerbrach alles innerhalb einiger Monate.
  Diese Edition wurde von Hans-Joachim Hartstein übersetzt (und es liest sich wirklich sehr gut).
  
  Dieses Buch zu lesen war unglaublich faszinierend. Ernesto Che Guevara kannte ich aus Kuba, selbstverständlich, allerdings nur vage als Ikone und Symbolfigur, da ich mich mit der Revolution in Kuba auch noch nicht super tiefgründig beschäftigt hatte. Deshalb habe ich die ersten paar Kapitel sehr viel nachgelesen. Liebe es sehr an Sachbüchern, wenn ich so interessiert bin, dass ich mich selbst noch weiter informieren möchte. Die Editoren haben eine sehr gute Arbeit geleistet an der Stelle.
  
  Seine Person an sich hat mich unfassbar beeindruckt. Seine Willensstärke und Geduld sind unfassbar und wäre ich er, wäre ich gleich umgedreht, und zurück nach Kuba. Natürlich gibt's von jeder Geschichte immer zwei Seiten und ich möchte auch nicht sagen, dass seine Eindrücke von der Beschaffenheit der Truppen und Gruppierungen 100% korrekt waren, aber,,, hätte ich denselben Eindruck gehabt, wäre ich gegangen lol. Sein fester Glauben an einen Erfolg, sowie seine unerschütterlichen revolutionären Überzeugungen sind inspirierend. Ich habe auch einen riesigen Respekt vor seinem Maß an Selbstreflexion. Wenn etwas schiefgelaufen ist, hat er den Fehler zuerst auch bei sich gesucht und im Nachwort detailliert sein eigenes Verhalten analysiert und über Verbesserungsmöglichkeiten nachgedacht. Klingt nach etwas, was selbstverständlich sein sollte, ist es aber häufig nicht, vor allem nicht so tiefgründig, wie er arbeitete. Extrem faszinierender Mann, sehr starke Persönlichkeit.
  Seine Beschreibungen von der Situation im Kongo, wie verschiedene Nationalitäten zusammengearbeitet haben (oder halt auch nicht) war auch sehr interessant. Generell finde ich, dass er sehr gut schreiben konnte, was ja bei Tagebuchaufzeichnungen nicht unbedingt immer der Fall ist. Also selbst wenn man den enormen geschichtlichen Wert und das alles außer Acht lässt, und vielleicht auch nicht genug Interesse besteht, sich außerhalb des Buches weiter mit dem Thema zu beschäftigen, lohnt es sich trotzdem, es einmal zu lesen. Es ist auch einfach ein solides, interessantes Buch. Auch nochmal an dieser Stelle großartige Arbeit von den Editoren.
  
  In conclusion, absolute Leseempfehlung. Meiner Meinung nach reichen schon die Abschlussreflexionen der ganzen Aktion im Nachwort aus, um es zu einem Must-Read zu machen, für alle die ein wenig geschichts- oder politikinteressiert sind. Für alle anderen machen's die Vorkommnisse, bei denen man aus Unglauben manchmal lachen muss. Plus, es gibt einen Bildteil, was will man mehr?
• 
  TheAuntie

  diverso da come me lo aspettavo, non si tratta in effetti (non solo) del diario del Che, ma di un collage di testimonianze sull'esperienza di quell'anno passato in Congo per provare a inculcare il germe della rivoluzione. Ma resta comunque un documento importante e avvincente!
  Interessantissima l'introduzione di Pino Cacucci.
• 
  Owain

  This is a very worthwhile read, less so in my opinion for its insights into historical events, but more so for the light it sheds on not only Che's life but also his character. Much advice and inspiration for the revolutionary can be taken from what Che says in this book. However one should not read it looking for a detailed understanding of the whole situation in Congo. A little detail is provided in the introduction by
  Richard Gott who's book,
  Cuba: A New History, I also found to be very informative.
  
  The diary charts the diminishing prospects for success of the Congolese liberation movement and Che's brigade of Cuban volunteers. I found the rambling path of the diary to be quite confusing and disorientating but I think that reflects well on what the actual situation was like for the fighters. It can be quite a depressing read as the mission spirals into failure largely because of a lack of willingness to fight on behalf of the Congolese and because of the underdeveloped consciousness of the peasants and the parasitic nature of the leaders of the liberation movement.
  
