Guevara sponsored by the Militant Labor Forum. Seated speakers, from left, are Edward Boorstein, economist and author;
NEW YORK MEMORIAL
New York
More than 350 people squeezed into the hall of the Militant Labor Forum here November 4 to pay tribute to the fallen Latin-American revolutionary, Ernesto "Che" Guevara.
The crowd heard Pedro Juan Rua, of the New York branch of the Movement for Puerto Rican Independence; Julius Lester of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; Elizabeth Sutherland, author of a forthcoming book on Cuba; Edward Boorstein, an economist who worked in Cuba under Guevara; Derrick Morrison, a member of the national committee of the Young Socialist Alliance; Paul Sweezy, coeditor of Monthly Review; and Edward Shaw, national organization secretary of the Socialist Workers party.
Pedro Juan Ria, the first speaker, said it was necessary to follow Che's example, and not merely pay lip service to him as a martyr. He also castigated some ultraleftists in the U.S. who denigrate -~908-
Derrick Morrison, national committee menber, Young Socialist Alliance; and Ralph Schoenman, member of Bertrand Russell Commission of Enquiry, deported from Bolivia for attempt to defend Régis Debray.
FOR CHE GUEVARA
Che and other Cuban leaders as "petty bourgeois."
The SNCC representative, Julius Lester, recalled all the other revolutionaries who have fallen in the struggle, many unknown, and the contribution they have all made. He spoke movingly of the sacrifices of the ordinary rank and filers who carry on the revolutionary struggle in its most difficult days and often die before the glorious and tumultuous victories are achieved. He was given an ovation by the crowd.
Che's abilities as an administrator, organizer and economist were discussed by Edward Boorstein from his firsthand experience with the revolutionary leader. He described some of Che's personal characteristics.
Elizabeth Sutherland quoted from a moving letter Che sent his daughter on her tenth birthday, and pointed to Che's qualities as a humanist. She also chided those who, at other