Chapter 15-16 Summary and Analysis

Ernesto met Fidel's inner circle and confidants while they were in the Sierra Maestra. Most were not Communists and thought they would replace the corrupt Batista regime with a traditional Western regime. Traitors were executed and one such execution is noted in Che's diary in cold clinical terms. Che was known to be cold-blooded especially when it came to traitors.

A summit was held in February and Fidel wrote another manifesto called "Appeal to the Cuban People." In it, he called for acts of sabotage among other things. He also called for civic resistance from the population as well as asking for money.

Che's asthma was a problem in the humid climate of Cuba. His comrades helped him when it was particularly bad. At one point they left him at a farmhouse and Fidel paid a peasant to go...