It's not possible to isolate Che from Cuba, says Lage

It's not possible to isolate Che from Cuba, says Lage
By Larry Moonze in Havana, Cuba
Sunday June 15, 2008 [04:00]

IT is not possible to isolate Che from Cuba, Cuban Vice-President of the Council of State Carlos Lage has said. And Vice-President Lage said the Fidelistas would never give up in spite of the US aggression and an irrational international world order.

Addressing an estimated 4,000 crowd that gathered for the 80th birthday commemoration of legendary Argentinean Marxist revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara de la Serna at Havana's Karl Marx Theatre on Friday evening, Vice-President Lage said those that failed to follow Che's character and work ethic could not be cadres of the revolution.

In an event presided by Cuban President Raul Castro Ruz, characterized by opera, Vice-President Lage said while Che was Argentinean-born, he was a son of Cuba going by the infinite sacrifices towards guaranteeing the island's independence.
He recalled how Che led a rebel column that took over Cuba's central city of Santa Clara in a heroic act that led to the triumph of the Cuban revolution led by
Fidel Castro.

"Che occupies our hearts," Vice-President Lage said."It is not possible to isolate him from Cuba. He is asymbol of the fight for our independence and hope of the Cuban people."

He said Che was admired for his imperious spirit.Vice-President Lage said it was necessary that the world was celebrating Che's extraordinary personality,
short and intense life, character and example.

He said Che took painful decisions without hesitationand was an outstanding Marxist who destroyed bureaucracy in Cuba.Vice-President Lage said Che was a father, a familyman and a leader who never got away from the masses."He had an unbreakable faith in victory," he said.

Vice-President Lage said the Cuban Revolution hadfound value in Che's ideas and though over the yearsas the island soldiered on with an almost 50-year-old
US financial and economic sanctions.

"We have lived through the hard years of the Special Period demise of the USSR," he said. "The Battle ofIdeas has taught us the way."

Vice-President Lage said Cuba today understood herdifficulties and inefficiencies.
"The Cuban revolution will march on," he said. "The Fidelistas followers of retired Cuban president Fidel Castro's socialist ideas will never give up."

Vice-President Lage said Cuba had the capacity and ability to win but that to achieve that victory unitywas of essence.
"Our history has taught us that once we lose unity, we lose independence," he said. "Without unity the Cuban nationality is in danger."

Vice-President Lage called on every Cuban to come to the aid of another.
He said every Cuban must assume an extra duty.

Vice-President Lage cautioned Cubans against closing their eyes arguing those that could not learn from Che's example could not be cadres of the socialist
revolution.

Che once stated that,"socialism cannot exist unless there is a change in people's consciousness, creating a new, fraternal attitude toward humanity, both individually, within the society in which socialism is being or has been built, and in relation to the world, with respect to all of the nations that suffer imperialist oppression."
Born June 14, 1928 in Rosario, Argentina, Che was murdered by CIA-backed Bolivian troops in La Higuera,Boliva on October 9, 1967.

As a young medical student, Che travelledthroughout Latin America and was transformed by the endemic poverty he witnessed. His experiences and
observations during these trips led him to conclude that the region's ingrained economic inequalities were an intrinsic result of monopoly capitalism,
neo-colonialism, and imperialism, with the only remedy being world revolution. This belief prompted his involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Arbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow solidified Che's radical ideology.

Later, in Mexico, he joined and was promoted to commander in Fidel Castro's July 26 Movement, playing a pivotal role in the successful guerrilla campaign to overthrow the US-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.