This is an original Russian T-shirt. Screen printed in Moscow, Russia. Manufactured of 5.1 oz. fabric - luxuriously soft 100% cotton ring-spun yarn with double-needle coverseamed neck.

The print on the front of the T-shirt is a large portrait of Che Guevara. Che Guevara was born in Argentina in 1928. He trained as a physician before becoming involved in social issues, leading to his conversion to communism and his going to Cuba where he became Fidel Castro??™s chief lieutenant. Since his death in Bolivia, Che has become a cult figure.

ERNESTO (CHE) GUEVARA, DEATH OF AN IDEALIST

Che Guevara, a charismatic leader of the Cuban Revolution which put Fidel Castro in power, was also an asthmatic from the age of 2. Asthma would plague Che for the rest of his life.

Born to a middle class family, Che would seek a medical degree, which some say was an attempt to better understand his asthma. He'd later become interested in the treatment of leprosy and tropical disease. He'd graduate from medical school with a specialty in dermatology.

During medical school, Che Guevara would travel throughout South American with a friend, Alberto Granadas, on motorbike. These travels would acquaint Che with the poverty and exploitation of the poor. Che, never one to hide his opinions, would be arrested on his way to work at a leper colony in Venezuela due to some of his early writings on native indians. This detour would prove pivotal, eventually resulting in Che's joining with Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution.

After the success of the revolution, Che became one of Castro's most trusted allies and put in charge of Cuba's financial reforms and ties to the Soviet Union. But the running of a country and disillusionment with the realities of Soviet style communism would lead to Che giving up his high position in post-Batista Cuba.

Che would try to return to the idealistic life of a revolutionary and the success of the Cuban revolt. Breaking away from Castro was obviously difficult for the dedicated revolutionary as illustrated in a letter he wrote to Fidel. Che would try to recapture some of the earlier glory in a number of African countries, particularly the Congo. This would end in failure. Che would ultimately be killed in 1967 during another unsuccessful revolution attempt in Bolivia, South America.

Che Guevara has now become many things to many people, an icon of Communism and even a logo for the sale of Vodka and tacos. After the Cuban revolt, Che seemed out of place. He had moved from the people he most identified with, the poor. He was, after all, an idealist, and the world has a long history of being very intolerant of this type of man.

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