The Cycle Diaries: Latin America in the Tracks of Che Guevara

Armed with a copy of The Motorcyle Diaries, Julian Sayarer sets out on his bicycle in a quest to follow the 1952 journey of Ernesto "Che" Guevara through Latin America.From the emptiness of the Argentine Pampa, to the vast Atacama Desert and the mighty Amazon River, the road reveals the story of Guevara himself, and of indigenous Mapuche communities shut inside reserves, lumber wars, copper mines, coca plantations and oil pipelines. Bringing the Diaries into a new century, Sayarer explores what has changed and what has stayed the same, taking in the history of the Cold War and the colonial conquest that came before it.His journey shows also that global politics can never truly be left behind, introducing him to socialist pensioners who have retired outside of the US and the reach of the FBI, and refugees of war trying to treat their trauma with ayahuasca.Meanwhile, meetings with Palestinian diplomats and a distant diaspora offer a reminder of events that are impossible to escape even h