Volume 6, 2006

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From Cuba to Bolivia: Guevara’s Foco Theory in Practice
(2006) Johnson, Joshua; Fitzsimmons, Scott; Singh, Anita
In order to account for Ernesto Guevara’s dramatic swing of fate from Cuba to Bolivia, it is necessary to explore his revolutionary theory developed in response to his experiences in the 1959 Cuban revolution. His foco theory, which places a high degree of primacy on the guerrilla band in creating the conditions for revolution, is starkly contrasted by an historical analysis of the Cuban revolution, where economic, social, and nationalistic forces combined to the benefit of Guevara and Castro. Exploring the political climate of Bolivia at the time of Guevara’s attempted insurrection, it becomes apparent that none of these forces were present for the exploitation of the guerrillas, which ultimately doomed the revolution and Guevara himself. Both the Cuban and Bolivian cases show the significance of socio-political factors in determining the success of an insurrection, and put the validity of Guevara’s foco theory into question.