History vs. Che Guevara - Alex Gendler

譯者: Ting-Yen Tsai 審譯者: Helen Chang

全世界的人都認得他那張臉

His face is recognized all over the world.

The young medical student who became a revolutionary icon.

這位年輕的醫學生成為革命的象徵

But was Che Guevara a heroic champion of the poor

不過切·格瓦拉到底是 一位貧民英雄

or a ruthless warlord who left a legacy of repression?

還是一個留下壓迫歷史的無情軍閥？

Order, order.

秩序、秩序

Hey, where have I seen that guy before?

我在哪裡見過這個人？

Ahem, your Honor, this is Ernesto Che Guevara.

法官大人，這是厄內斯特·切·格瓦拉

In the early 1950s,

在 1950 年代初期

he left behind a privileged life as a medical student in Argentina

他拋下了在阿根廷 當醫學生的美好生活

to travel through rural Latin America.

環遊拉丁美洲的鄉村

The poverty and misery he witnessed convinced him that saving lives

他所看見的貧窮和悲慘 讓他深深相信要拯救生命

required more than medicine.

所需要的不僅僅是藥物

So he became a terrorist

所以他成為一個恐怖份子

seeking to violently overthrow the region's governments.

想要伺機運用武力推翻地方政府

What?

什麼？

The region's governments were brutal oligarchies.

這些地區的政府都是殘暴的寡頭政治

Colonialism may have formally ended,

殖民主義或許正式地邁入歷史

but elites still controlled all the wealth.

但菁英們依然牢牢掌控著所有的財富

American corporations bought up land originally seized from indigenous people

美國企業購買從當地人手中掠奪的土地

and used it for profit and export,

並且從中牟利、出口農產品

even keeping most of it uncultivated while locals starved.

在許多當地人正在飢餓時 甚至讓大部分的土地未開發

Couldn't they vote to change that?

為什麼他們不能透過投票改變呢？

Oh, they tried, your Honor.

是的，他們嘗試過，法官大人

In 1953, Che came to Guatemala

切在西元 1953 年來到瓜地馬拉

under the democratically-elected government of President Árbenz.

在民選總統阿貝內茲的政府下工作

Árbenz passed reforms to redistribute

阿貝內茲做出了一些改革

some of this uncultivated land back to the people

來重新分配未使用的土地給人民

while compensating the landowners.

並且以金錢補償地主

But he was overthrown in a CIA-sponsored coup.

但這個政權一場由美國 中央情報局支持的叛變推翻了

The military was protecting against the seizure of private property

當時軍方在防止查封私人財產

and communist takeover.

和共產黨的接收

They were protecting corporate profits

他們保護著企業的利益

and Che saw that they would use the fear of communism

切看到他們利用對於共產主義的恐懼

to overthrow any government that threatened those profits.

來推翻任何可能威脅到 他們利益的政權

So he took the lessons of Guatemala with him to Mexico.

所以他帶著瓜地馬拉的教訓 到了墨西哥

There, he met exiled Cuban revolutionaries

他在那裡遇到被流放的古巴革命人士

and decided to help them liberate their country.

並決定幫助他們解放他們的國家

You mean help Fidel Castro turn a vibrant Cuba into a dictatorship.

你的意思是幫是費德爾·卡斯楚 把充滿活力的古巴變成獨裁政權

Dictatorship was what Cuba had before the revolution.

獨裁是在古巴革命前就有的

Fulgencio Batista was a tyrant who came to power in a military coup.

福爾亨壽·巴蒂斯塔是用軍事政變 取得權力的暴君

He turned Havana into a luxury playground for foreigners

他讓哈瓦那成為外國人的享樂天堂

while keeping Cubans mired in poverty and killing thousands in police crackdowns.

當時古巴人依然受貧窮所苦

還在派警力鎮壓反對時殺了數千人

Even President Kennedy called it the worst example

就連甘迺迪總統都稱那是

of "economic colonization, humiliation, and exploitation in the world."

「世界上經濟殖民、 羞辱和掠奪」的最糟例子

Whatever Batista's faults,

無論巴蒂斯塔有什麼錯

it can't compare to the totalitarian nightmare Castro would create.

他無法和卡斯楚創造的夢魘相比

Forced labor camps, torture of prisoners, no freedom to speak or to leave.

勞改營、折磨囚犯 還有失去言論和離開的自由

But this isn't the trial of Fidel Castro, is it?

但不是在審判費卡斯楚，是吧？

Che Guevara was instrumental in helping Castro seize power.

切·格瓦拉在卡斯楚取得權力中 扮演著重要腳色

As a commander in his guerilla army,

作為游擊隊的指揮官

he unleashed a reign of terror across the countryside,

他在鄉村建立起恐怖統治

killing any suspected spies or dissenters.

殺死任何有間諜或反對嫌疑的人

He also helped peasants build health clinics and schools,

他也幫助農民建立診所和學校

taught them to read,

教他們讀書識字

and even recited poetry to them.

