'Che' Guevara - 40 years after his execution

Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, a symbol of modern revolution, is being honoured around the world this week, 40 years after his execution.

Ceremonies in Ireland and throughout Latin America will mark the occasion.

Mr Guevara met the Castro brothers in Mexico in 1955, and quickly joined their uprising against then Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. By the time the revolution triumphed in January 1959 Mr Guevara was a key player.

Born in the Argentine city of Rosario, Mr Guevara travelled across Latin America in 1952 and 1953 and was shocked to see the economic disparity in the region. Mr Guevara was convinced that violence was needed to overturn the unjust social order in Latin America.

After leading a group of Cuban revolutionaries fighting with Marxist guerrillas in the Congo, he travelled to Bolivia in 1966. Mr Guevara led a small clutch of rebels in Bolivia for 11 months trying to spread revolution, but found little support. The Bolivian army and two Cuban-American US Central Intelligence Agency agents captured an ill Guevara in the village of La Higuera, and executed him on 9 October 1967. He was 39.

With his death, a legacy was born - in which Mr Guevara became a symbol of modern rebellion against western imperialism. His detractors still see him as a dangerous and deluded terrorist.

A famous photograph by Alberto Korda (above) was the basis of an iconic representation by Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick which was eventually reproduced on everything from t-shirts to backpacks.

Mr Guevara also had Irish roots. His ancestor Patrick Lynch was born in Galway in 1715.

Cuban Ambassador Noel Carrillo will speak at a rally in Mr Guevara's memory this Thursday at Liberty Hall in Dublin, followed by a 'celebration' at the cuban restaurant Floridita.