Widow to end abuse of Che Guevara's famous portrait

The family of the Argentine-born Marxist leader will file lawsuits against companies profiting from his image
The Cuban family of Ernesto "Che" Guevara has decided to put an end to what it considers abuse of the image of the world-famous Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary. If the lawsuits that Che's widow is planning to file against foreign companies making profits on his image move forward, the global capitalist consumer society may no longer see Guevara's face on T-shirts, posters, caps and many thousands of other objects.

"We have a plan to deal with the misuse," Guevara's Cuban widow, Aleida March said in an interview. "We can't attack everyone with lances like Don Quixote, but we can try to maintain the ethics" of Guevara's legacy, said March, who will lead the effort from the Che Guevara Studies Centre opening in Havana later this year.
 
"The centre intends to contain the uncontrolled use of Che's image. It will be costly and difficult because each country has different laws, but a limit has to be drawn," the legendary guerrilla's daughter, Aleida Guevara, told reporters.

The picture of Che, taken by a Cuban photographer who has never been paid for his work, inspired young militants during the wave of revolutions that swept Europe, Latin America and the United States during the late sixties. But things have changed since then and the capitalist consumer society has adopted the picture as one of its icons.

In Argentina, where Guevara born, the picture of Che has become an icon of the country. Tourists can find his image on postcards, bags and T-shirts wherever they go, similar to other local stars such as the famous tango singer Carlos Gardel and soccer star Diego Maradona.

The city of Buenos Aires is currently studying the possibility of opening a plaza dedicated to the revolutionary leader, one of Fidel Castro's closest collaborators during the guerrilla war that toppled U.S. puppet dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Guevara enjoys great popularity across the globe despite popular revolutions having fallen off the political radar for many years.