PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Che Guevara, Tony Norman and Pittsburgh, a place to hide
by vincent / blast furnace radio Monday, Apr. 16, 2007 at 3:37 AM
vincenteirene@gmail.com

letter to the editor, rejected by PG

Che Guevara, Tony Norman and Pittsburgh, a place to hide


This letter is in response to Tony Norman's article: "Pittsburgh: where people go to die." http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07096/775608-153.stm

Let me approach Mr. Norman's article by referring to a recently revealed diary of Che Guevara's lover Tania.

Tania was a member of Che's ragtag guerrilla fighters. She was killed an ambush by the CIA in August of 1967. She was only 30 years old. Recounted in her journal was a discussion with Ulises Estradad, an organizer in Che's Bolivian mission. He was an exception to Che's close comrades in that he was somewhat wealthy. The story goes that Ulises asked Che where he could hide out for a while in the USA and collect information about the country's determination to end revolution in Latin America. Che responded, and I quote, "the best advice I can give you when you go underground in the US is to travel to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In a few month's time one of our people will contact you there."

Upon Ulises' arrival to the US news broke that Che was assassinated by a militia funded by the United States government. No further record has been found of Ulises' activities but it was assumed by the recent de-classified Cuban documents of the Bolivia Operation and Tania's diary that Ulises never returned and that he was still a revolutionary mole in Pittsburgh. If alive this would make the aging revolutionary about 74 years old.

Pittsburgh has always been a haven for political refugees, cultural rebels and artists. For many, this is the last affordable urban area for housing. Anarchists cannot wait for Opie or the Democratic machine, which recently gave their stamp of approval for 15% mass transit cuts that do not even leave the poor and physically challenged a bus to stand in back of. We cannot wait for the promise of funds being cut for the unjust Iraqi war. No politican will ever take on the issue of police brutality, for they know they would never be elected. There must be resistance and building, and we must do this for ourselves. People in Pittsburgh have long understood this, and have been doing it for themselves, whether or not the media has approved, or even noticed what we were doing!

I close with another interesting Pittsburgh reference: when in New York, traffic cops call jaywalkers "Pittsburgh." A NYC cop once said to me, as I tried to cross in the middle of the street: "Get back on the curb, Pittsburgh. You'll get killed trying that here!"

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