Guevara Graces Egypt With Her Presence

Never would I have imagined that the legacy of Che Guevara would survive with such flare to this day, and especially in my homeland. Approximately one week ago, Alieda Guevara, the oldest of Che Guevara's daughters and revolutionary internationalist was received with much rave in Egypt. This wide media coverage is unprecedented for a Latin American.

What was the hype all about? Well, as trivial as this might seem, it was a mere expression of gratitude from the Egyptian masses to the legacy that Che had left to all those struggling in the Third World. Alieda follows in the footsteps of her father, who would frequently convene with Egypt's foremost revolutionary, Nasser, to conspire against imperialism. The fraternal relationship between these two revolutionaries still defines Egypt's unique reverence for Cuba's revolutionary struggle against imperialism that Che's legacy spearheads to this day. Egypt had been a revolutionary hub at the time, and its importance is marked by Che's visit to Cairo the same year as the triumph of the Cuban revolution.Alieda's visit to Egypt ends today, but her visit means something special to me. It was her words that I first laid my eyes upon when first discovering who this Che Guevara was. Curious, I purchased a copy of The Motorcycle Diaries on my way to China, knowing that my father was is also an admirer of Che. The first words I read about Che Guevara came from her pen. During my read of the preface of The Motorcycle Diaries, I was mesmerized by how she had shed light on the exemplary model Che had set for revolutionaries out there.

Although I may be a lone star in my reverence of Che, at least I know that back home I can share this revolutionary frevor with others of my generation. Che is still widely celebrated today in Egypt. The above video is one of my favorite Egyptian bands called Wust El-Balad, which means downtown or middle of the country because they are in touch with the social conditions of Egypt's masses. They are especially talented because they improvise all of their music. They usually perform in Sa2yet El Sawi, which is this really neat concert venue under a bridge in the heart of Cairo. I have been to this venue twice before, but have never had the opportunity to enjoy Wust El-Balad live. Above is honestly one of my favorite tunes; its a upbeat elegy to Che Guevara and how his legendary spirit continues to inspire.

Its always pleasures me to have an event occur that shows me that the solidarity of between the struggling people of the Middle East and Latin America and how Che Guevara's mere image is what could keep that fire burning.