Former Al Gore press secretary slams plans to honor Che Guevara

Lawrence Haas the latest to criticise Guevara tributes in West of Ireland

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The proposed Che Guevara monument in Galway

Photo by National Review

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“He was ruthless and cold-blooded, one who glorified violence, killed and ordered others to kill without hesitation, and opted for murder even if merely suspecting that someone might oppose him.

“Che put words to action most forcefully when Castro put him in charge of La Cabana prison. There, he presided over quick trials of former Batista officials, businessmen, journalists, and others. The revolutionary tribunal ruled, the appellate court (over which Che presided) confirmed the rulings, and the executions proceeded – anywhere from a few hundred to perhaps a thousand or more.

“When not approving death sentences, Che was sending the revolution’s purported enemies to camps for years of hard labor. Labor camps evolved into concentration camps for the unfit – Catholics, dissidents, AIDS victims, and others – who were raped, beaten, mutilated, or otherwise traumatized.

“A fan of the Soviet Union, he played a key role in creating a secret police to subjugate the Cuban people and enforce the revolution.”

Haas also notes that, “Galway’s upcoming celebration has drawn a strong rebuke from House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who was born in Havana and fled Cuba when she was eight to escape the horror that Che helped to create.”

He added: “That Ros-Lehtinen probably won’t get her way says something profoundly disturbing about the West’s moral compass.”

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