Chapter 1: Che's life before the Cuban Revolution

Ernesto Guevara was born on June 14th, 1928 in Rosario, Argentina, though there have been some researches that say that in fact, he was born a month before, that is May 14th, 1928. This date seems to bother some people, so as there are two versions, well, I just stated them both. This confusion happens because some say that his birthdate was changed by his parents for they were not married when Mrs. de la Serna got pregnant.

He was a premature kid. His parents, Ernesto Guevara Lynch and Celia de la Serna, came from aristocratic families and from militaries who participated in the fight for independence.

When Ernesto was 2 years old, he turned asthmatic and his family had to move to Cordoba where his father tried to heal him teaching him sports like foot-ball, base-ball, swimming, and rugby. At the age of 17, Ernesto knew almost all of Argentina by riding a motor-bike. Unfortunately, in 1950, his parents broke up and all his brothers and him went to live with their mother, so Ernesto had to work to help his mother. In 1947 he entered to the University of Buenos Aires in order to become a doctor, but every time there was a chance, he travelled. In fact, in 1952, he decided to travel through all of South America with a friend named Alberto Granado riding a motorcycle. This trip lasted 10 months, but they had to use other means of transportation because the motorcycle went out of order in Chile. Finally they went to Peru, and to Macchu-Pichu, where they established in the leprosary of San Pablo.

Later, they got to Colombia travelling by raft through the Amazon River. There, he left Alberto and he headed straight to Miami (for he wanted to go back to Argentina), flying in an aeroplane that transported horses.

The plane was supposed to stay only for a day in Miami, but it had a delay of about a month, and thanks to this, Ernesto had the opportunity to know the United States exactly as they are. Finally, he returned to Argentina in August, where he went back to school to graduate as a doctor in March, 1953. There's no doubt that this was an adventure trip because they travelled without a penny, eating whenever it was possible.

After getting his title as an allergist, his teacher, Dr. Pisani, offered Ernesto the chance to work with him, but he didn't want to take the job, he preferred to go to Venezuela to work with his friend Alberto, but before getting there he went to Bolivia where he met Ricardo Rojo, an antiperonist lawyer who was expelled from Argentina. Ernesto made his way with this man, but Ricardo convinced him to go to Guatemala (where a revolution was about to take place), instead of to Venezuela.

There, in Guatemala, Ernesto got astonished because of the miserable conditions in which the nation lived, so he decides to work as a doctor in a health programme between the Peten natives. Suddenly, the American troops invaded Guatemala. Around these days was when he becomes "Che". This name was given to him by some Cubans whom he met in a café in 1953, but the most important thing of this trip was that in this trip is where he got to know Marx's theory.

Later he went to Costa Rica, where he bought some books, and back to Guatemala he met Hilda Gadea, his second girlfriend. Anyway, the important thing here is that by these days Che had already become a left follower and noticing the United States invasion, he rebelled to this action as if he had been born there. Because of his intervention in Guatemalan moves, he got blacklisted as a dangerous communist, but he decided to become a refugee in the embassy of Argentina, and two months later, to go to Mexico.

He arrived to Mexico on September 21st, 1954, with his new friend Roberto Cáceres. Exactly as in his trip with Alberto, he didn't have enough money, and he had to buy a camera in order to be able to work. Hilda reached Mexico one month later, and they gave birth to their first child.

It was in Mexico where Ernesto finally met Fidel Castro, who convinced him to participate in the Cuban Revolution. From there on Ernesto and the Cubans began to train for war, but the police caught them and all of them fell in jail. When they were set free Fidel decided to invade Cuba. This group got to reach to Cuba travelling by ship.

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