DEBRAY'S FAREWELL TO CHE
"The Death of Che Does Not Mark the End of the Anti-imperialist Struggle, But_Its Beginning."
(The press has reported that Régis Debray was so shocked at the news of the death of Che Guevara that he "gave up his defense" against the charges leveled against him by the Bolivian dictatorship. For instance, J. Halcro Ferguson, in the October 15 London Observer, described Debray's reaction as "throwing in of the sponge, admitting he had aided Guevara and the guerrillas..."
[These reports are tendentious, to say the least. Debray did nothing of the kind. He merely reaffirmed his well-known views on guerrilla war and specified what Guevara's attitude was on his own desire to join the guerrillas.
(The following is a translation of the full text of the statement which Debray sent October 11 through his counsel Rail Novillo to the members of the military court in Camiri. The translation, by World Outlook, is from the French text printed in the October 14 issue of the Paris daily Le Monde.]
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After the heroic death of the man
whom the future and all the peoples of the world will list among the greatest liberators of the Americas, in the mourning felt by all revolutionists today, the moment has come for me to define certain points of principle which may be of some interest to the court. But I want to state in advance that the death of "Che" Guevara does not mark the end of the antiimperialist struggle, but its beginning, just as it has given this struggle, in an irreversible way, its banner. Because "Che" is not one of those who dies -- as an example and guide it is correct to speak of him as immortal, because he will live in the hearts of all revolutionists. One "Che" is dead. Others are on the point of being born, of rising in action; others are already in action or will be tomorrow, here and other places in the continent. As for the "Che" who just died here, history and the revolutionists will undertake to judge those bearing the responsibility for his death, no matter where they may be.
Under these conditions, a full definition of my situation, with regard to you, will not adversely affect anything or anyone. My lawyer, Dr. Novillo, who has done me the honor to defend me and whom I wish to ratify publicly and formally as my counsel, will be able to denmonstrate that the concrete charges lodged against me in the indictment -- the instigation, guidance and carrying out of the so-called crimes for which this trial is being held -- lack any real foundation whatsoever. But now, leaving aside the juridical questions, I want to deal with the essence, that is, the political and moral sides, which for a revolutionist are the same.
(1) Without entering into the details of my activities, I wish to emphasize that, completely sharing the ideas of the Bolivian guerrillas, I myself asked, upon reaching the base camp of the guerrillas, to participate in all the duties and daily tasks of the guerrillas, such as mounting guard both inside and outside the camp, helping in the cooking, in hunting and other tasks of the daily life. I asked accordingly that I be put on the list like any other guerrilla for my turn of duty, because as a revolutionist I could not and did not wish to be considered like a mere visitor in a hotel, standing arms crossed or sleeping peacefully while my comrades exhausted themselves providing food for me and guarding my sleep.
This lasted until I was able to meet "Che" on March 20. Although I had arrived as a mere journalist, I myself asked "Che" Guevara at this time to let someone else come and do my job, to put an end to my status as a visitor and to agree to let me join the guerrillas after consulting with the Bolivian members.
But he rejected my request, letting me understand that my mission of reporting to the world about my visit there and his activities was just as important as that of fighting. Se the decision was taken: to have me leave the guerrilla zone as soon as possible, and that while waiting I could and should continue to participate in the ordinary camp work, but I neither could nor should engage in the fighting and I could not be considered to be a guerrilla. Because of this, after several attempts to leave, I left the guerrilla zone with Bustos and Roth, my destination being La Paz and France, as is known, something I would never have tried to do if I had been incorporated among the guerrillas, and which no guerrilla has yet done up to now. I mean any guerrilla worthy of the name.
(2) To facilitate the task of the military prosecution, I state that this mission, of conveying news abroad about the guerrillas, is an integral part of revolutionary work. Someone who is not in complete solidarity with the actions of the guerrillas cannot accomplish a similar work of solidarity. There are a number of ways of fighting. Providing news and explanations is also a form of combat, which does not exclude the others, except in past times. In this sense, not only do I affirm, but also I request that the court have the kindness to consider me on the moral and political level as equally responsible for the acts of my guerrilla comrades, the legitimacy of which I am convinced and in which I would have participated if "Che" Guevara had not decided otherwise. If unfortunately I cannot claim the honor of having been a combatant, let me at least have the honor of asking to be considered as in solidarity with them.
As for the characterization of these acts -- acts of a just war that cannot be prevented -- as crimes and murders, and the guerrillas as bandits and cowards, it would be an insult to the memory of "Che" Guevara to begin considering such insults two days after his death. We will reply to this on another, better occasion with arguments, details and historic examples. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, in the history of Bolivia and the world as a whole that a revolutionist has been called an offender and a criminal by representatives of the established disorder.
What I want to make very clear here is that these so-called crimes, although they involved the spilling of innocent blood, which calls for compassion as in any other popular insurrection, are, in my opinion, titles to glory and proofs of duties carried out. Popular insurrection, of which guerrilla war is an example and a variant, is recognized as a right in the last encyclical of Pope Paul VI, and a sacred duty for whoever loves justice. If
I did not participate it was not because of any privilege or right held by intellectuals to not carry out their ideas to their ultimate conclusions, but a mere matter of fact under the discipline and division of revolutionary tasks.
In taking leave of "Che" Guevara
FOURTH INTERNATIONAL
{The following statement in tribute to Che Guevara was issued October 17 by the United Secretariat of the Fourth International, the world party of socialist revolution founded by Leon Trotsky in 1938.
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The Fourth International salutes the memory of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the illustrious Latin-American revolutionist. It joined in Cuba's mourning which is shared by all those throughout the world who are struggling against capitalism and for the victory of international socialism. Still under forty years of age when he fell, Che had devoted his life to the anti-imperialist struggle and the socialist revolution throughout Latin America, from Argentina