Ireland has issued a new postage stamp commemorating brutal Communist guerilla fighter Che Guevara.
The stamp depicts the famous image of Guevara against a red background with the years of his birth and death. The image of the stamp was made by Dublin artist Jim Fitzpatrick, and the Irish postal service released a statement glossing over atrocities for which Guevara was responsible.
"He assisted Fidel Castro in overturning the Cuban government in the late 1950s, and then held key political offices during Castro’s regime," the statement reads, without mentioning his use of power to kill dissidents. "[Guevara] engaged in guerrilla action in Bolivia when he was arrested and subsequently executed by the Bolivian army on October 9, 1967. With his death and assisted by the popular Jim Fitzpatrick artwork, Guevara the Marxist revolutionary went on to become a cultural icon."
The one-euro stamp was issued to mark the 50th anniversary of Guevara's death in Bolivia in 1967.
Many are understandably upset at the honor accorded to a man who terrorized much of the Latin America for many years, the Washington Post reports.
Guevara played a large role in the Cuban communist revolution which resulted in many deaths. Guevara took part in communist violence in various countries where he was responsible for the deaths of many, including civilians. Some of his writings also indicate he was a racist.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R., Fla.) represents many Cuban expatriates who have fled the communist island nation over the years in order to live in America. Ros-Lehtinen called the stamp a "grotesque insult to the many lives he slaughtered."
Executive Director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation Marion Smith also questioned why Ireland would pay tribute to Guevara.
Ireland's government is celebrating a communist murderer on their postage stamps. Why? pic.twitter.com/IoCgwwdYLk
— Marion Smith (@smithmarion) October 10, 2017
Guevara's father was of Irish descent, hence the connection to the nation Ireland, although he was born in Argentina.