Guerrilla Warfare

Guerrilla Warfare is a work of nonfiction by famed revolutionary, Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Published in 1960, the book compiles both Guevara’s military essays concerning warfare and his political aspirations to abolish dictatorships in Latin America. The book is very popular and frequently taught on political science and Latin American Studies courses. Guevara, a political theorist and diplomat, was a major player in the Cuban Revolution and an active Marxist. He is widely recognised as one of the most influential political figures of the 20th century.

Guevara wrote Guerrilla Warfare as soon as the Cuban Revolution ended. He knew this was the perfect time to spread his political message and campaign for better rights for poor people across the globe. He doesn’t limit his scope to Cuba—rather, he wants to end all tyranny across Latin America and calls upon world leaders to do the same in their respective territories.

Guerrilla Warfare is based upon Guevara’s three main reasons for revolution. The first reason is an illegitimate government or individual in power. They don’t have any right to make the decisions they make, and they lack public support. The second reason is that the people are angry and frustrated at the situation, but they don’t feel comfortable voicing these concerns.



The final reason is that individuals or groups wanting to challenge the leadership have no legal means to do so, and the only option is violence and revolution. Whether there are ways to lobby for change or not, what’s important is that they seem off-limits, ineffective or even dangerous to pursue. There are three main parts to the book; namely, “General Principles of Guerrilla Warfare,” “The Guerrilla Band,” and “Organization of the Guerrilla Front.” Each section looks at different facets of a successful revolution.

Guevara bases the book on the progression of the Cuban Revolution. He looks at which tactics do and do not work, and he claims he didn’t read any other books on the subject before penning his own. However, this claim is questioned today. Irrespective of how Guevara wrote the book, the core message is clear—all guerrilla warfare needs a strong political motivator if it’s to succeed.

The book spreads a couple of more specific messages, as is typical of political writing. Primarily, Guevara tells the downtrodden masses to rebel because it’s possible to win against even the largest of armies. However, those masses must want victory badly enough to risk everything, because it will not be easy to achieve. To help matters, those leading the revolution must lead by example and help those who cannot help themselves.



In “General Principles of Guerrilla Warfare,” Guevara looks at how revolutions fail when fighting is disorganised and uninspired. Without passion, and the desire to keep going, fighters and in turn the whole revolutionary effort loses its advantage. The whole point is to only fight in skirmishes or small battles which the revolutionaries are guaranteed to win, because this improves morale and encourages more people to join the cause. Once there are enough fighters, leaders can organise them and prepare for more sophisticated, full-scale warfare. Essentially, Guevara compares guerrilla warfare to the first crucial steps of any larger-scale war.

In “The Guerrilla Band,” Guevara explains how the guerrilla fighter is as much a defender of agriculture and giving land back to the people as he is a soldier. Fighters should always help the poor and focus their efforts on the peasant class at the outset. It’s only once they have the popular support of this largest class that they can confront the elite leadership and be successful. This stage may take some time, but it’s the most important part of the whole process. It’s better to infiltrate slowly and effectively.

Finally, in “Organization of the Guerrilla Front,” Guevara examines how important it is to keep everyone organised and cohesive. This gives fighters and supporters faith in the revolution and strengthens their belief that things will be better after the war. It’s critically important to win over the peasants, farmers and other locals in whichever area guerrilla fighters set up in, because they need their support for food and shelter. Fighters who make enemies of the people who live in the area will always fail.



What’s interesting about Guevara’s approach is he still ultimately treats the peasant class as “other” and explains that, for example, sometimes it’s necessary to simply take their resources and pay for it later. Although he promotes self-sufficiency of workers and making sure they have the means to look after themselves, this will be difficult in times of warfare, and he admits he has no solution to this.

Guevara doesn’t try to pretend that guerrilla warfare is easy or desirable—rather, it’s a necessary prelude to something bigger. This means the book is still relevant and both sides of the political spectrum can learn something from its theories.