Shades of Che Guevara

Press, 6 December 1989, Page 22

Shades of Che Guevara

From the “Economist,” London

THE Cuban revolutionary leader Che Guevara served his cause long after he died. So may Rohana Wijeweera, who was killed in Sri Lanka this week.

Both men died mysteriously. Guevara was caught while leading a revolutionary group in Bolivia in 1967 and apparently executed on the spot, although the details are obscure. Wijeweera was captured in the hills near Kandy, in central Sri Lanka, and died soon afterwards, although the details are obscure. According to the army, Wijeweera was brought to Colombo, where next day he agreed to lead his captors to a rebel hideout in the capital. When they got there a comrade of Wijeweera shot at him. In the subsequent gun battle both men were killed, the army says. Their bodies were immediately cremated. The army says

that six other lieutenants of Wijeweera were killed this week and is claiming that his group is finished. Wijeweera led the J.V.P. (Janata Vimukthi Peramuna, or People’s Liberation Front). He was the son of a communist and trained as a doctor (as did Guevara) before taking up politics in the mid-19605. The original aim of his Front was the overthrow of the Sri Lankan Government and its replacement with a Left-wing regime. But in recent years the Front has become nationalistic, and its ideology has become less pronounced. It gained some popularity, especially among the majority Sinhalese, by denouncing the Government for allowing Indian troops in to suppress the Tamil Tjgers in the north-east of the country, claiming that Sri

Lanka’s sovereignty had been betrayed. The Front was quite as ruthless as the Tigers. It accepted responsibility for numerous murders of Government supporters. Through its trade-union arm it used strikes to damage the economy.

Despite this, President Ranasinghe Premadasa said Wijeweera was a free man and invited him for talks. The rebel leader would clearly have been more use to the Government alive than dead.

An upset Mr Premadasa has ordered an inquiry into Wijeweera’s death. But without a body to examine, the inquiry will have a hard time establishing an acceptable truth. Already many people believe that Wijeweera is not dead. © The Economist