Fidel Castro lays a wreath at the Lincoln Memorial (with footnote on Guerrillero Heroico)

By Jack Brummet, Latin America Ed.

In April 1959, Alfredo Korda [1]  shot this photograph of Fidel Castro, the new leader of Cuba, laying a wreath at the Lincoln Memorial.

This image is copyrighted. The copyright holder allows anyone to use it, provided it is not used to denigrate the Cuban revolution

Castro admired Abraham Lincoln and kept a bust of him in his office.  He once wrote about Lincoln's devotion “to the just idea that all citizens are born free and equal."

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[1] Korda also shot one of the most famous images of all time—Guerrillero Heroico—the shot of Ernesto Che Guevara at a memorial.  According to the Wikipedia page about this photo, "To take the photo, Korda used a Leica M2 with a 90 mm lens, loaded with Kodak Plus-X pan film. In speaking about the method, Korda humbly remarked that  'this photograph is not the product of knowledge or technique. It was really coincidence, pure luck.' "

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Six photos of Ernesto "Che" Guevara

Six pictures of Ernesto "Che" Guevara.  I am reading a long and excellent biography of him right now--Guevara, Also Known as Che by Paco Ignacio Taibo II.  A fascinating story and an excellent read.

The last picture is the one that has become the face of Che everywhere (including t-shirts, posters, etc.).  Some people say it is the most famous photograph in the world.  It was taken at a funeral, following the (CIA-assisted) bombing of a ship in Havana.   

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Painting: Double portrait of Dr. Che Guevara/Happy 50th Birthday to the Cuban Revolution

click to enlarge

Since it was 50 years ago today that the Cuban Revolution succeeded in replacing one dictator with another, here is a painting of one of Fidel's right hand men, the Argentine Marxist Dr. Ernesto "Che" Guevara. The Cuban Revolution led to the overthrow of the dictatorial government of Cuban President General Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959. The Cuban Revolution also refers to the ongoing implementation of Marxist social and economic programs by the new government since the overthrow of the Batista dictatorship. Some of it worked and some of it didn't. Dr. Guevara was assassinated in Bolivia in the 60's when he was captured with the help of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
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