Aleida Guevara

Aleida Guevara March (born 24 November 1960) is the eldest daughter of four children born to Ernesto "Che" Guevara and his second wife, Aleida March.

She is a doctor of medicine, and, like her father, a Marxist. She is based at the William Soler Children's Hospital in Havana and has also worked as a physician in Angola, Ecuador, and Nicaragua. She is interviewed about the philosophy behind universal health care in Michael Moore's film Sicko.

Guevara has been an advocate for human rights and debt relief for developing nations. She is the author of the book Chávez, Venezuela and the New Latin America.

Early youth

Although Aleida was only four and a half when her father left Cuba to foment revolution in the Congo, and almost 7 years old when he was executed in Bolivia, she still has fond memories of him. One such story that she has shared publicly is that her father (Che) would make up animal stories for his faraway children, stating:

Her father's influence

Guevara refers to her father Che as a source of personal inspiration. While giving speeches throughout the world she often mentions his writings, while remarking that she finds his diaries particularly helpful for their "political insights and emotional maturity". She has also stated that she finds herself occasionally exclaiming: "Caramba! If only we'd put in practice this or that suggestion we would be in a better position now." In reference to her father's widespread use as a symbol of rebellion, she has stated that when she sees a child carrying his image on a march and the child says "I want to be like Che and fight until final victory", that she feels elated.

Che Guevara

Ernesto "Che" Guevara (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtʃe ɣeˈβaɾa]; June 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967), commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia in popular culture.

As a young medical student, Guevara traveled throughout South America and was radicalized by the poverty, hunger, and disease he witnessed. His burgeoning desire to help overturn what he saw as the capitalist exploitation of Latin America by the United States prompted his involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Árbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow at the behest of the United Fruit Company solidified Guevara's political ideology. Later, in Mexico City, he met Raúl and Fidel Castro, joined their 26th of July Movement, and sailed to Cuba aboard the yacht Granma, with the intention of overthrowing U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara soon rose to prominence among the insurgents, was promoted to second-in-command, and played a pivotal role in the victorious two-year guerrilla campaign that deposed the Batista regime.

Michael Moore

Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, author, journalist, actor, and left-wing political activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), a critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush and the War on Terror, which is the highest-grossing documentary at the American boxoffice of all time and winner of the Palme d'Or. His film Bowling for Columbine (2002), which examines the causes of the Columbine High School massacre, won the Academy Award for Documentary Feature. Both Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko (2007), which examines health care in the United States, are among the top ten highest-grossing documentaries. In September 2008, he released his first free movie on the Internet, Slacker Uprising, which documented his personal quest to encourage more Americans to vote in presidential elections. He has also written and starred in the TV shows TV Nation, a satirical newsmagazine television series and The Awful Truth, a satirical show.