甚至為他們朗誦詩詞

His harsh discipline was necessary against a much stronger enemy

他嚴格的紀律在面對 強大許多的敵人時是必要的

who didn't hesitate to burn entire villages suspected of aiding the rebels.

敵人可以因為懷疑有叛軍藏匿 而毫不猶豫地燒毀整座村莊

Let's not forget that the new regime held mass executions

別忘了新政權執行大量死刑

and killed hundreds of people without trial

並且未經審判殺死數百人

as soon as they took power in 1959.

自從他們在1959 年取得權力後

The executed were officials and collaborators

被處決的人都是曾經在 巴蒂斯塔統治下

who had tormented the masses under Batista.

魚肉百姓的官員或支持者

The people supported this revolutionary justice.

人民支持革命帶來的正義

Which people?

哪些人？

An angry mob crying for blood does not a democracy make.

民主不會使憤怒的暴民訴諸暴力

And that's not even mentioning the forced labor camps,

更別提勞改營

arbitrary arrests,

隨機逮捕

and repression of LGBT people that continued long after the revolution.

還有革命後對於同性戀、雙性戀 和跨性別族群的持續壓迫

There's a reason people kept risking their lives to flee,

人們不斷地賭上性命逃離是有原因的

often with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

他們常除了身上衣物以外什麼都沒帶

So was that all this Che brought to Cuba?

所以這都是切帶給古巴的嗎？

Just another violent dictatorship?

只是另一個暴力的獨裁政權？

Not at all.

完全不是

He oversaw land redistribution,

他監督了土地重新分配

helped established universal education,

幫助建立普及的教育制度

and organized volunteer literacy brigades that raised Cuba's literacy rate to 96%,

還組織教識字的志工大隊

讓古巴的識字率高達 96%

still one of the highest in the world.

至今依然是世界上最高的國家之一

Which allowed the government to control what information everyone received.

這使得政府可以控制 所有人獲得的資訊內容

Guevara's idealistic incompetence as Finance Minister

不懂經濟學的格瓦拉在擔任 財政部長時的過度理想化

caused massive drops in productivity

導致了生產力的大幅滑落

when he replaced worker pay raises with moral certificates.

當時他取消工人調薪 改成發放道德證書

He suppressed all press freedom,

他壓抑了媒體自由

declaring that newspapers were instruments of the oligarchy.

宣稱新聞只是寡頭政治的道具

And it was he who urged Castro to host Soviet nuclear weapons,

他極力說服卡斯楚 裝設蘇聯的核子武器

leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis

後來導致了古巴飛彈危機

that brought the world to the brink of destruction.

也讓世界瀕臨毀滅邊緣

He was a leader, not a bureaucrat.

他是個領導者而不是官僚

That's why he eventually left to spread the revolution abroad.

這也是為何他最終選擇離開 到各地散播革命的種子

Which didn't go well.

但結果不如預期

He failed to rally rebels in the Congo

他在剛果集結叛軍失敗

and went to Bolivia even when the Soviets disapproved.

甚至在蘇聯不支持的情況下 前往玻利維亞

The Bolivian Government, with the help of the CIA,

玻利維亞政府在美國中情局的幫助下

was able to capture and neutralize this terrorist in 1967,

在西元 1967 年捕獲 和處決了這名恐怖份子

before he could do much damage.

那是在切造成更多損害之前

While doing plenty of damage themselves in the process.

他們自己也在過程中損傷慘重

So that was the end of it?

所以這就是結局？

Not at all. As Che said, the revolution is immortal.

不盡然是，正如切所講的 革命是永生不死的

He was publicly mourned in cities all over the world.

他在全世界許多城市被公開悼念

Not by the Cubans who managed to escape.

不包含成功逃離古巴的古巴人

And his story would inspire young activists for generations to come.

他的故事啟發了許多代的 年輕行動主義份子

Ha. A trendy symbol of rebellion for those who never had to live under his regime.

哈，對那些沒有經歷他統治的人 他竟然是一個流行的反叛象徵

Symbols of revolution may become commodified,

革命的象徵可能被商品化

but the idea of a more just world remains.

但是追求更正義的世界的精神 將會被保留下來

Maybe, but I'm not sharing my coffee.

或許，但我不打算要分享這杯咖啡

Che Guevara was captured and executed by government forces in Bolivia.

切·格瓦拉被玻利維亞的政府軍 捕獲並且處以死刑

His remains would not be found for another 30 years.

他的遺骨在三十年之後才被發現

But did he die a hero or had he already become a villain?

但是他死時到底是英雄 還是已經變成反派角色呢？

And should revolutions be judged by their ideals or their outcomes?

革命應該由它的理想 還是結果來被評斷呢？

These are the questions we face when we put history on trial.

這些都是我們審判歷史時 需要面對的問題