  I need to read more on the Congo.
• 
  Tim

  This book is just one chapter in the life of one of the greatest revolutionaries of the past century. Guevara is not afraid to admit his shortcomings in this book, and this writing will show the tremendous drive he had to improve the condition of the world's peoples from the exploitation of neo-colonialism and imperialistic empire. He saw the expedition in the Congo as more than just a nationalistic mission, but one that would affect the tentacles of capitalism from destroying even more of the world's resources and people. I admire his courage, strength and refusal to never give up, even when everyone around him lost the courage and patience to see this particular mission to its fruition. The book is repetitive at times, but it's strength is in the courage and fortitude of the man who wrote it. A man so inspired by his convictions that he would continue to fight....to fight the enemy of the proxy Western government, and to fight to motivate those around him to defend their country and their dignity.
• 
  Marc

  again no real diary. Despite that, the book still has its moments, since Che is describes honestly his state of mind at all times. The major complain here is the length, it simply did not happen enough in the Conga to warrant 320 pages. I often found myself bored and not paying much attention, when Che was complaining for the 100th time (no exaggeration)about the attitude of the african revolutionairies. Only recommened for people really interested in the man.
• 
  Kay

  I think this is an important book, but the intro deifies Che, in a way that is unnecessary and off-putting, especially in a book in which his mission fails. Also, Che comes of as a bit of a racist in the diary, mocking the Congolese's religious beliefs. It drags a bit. Not much else to say on the matter.
• 
  Rui Igreja

  The diaries of Che Guevara during the months he spent fighting the "imperialists" in the east part of Congo. The book starts with "This is the history of a failure", and, with all the Congolese organization mess, Che concludes that the Congolese weren't ready for the Revolution.
• 
  rAul

  El Ché comienza con esta frase: Esta es la historia de un fracaso. No hace falta decir más.
• 
  Rhuff

  Che's "second reminiscence", between Cuba and Bolivia, is a concise and lucid retrospective by a man - love him or hate him - who was ruthlessly honest in all he saw and did: and with himself most of all. Although long obscured due to the classified nature of his African mission, the passage of time - and the need to burnish the Revolution's icons - permitted the release of this all-too-candid and unflattering account of revolutionary export. The African operation was a Cuban/Soviet version of a CIA "special operation," sending Che as adviser to transform the floundering Congolese national revolution. His self-criticisms offer a "noble high road" - 'tis the poor general who blames his troops, etc. - but the basic faults here were not his. The real lesson taken from the Congo (mis)adventure is the impossibility - even for Che - of forging a revolutionary vanguard from silly putty. Contrast this with Angola, where a long struggle against the Portuguese and then invasion from apartheid South Africa, forged a national morale (and thus a leadership) totally lacking in the Congo. True enough that Angola would not have survived without Cuba, but in Angola there was something to work with.
  
  The real "soul" of the book is its concluding analysis and prognosis. Here Che shows a transcendent vision of continuous revolutionary war too divorced from the concrete, which would soon lead to his downfall on the other side of the world. The truth is that the "Third World" is not so neatly transformed into a battlefield of ideas; the planet not so easily divided into exploited and exploiter nations. As Che noted, it's not so easy to purge "colonial" and "imperialist" ideas from an entire society as from one's self. And just as Che was dependent on the Cuban state for his mission, his grand vision needed the cold war for its battleground. At most, the Third World's "Vietnams" could cause momentary setbacks and moral crises, as in France, South Africa, the US and the USSR. But they could not defeat the 20th century's entrenched power system in a global apocalypse. The cost was too great for the average human, whom Che envied for an attachment to real life he could't share. Hence the pragmatic deal-making in Africa that "betrayed" the African Dream. Congo was a precursor - then unforeseeable - to the fate of the cold war itself.
  
  This also raises the question of Cuba's focus on African liberation. Che's adventure in 1965 was the precursor to an intensive intervention in Africa, most spectacularly in Angola (as noted above) which transcended Cuban involvement in its Latin American "base." This was presented as an act of internationalist solidarity against European racism and colonialism, which has merit as far as it goes. Dig deeper and one sees a domestic agenda, to bridge Cuba's own racial divide at home, still pervasive to this day. Identifying the Revolution with black Africa's liberation further integrated under-represented black Cubans and made blackness a national asset, a cause for all good revolutionaries regardless of color. Ties with Africa cemented cross-racial relations at home.
  
  As a personal testimony it reveals Che's restless nature, a revolutionary Daniel Boone pushing into new frontiers. Through this book and his subsequent Bolivian diary one sees him as John Wayne, in that famous last scene from "The Searchers," turning from home and family to gaze into the wilderness, his left hand clasped across his arm; suddenly pushing away to we (and he) know not where.
  
