Charlie Haden Quotes

I spent a great deal of time with Che Guevara while I was in Havana. I believe he was far less a mercenary than he was a freedom fighter.

Nobody knows this, but my hero is Che Guevara. Why? Because he was magic. He was a hero. Che resisted. He fought against the system.

Che Guevara was a racist.

Fidel Castro represents the dignity of the South American continent against empires. He's a living legend: an icon of independence and freedom across the continent.

Comandante Fidel Castro is the greatest revolutionary of the 20th Century, bar none.

Che Guevara taught us we could dare to have confidence in ourselves, confidence in our abilities. He instilled in us the conviction that struggle is our only recourse. He, was a citizen of the free world that together we are in the process of building. That is why we say that Che Guevara is also African and Burkinabè.

Che Guevara's life is an inspiration for every human being who loves freedom. We will always honor his memory.

There's political content in almost every song we've ever written on some level. It colors everything.

Do not shoot! I am Che Guevara and worth more to you alive than dead.

If I wasn't a singer, I'd be a bloodclaat revolutionary.

Fidel Castro for me is like a father.

I prefer to make common cause with those whose weapons are guitars, banjos, fiddles and words.

I've never written a political song. Songs can't save the world. I've gone through all that.

Particularly during the late 1960s, a large number of American skyjackers earnestly believed that Fidel Castro's Cuba was an egalitarian, post-racial utopia.

The revolutions of my century, the 20th century - the Soviet revolution, or the Chinese, or the revolutions that were fomented in Latin America, such as in Cuba - failed for the most part, a failure which was completely clear by the end of the century.

I try to use my music to move these people to act.

I don't think music should be played anywhere near politics. The two don't go together.

The greatest promotion I ever had on a newspaper was when 'The Washington Post' suddenly promoted me from city-side general assignment reporter to Latin American correspondent and sent me off to Cuba. Fidel Castro had just come to power. It was a very exciting assignment, but also very serious.

My social and political interests are part of my career. I cannot separate them. My songs reflect the human condition. The role of art isn't just to show life as it is, but to show life as it should be.

Raul Reyes was a good revolutionary. I knew him personally.

Fidel Castro, whatever people may think of him, is a hero in Latin America, primarily because he stood up to the United States.

As a left-wing campaigner for 35 years, I've been arrested on picket lines, led anti-imperialist demonstrations and spoken at anti-deportation protests outside police stations. I've made speeches at street rallies, in prisons and universities and at pubs.

Sometimes music isn't the way to talk politics, you know?

To the developing world, Cuba has been a symbol of sovereignty and resistance and a supporter of revolution - for good or bad. From the Missile Crisis to the anti-apartheid movement, from the Kennedys to Obama era, this small island has put itself at the center of world events.