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World Council of Churches
For Immediate Use Feat-03-03
20 March 2003

Che Guevara's daughter condemns unjust trial in Miami
by Kristine Greenaway

The daughter of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Dr Aleida Guevara March, speaking
yesterday at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva at the invitation of the World
Council of Churches (WCC), condemned as "deeply flawed" the trial of five
Cubans in Miami, Florida, USA. The five were charged with accessory to murder
and spying after infiltrating an anti-Cuban terrorist group based in Miami. 
In her presentation, Dr Guevara March, a pediatrician practising in Cuba,
said the trial proceedings had flaunted the basic legal rights and norms due
to accused people under American law. 

Dr Guevara March's trip to Geneva is part of a wave of protests against the
irregularities of the trial and the harsh sentences ranging from 15 years to
life.  She was accompanied in her visit to the Ecumenical Centre by Cuba's
ambassador to Switzerland and a delegation of Cuban officials. "We ask the
World Council of Churches to be in solidarity with us, to ask for clemency
for the five Cubans under arrest in Miami", Dr Guevara March said.  Her visit
follows that of the president of the Cuban Council of Churches, Rev. Dr
Reineiro Arce, who had made the same plea to staff of the WCC.

"The World Council of Churches", said Dr Guillermo Kerber of the
International Relations staff "is concerned that justice be done and all
legalities be taken into account in the legal proceedings against these five
people."    

In her wide-ranging presentation, Dr Guevara March talked about the impact of
the US blockade on the health of Cuba's children.  "Doctors cannot get basic
medication for children suffering from leukemia," she said.  Noting current
concerns for the situation in Iraq, Dr Guevara March pointed to the impact of
a similar blockade on the children of Iraq, and urged the WCC to continue
being part of worldwide calls to prevent war in Iraq.  

In her closing remarks, she shared stories of her early memories of her
father, the Argentinian revolutionary who fought with Cuba's leader, Fidel
Castro, in the revolution of 1959.  "We, his family, fight against use of the
term "myth" to describe him.  My father was a man with virtues ... and	with
some flaws," she said to a round of laughter.  "If we turn him into a myth,
he is not a man.  We want him to be known as a man.  A man who loved a woman
with whom he had four children in five years.  A man who went to work for
people other than his own people, who loved those people and fought for
them."	

The author is WCC special advisor for Communication.

For further information, please contact the Media Relations Office, tel: +41
(0)22 791 64 21 / (41 22) 791 61 53

**********

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in
more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works
cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, which
meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in
1948 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general secretary
Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

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