Irish monument to Che Guevara Lynch

US politicians, especially those of Cuban descent, are coming down like a ton of bricks on the city of Galway, Ireland for a proposed statue of Che Guevara & Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a congresswoman from Florida is leading the charge. Born in Cuba, she is still nursing grievances at the privileges her family lost in the Cuban Revolution. She’s now a Republican with a whole raft of reactionary views, most notably on Cuba, including calling publicly for the assassination of Fidel Castro. She openly supports right-wing Cuban exiles engaged in assassinations & terrorism--including Orlando Bosch who was involved in several terrorist attacks, including the 1976 bombing of a Cuban civilian airliner which killed all 73 people on board. He was also involved in planning the 1976 assassination of Orlando Letelier, a Chilean official under President Allende in exile in Washington, DC during the military dictatorship of General Pinochet. According to Ros-Lehtinen, "Celebrating Che Guevara glorifies oppressors & weakens democracies around the world”, but it doesn’t appear she would know democracy if it came up & bit her in the ass.

Not only is the iconic image of Guevera worn worldwide created by Dublin artist, Jim FitzPatrick, but it turns out Che, whose full name is Ernesto Guevara Lynch, has Irish ancestry traced to Galway. A festival in his honor was arranged earlier this year in nearby County Clare. In a 1969 interview, Che’s father, Ernest Guevara Lynch, said "The first thing to note is that in my son's veins flowed the blood of the Irish rebels.” Ranting & raving from Florida against “the romanticized reputation” of Guevara as a freedom fighter, Ros-Lehtinen said, “Galway’s beautiful beaches & vibrant arts festival will be marred with a memorial to a man who wished to end their way of life and violently replace it with tyranny,” but she seems to be talking about herself. Che’s image is worn by freedom fighters around the world who honor him for his immense humanity & commitment to the oppressed & he will remain a beacon & inspiration despite the vituperations of corrupt politicians like Ros-Lehtinen. (Photo of the proposed Che Guevara monument in Galway by National Review)