Che Guevara killed in 1961

Che Guevara had a close brush with death during the Bay of Pigs invasion, resulting from a bizarre accident.

wikipedia said:
On April 17, 1961, 1,400 U.S. trained Cuban exiles invaded the island during the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Guevara himself did not play a key role in the fighting, as one day before the invasion a warship carrying Marines faked an invasion off the West Coast of Pinar Del Rio and drew forces commanded by Guevara to that region. ...It was also during this deployment where he suffered a bullet grazing to the cheek when his pistol fell out of its holster and accidentally discharged.

So what if, instead of merely grazing Guevara's cheek, the bullet had gone through his skull instead, killing him instantly? How would this have affected the next few years? Would people still be wearing "Che" shirts today? ;)



 
Well, there have been suggestions that JFK was aiming for a modus vivendi with Cuba (though not enough for the phrase "Kennedy in Cuba"), and his sources claimed that Castro and the "moderates" would be opposed by Che and his followers within the Cuban government. So perhaps something gets worked out?
 
In regards to the Che tee-shirts: Though the infamous picture of Che would have already been taken in TTL, Che's profile on the whole would be a lot lower due to the fact that he hasn't traveled to the US or Europe yet. It looks like the anti-establishment merchants will have to find someone else to stick on their tee-shirts (who? Mandela perhaps?)

Che in TTL will be a mere footnote in the annals of the Cuban revolution.

Without Che's insistence to spread the revolution, Cuba might be a lot better off, not having to spend money and resources on it's abortive African guerrila campaigns.

Guerilla warfare might not be as advanced with Che having less time to write on it, then again how influential were his writings?
 

Hendryk

Banned
Or maybe just Lenin T-shirts instead?
Lenin doesn't have nearly the same appeal as Che Guevara. And the people who took him seriously in OTL weren't the kind to wear his face on T-shirts--that would be like a staid conservative Catholic wearing a T-shirt with a portrait of the Pope.
 

maverick

Banned
Guerilla warfare might not be as advanced with Che having less time to write on it, then again how influential were his writings?

Not that much.

There were several military writers already dealing with that subject, and the Che Guevara learnt from them, not the other way around. At least mostly.

Interestingly enough, Argentine subversive Groups were mostly inspired by the Vietcong or European groups...
 
I find it both interesting and amusing that the main focus of discussion on this seems to be whose picture goes on the T-shirts. :D
 

maverick

Banned
I find it both interesting and amusing that the main focus of discussion on this seems to be whose picture goes on the T-shirts. :D

Cuba was only important on the cosmic scale for about a week in October of 1962, and all of his other revolutions failed miserably, so the T-shirts are his only lasting legacy ;)
 
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