Another View of Che

Re: “Che as Icon” (Oct. 18), I’d like to make a couple of points. The exhibition taking place now at UCLA is neither savvy nor satisfying, as Christopher Knight calls it, but instead it is a very one-sided view of someone who was a despicable character and was personally responsible for the death of hundreds of Cuban citizens after personally playing the role of judge, prosecutor and jury.

There is not a single poster or photograph that depicts Guevara’s violent personality and the arrogance of his egocentric ideas--traits that led to the crushing of many lives both in Cuba and in other countries where he sought to export communism.

Furthermore, the so-called “frenzied excitement” in Cuba over the return of Guevara’s remains is nothing more than a well-orchestrated show of compliance by the all-powerful Cuban government, which fully controls the lives of its subjects and punishes those who may dare buck the official line by not attending the ceremonies.

“Visual richness”? “An exhibition not to miss”? More like cheap state propaganda that clear-thinking people should not waste their time attending.

ALEXIS I. TORRES

South Gate