Tuesday, April 23, 2013

When Ernesto "Che" Guevara Came In Dar Es Salaam



 Ernesto "Che" Guevara was in Dar es Salaam for about five months from October 1965 - February 1966, besides the time he spent in the western part of the country during his Congo mission. And it was when he was in Dar es Salaam that he wrote his famous book, the Congo Diaries, while staying at the Cuban embassy during those critical months...

Although the Tanzanian government knew about the passage of the Cuban internationalists through its territory and offered them logistic help and protection until they left for the battle field, news about Che's presence stayed within the closed ranks of the Cuban command. Everything was kept in great secrecy.

Speculation on Guevara's whereabouts continued throughout 1966 and into 1967. Representatives of the Mozambican independence movement FRELIMO reported meeting with Guevara in late 1966 or early 1967 in Dar es Salaam, at which point they rejected his offer of aid in their revolutionary project.

One of the most common eating spots he used to frequent  is the New Zahir's Restaurant in Mosque Street at Kisutu. Where Che could be seen enjoying a cup of tea and chappatis. A keen admirer of Swahili language, Che chose the name Tatu (swahili word for three) as his code name

Some historians have even gone Further to suggest that Che Guevara played a major role in the Zanzibar revolution, Saying it was not documented due to its high level of secrecy..

Revolutionaries, however, can. Whether they fail or succeed, genuine revolutionaries often win the hearts of the world's romantic and idealistic, especially the young, who admire in them their passionate rejection of an unjust economic and social order which they insist causes so much hopelessness and needless death.

Ernesto"Che" Guevara, "probably the most genuine revolutionary leader," as even Henry Kissinger admitted in his memoirs, inspired such admiration--admiration that can be seen still in the banners and T-shirts worn by a younger generation seeking to protest "globalization."

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