Ernesto "Che" Guevara wrote The Motorcycle Diaries, published in 1993 based on his travel journals from 1952

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, who became known as Che Guevara, kept a diary during a nine-month motorcycle journey across South America in 1952. He was 23 years old, a medical student from Argentina, traveling with his friend Alberto Granado. The journals sat unpublished for decades after Guevara's death in 1967. His daughter Aleida published them in Spanish in 1993 as Diarios de motocicleta, and the English translation appeared in 2003.

The book is not a political manifesto. It is a young man's record of what he saw: poverty in the Andes, indigenous communities, leper colonies, and the gap between rich and poor across Peru, Chile, and Argentina. Guevara's observations during this trip shaped his later thinking, but the diary itself is a travel narrative written before he became a revolutionary figure.

Key Takeaways

  • Che Guevara wrote the original diary entries in 1952 when he was a 23-year-old medical student, not yet a political activist.
  • The journals were first published in Spanish in 1993, forty years after Guevara's death, by his daughter Aleida.
  • The book documents a nine-month motorcycle trip across South America with his friend Alberto Granado, focusing on what Guevara observed about poverty and inequality.
  • The motorcycle journey happened before Guevara became involved in revolutionary politics, making the diary a record of his thinking before that transformation.

The 1952 Journey and Why Guevara Took It

Guevara and Granado left Buenos Aires on January 4, 1952, on a 1939 Norton motorcycle they called "La Poderosa" (The Mighty One). Guevara was in his final year of medical school. He wanted to see South America before settling into a career, and the trip was partly a way to escape the routine of university life in Argentina.

The motorcycle broke down repeatedly. They traveled on foot, by truck, and by boat. They crossed the Andes, worked briefly in a copper mine, spent time at a leper colony in Peru, and ended in Venezuela. The journey was not planned as a political education, but Guevara recorded what he witnessed: the living conditions of miners, the treatment of indigenous people, the reach of American economic power in the region.

What the Diary Actually Contains

The Motorcycle Diaries reads as a young traveler's observations, not as political theory. Guevara describes landscapes, meals, people he met, mechanical problems with the motorcycle, and his thoughts about what he was seeing. He comments on the poverty he witnessed and expresses sympathy for people he encountered, but the tone is reflective rather than ideological.

The diary includes moments of humor, frustration, and wonder. Guevara was a medical student interested in leprosy, so his time at the San Pablo leper colony in Peru receives detailed attention. He notes the conditions patients lived in and the indifference of authorities. These observations appear in the diary as they happened, without the political framework he would develop later.

How the Diary Was Preserved and Published

Guevara kept two sets of notes during the journey: one he wrote and one Alberto Granado wrote. After the trip, Guevara returned to Argentina and finished medical school. He kept the journals but did not publish them. When Guevara was executed in Bolivia in 1967, the diaries remained in private hands.

Guevara's daughter Aleida, born after the journey took place, found the journals among her father's papers. She worked with editors to prepare them for publication. The Spanish edition came out in 1993 through Ocean Press. The English translation, translated by Alexandra Keeble, was published in 2003 and became widely read in universities and among general readers interested in Guevara's early life.

The Difference Between the Diary and Guevara's Later Politics

Readers often assume the diary explains how Guevara became a revolutionary. It does not work that way. The diary shows his thinking in 1952, before he met Fidel Castro, before he participated in the Cuban Revolution, before he became a symbol of leftist politics. The observations about poverty and inequality are there, but the diary does not contain the political conclusions he would reach later.

Between 1952 and his involvement in Cuban politics in the mid-1950s, Guevara's thinking changed significantly. He worked as a doctor, lived in Guatemala during a political crisis, and met people who shaped his political views. The diary is a snapshot of one moment in his life, not a prediction of what came after.

Why The Motorcycle Diaries Became Well-Known

The book gained wider attention after a 2004 film adaptation directed by Walter Salles. The film brought the story to audiences who had not read the diary and made the journey visual. The movie was nominated for Academy Awards and played in theaters worldwide, introducing a new generation to Guevara's early life.

The book also became assigned reading in high schools and universities, often in history, literature, or Latin American studies courses. Readers were drawn to it because it offered a personal, human perspective on Guevara before he became a historical figure. Teachers used it to discuss poverty, travel, social observation, and how people's views form over time.

Where to Read The Motorcycle Diaries

The English translation is published by Ocean Press and is widely available in bookstores, libraries, and online retailers. Different editions exist, including paperback and hardcover versions. Some editions include photographs from the original journey and an introduction providing context about Guevara's life.

Libraries typically carry copies in their general nonfiction or biography sections. University libraries often have multiple editions. The book is also available as an e-book through major digital retailers. If you are reading it for a class or research project, ask your library whether they have a copy or can obtain one through interlibrary loan.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Che Guevara write anything else besides The Motorcycle Diaries?

Yes. Guevara wrote essays, speeches, and political writings throughout his life. He wrote about guerrilla warfare, economics, and revolution. His political writings are collected in various volumes, but they are very different from the diary—more formal and ideological. The Motorcycle Diaries is his only major published personal journal.

Is The Motorcycle Diaries the same as the movie?

The movie is based on the diary but is not identical to it. The film condenses the nine-month journey into a two-hour narrative and adds scenes and dialogue that are not in the original diary. The book contains more detail about Guevara's thoughts and observations. Reading the diary gives you Guevara's own words; the film is an interpretation of those events.

Can I understand Guevara's politics from reading The Motorcycle Diaries?

The diary shows what Guevara observed and thought in 1952, but it does not fully explain his later political positions. It is useful for understanding what he saw and how he reacted to poverty and inequality, but his revolutionary ideology developed after this journey. The diary is a starting point, not a complete picture of his political thinking.

Who is Alberto Granado, the person traveling with Guevara?

Alberto Granado was Guevara's friend and fellow traveler. He was a biochemist and also kept notes during the journey. Granado lived until 2011 and later wrote his own account of the trip called Traveling with Che Guevara. He appears in both the diary and the film adaptation of the journey.