On the 50th anniversary of Che Guevara’s execution, UF’s Young Americans for Freedom hosted a tabling event to educate students on Che Guevara’s crimes.
“The goal would just be to spread the message of what Che Guevara actually did and let people make their own decisions,” Sarah Long, the vice president for Young Americans for Freedom, said.
Club members were at a table on Turlington Plaza from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m Monday.
Long, 19, said she hopes the event caused a ripple effect on the university and warned people about communism and the dangers of a similar system in the U.S.
“I think Che Guevara gets a better rep than he deserves,” Long said. “Our generation has an enchantment not only on socialism but communism that scares me on a personal level.”
Kevin Lemos, a UF computer science sophomore, said Guevara’s actions personally affected him. He said his mom had to leave Peru because of the communist political movements that Guevara influenced.
“I think that the fact that a lot of young people are idolizing Che Guevara is concerning,” he said. “I don’t want anything close to that being emulated in the United States.”
Kevin Nguyen, a UF theatre freshman, was walking through Turlington before his tabling shift for Student Government Senate and decided to approach the table.
The 18-year-old said he learned about Guevara through his Argentinian high school teacher in Miami.
“I learned about the importance of looking back in the past, because we need to look back at history because, you know, history’s really important in foretelling future events,” he said.
@Christina_M18
