By Mursi Saad El-Din I shall never forget the look of surprise -- indeed shock -- on my son's face when one evening he came to my flat to find me having a drink with Che Guevara. My son, Hamdi, like his generation, revered Guevara as the symbol of the fight against colonialism and imperialism. And like his generation, the walls of his room were plastered with posters and photographs of Che. He even had a shirt with Guevara's photo on it, wearing his famous beret and battle fatigues. Guevara was in Cairo on his way to Africa for two tasks. The first, which was officially announced, was to recruit Africans to fight for Lumumba, the hero of the Congo. The second, which was implicit, was to try and convince African leaders to change the Afro-Asian Solidarity Movement into a tri-continental one. That second aim was in pursuit of what had taken place at the first Tri- Continental Conference that convened in Havana from 3- 14 January 1966, which saw serious differences between the Soviet Union and China. These differences centred on what form of organisation was to be set up after the conference. The Soviet Union was in favour of creating a single tri-continental organisation which would absorb AAPSO. The Chinese, on the other hand, were adamantly opposed to any change in the structure of AAPSO. They envisaged the creation of a tri-continental organisation, which would work parallel to, and in coordination with the Afro-Asian movement, but not as part of it. From the beginning this problem overshadowed everything else. The discussions were vehement and while I sat watching the exchanges between the two big powers, I began to wonder about the future of our organisation. It was paradoxical that while the AAPSO machinery was responsible for the organisation of the Havana Conference, it should meet its end there. When the discussions continued and some conference members started thinking of leaving, Castro gave instructions to close the airport, thus stopping any departure before the solution of the problem. It was clear that all the African delegates were opposed to the idea of the dissolution of AAPSO, and finally it was decided to have two different organisations. But in spite of this decision, Guevara was still convinced he could persuade African leaders to have AAPSO turned into a tri-continental machinery. I told Che frankly that he would fail in his two- thronged mission, which he did. My acquaintance with Guevara started in 1965 when we both attended the Afro-Asian Economic Seminar in Algeria. We shared the same room in Hotel Aletti, and in between sessions we used to slip into the hotel's bar, where Guevara was frequently surrounded by young men and women who were thrilled to be face to face with their legendary hero. These memories came back to me while I was reading articles and news about the 40th anniversary of the execution of Guevara in October 1967 by US-trained Bolivian rangers while he was trying to open up a new front in his revolution. In his 1967 dispatch to the Guardian, journalist Richard Gott wrote on the day of Guevara's death, "It was difficult to recall that this man had once been one of the great figures of Latin America. It was not just that he was a great guerrilla leader; he had been a friend of presidents as well as revolutionaries. His voice had been heard and appreciated in inter-American Councils as well as in the jungle. He was a doctor, an amateur economist, once minister of industries in revolutionary Cuba and Castro's right-hand man. He may well go down in history as the greatest continental figure since Bolivar. Legends will be created around him." In fact the latest such legend was created in Bolivia where he was captured and executed. The people of Vallegrande where his body was brought, have just ordained him a saint, and in the town's church the congregation pray, after the Lord and Virgin Mary, to Saint Ernesto, to the soul of Che Guevara.