  Worth a read by all political "missionaries" dealing with the transformation of "hearts and minds" unready to accept truths not of their own making.
• 
  Museveni

  Incredibly fascinating. Che landed in Congo full of hope for international proletarianism, after a tour of Africa, visiting the continent's many so called anti-imperialist leaders.
  
  In Congo though he found, instead of the peasant supported revolutionaries he hoped for:
  - warring tribes' war lords abusing the neighbouring farmers they're supposed to be fighting for
  - corrupt mid and high level political leaders, using their international funding for alcohol, prostitutes, and drugs
  - and soldiers that run away gun fire (even there own)
  
  This book is about his attempt to first, move the situation a little forward, and then just keep it from deteriorating further, as his Cuban soldiers and eventually himself lose hope in this Congolese revolution.
  
  Would love to see this made into a movie.
• 
  Clara

  Very interesting insight into the revolutionary struggle in Eastern Congo in 1965, and an even greater insight into Che Guevara's revolutionary beliefs and how to implement them on the ground. Reading this book made me admire this man for his convictions of equality and freedom, and sincere admittance of errors and personal mistakes. For anyone who knows the D.R.Congo well, this book is a fascinating read, with tragicomic descriptions of sometimes absurd situations Che was faced with. It is also an interesting historic and political analysis of the time. However, much of the book is a very detailed account of military tactics which lack literary elegance in the writing style, making it a bit tedious to read.
• 
  Kazım Kalay

  Cehaleti yenmeden devrim yapılamayacağını ya da devrimin ilk adımının cehaleti ve sonrasında da tembelliği yenmek olduğunu ispatlıyor bence bu kitap. Kitabın bazı bölümlerinde şaka yapıldığını düşüneceğiniz kadar çok seviyede karşılaşacağınız bu cahillik ve batıl inançlar benim çevremdeki insanlarda gördüğümden bile daha fazla - ki ben daha fazla olabileceğine inanmazdım.
  
  (Kitabı bitirdikten sonra kafasında hala 'bu adamın orada ne işi var?' sorusu olan olursa cevabı
  ... İki, Üç, Daha Fazla Vietnam da arayabilir)
• 
  Ugur Tezcan

  J'ai trouvé ce livre un peu plus élaboré que les livres précédents écrits par Che. Les phrases sont plus raffinées et plus subtiles. Finies les courtes phrases sloganiques du Journal de Bolivie par exemple.
  Quant au contenu, je pense qu'il faut avoir des connaissances préalables sur le sujet, car rien que les noms dont il parle m'étaient inconnus. Il y parle aussi du manque d'organisation chez les africains et de la superstitution qui influe sur les soldats.
  Je donne un 5 étoiles, car ce n'est pas un auteur a la base et on ne peut pas le juger sur la qualité de ses écrits. J'aime Che pour sa détermination a mener une vie basée sur la lutte contre l'impérialisme.
• 
  Abe

  Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna's diary of the Cuban military expedition to the Congo. Once again, a biased account of the conflict, but it is a good descriptor of the frustration Guevara would encounter later in Bolivia.
• 
  Lennon

  A great view of why revolutions sometimes fail, poor communication.
• 
  Abby Koch

  A guilty pleasure
• 
  Green Books

  Reprint available on
  www.greenbooksindia.com
• 
  Mark Barrett

  Che’s passion for international revolution and socialist reform comes across strongly on every page, as you would expect. Perhaps less excepted is the dry wit and sarcasm with which he relates his interactions with lesser leaders who think they are his intellectual superior. He genuinely had me laugh out loud on occasion.
  
  The disasters Che faced in the Congo were immense, not through his own want of trying. He describes them as being of comedic proportions on more than one occasion, and he is right - although it is desperately sad to think of the very real lives lost and destroyed through the ineptitude and corruption of the military leaders of the time.
  
  This book gives superb insight into the kind of the greatest of revolutionary leaders at a time when he is most defeated, down and pessimistic, though never wavering in his revolutionary faith. It is also a damn good read.
• 
  Beth Wilson

  Having reading The Motorcycle Diaries I had high expectations for this diary. I couldn't connect with this book at all and have had to stop reading it, I found it to be a slow start, so perhaps if I gave it more a chance there would be more interesting aspects later in the book. Or, maybe the whole atmosphere of the times has been captured perfectly - slow paced guerilla warfare.