The African Dream: The Diaries of the Revolutionary War in the Congo [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Unfortunately, many political ideologues of both the Right and the Left (especially the latter) are prone to expressing their perspectives in the form of strident and uncompromising catchphrases, opaque analysis and jargon-laden paragraphs. Lacking are the pithy insights that come from nuanced and objective scrutiny of complex situations which, like everything political are neither the one way nor the other. Surprisingly, given his pedestal on the Olympus of the Left, Ernesto Guevara manages in "The African Dram" to have crafted a generally subtle, sophisticated and perpetually topical analysis of the problems faced by "interventionists" in the Third World's Third World, Africa.

Guevara, noted mostly for his romantic self-sacrifice (having renounced a life of privilege as a physician to embark on a probably quixotic endeavor to overthrow the Batista dictatorship in Cuba and later on, abandoning a comfortable life as a high-ranking Cuban government official to foment revolution in The Congo and later on in Bolivia) maintained diaries of both his Bolivian and African adventures. "The African Dream" is a blunt and honest appraisal of the Cuban effort to install a socialist regime in yet another pre-capitalist (pre-industiral, even) society. In it, Che catalogues the endemic problems which persist in the region to the current date: rampant superstition, tribalism, conflicted loyalties, disease, corruption, theft, inability to absorb the necessarily dispassionate commitment to a professional organization (military, political, governmental), substitution of seductive First World ideologies and agendas for genuine reforms...the list of problems is almost endless and the catalogue of difficulties has grown exponentially over the almost four decades since the diary was written.

Interestingly, the Cuban regime under Castro suppressed the publication of the diary for many years, due to Che's acerbic observations not only on the "revolutionaries" he worked with in Africa, but also and most especially those he made on the Cuban enterprise, itself. Certainly, it was not due to an infusion of democratic liberalism that Fidel relaxed control of this book; rather, it was the lapse of time and the withdrawal of Cuban forces from the continent that allowed its relatively recent release.

So, aside from the fact that the diary was kept by a famous and charismatic revolutionary (an icon, in fact), why is it worth reading now? The persistence of corrupt, "kleptocratic" regimes, the brutal massacres resulting from inter-tribal disputes, the competition over scarce food and water resources, the burgeoning population, the ravages of infectious diseases have nothing to do with the relevance of the continent to the First (and "Second", i.e. the states of the Former Soviet Union) World. Instead, it is the presence of strategic \minerals (oil, for one) and the importation of a new ideology, Islamism, which garners current interest. So, the US, the Chinese, the French, various "Non-Governmental Organizations" and others are all present, sometimes in the form of proxy forces (the US, with private military contractors) or with armies of technicians (China) or combat troops (France), all endeavoring to "make changes". As "The African Dream" astutely notes, while short-term gains may be realized, long-term changes are most unlikely to occur. This is true even in the case of "altruistic" NGOs, as astutely noted by Paul Theroux ("Dark Star Safari"), whose perspectives closely parallel those of Guevara.

To put it bluntly, Africa is a mess no matter what perspective its viewed from. The miasma of problems is just too complex to be solved by application of simple nostrums, infusion of cash, grafting of alien ideologies and influx of weapons to the newest strongman. While that all seems self-evident, it also seems to be forgotten, again and again and again. Is Africa the "heart of darkness"? Maybe so, but the same darkness is also present in the Middle East (Ahmadinejad's Iran, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez are but two examples). Despite the boundless optimism in the West that enlightenment is just around the next corner, there is nothing in Che's diary to impart any element of genuine hope that such may be the case.

While it might not have been intended as such this is actually a pretty funny read. 'Che' may have been motivated by high ideals but in his diaries he documents the nitty gritty of daily life and the trials of trying to whip a revolutionary army into shape. Frequently beset by attacks of 'the runs' (many times a day) and having to deal with Congolese soldiers who wanted nothing more than to run away from the first sign of trouble unless they had consumed their magic drink that made them impervious to bullets, the campaign seems to have been doomed from the start. If you want to get a different view of the reality of revolution from that presented in manifestos this strikingly honest diary seems like a great place to start.

I must commend Guevara for his courage and idealism. I also believe that the diary was a candid appraisal of the circumstances and events of the Congo war in 1965. The book is easy read, interesting, and at times funny (his description of the Congolese guerrillas shooting with their eyes shut was hilarious.) The book is not overburdened with ideological mombo-jombo.

Having read a detailed history of the Cuban Insurrection (Bonachea), the History of the Cuban Revolution (Thomas), and Guevara's own Bolivian Diary (which is also a very interesting book), I find Guevara to be a much better writer than he was military commander.

My reasoning is the following: The books speak for themselves; they are reasonably well written and honest. On the other hand, his military career started with a triumph; the Cuban Revolution. There was a country-wide insurrection going on in Cuba by the time both Castro and Guevara landed in Oriente in 1956. While most other anti-Batista leaders were killed during the next two years, Castro and Guevara survived to lead the insurrection to victory against the terminally corrupt and incompetent army of Batista at the end of 1958. As the old say goes: "the courage of your enemy honors you"...not much honor in that triumph. Batista's troops did not fight.

Six years later Guevara abandons everything in his quest for other struggles and revolutionary glory. It is now 1965 and he goes to Congo. He clearly (from his writings) counted on his fame rallying all the guerrillas to his banner and do an encore of the Cuban rout of 1958. He was wrong on both counts. Government troops fought well. He had to flee and he blamed the Congolese. Then he tried again in Bolivia. Once more he faced a determined enemy, his ego alienated the Bolivian communists, he blamed the Bolivians, and met his end.

Guevara was more of a Robespierre than of an Alexander.
But the book is good.