Les Principes de la Guérilla selon Che Guevara

La démission de Fidel Castro est l’occasion de revenir sur le manuel insurrectionnel de Ernesto Che Guevara, l'un des 'pères' de la révolution cubaine (voir aussi mon interview avec Olivier Dabène dans LE SOIR sur l'après-Castro réalisée en août 2006, après l'accident de santé de Castro). « La guerre de guérilla » est en quelque sorte le 'manuel militaire' qui a guidé l’insurrection à Cuba, d'abord, et dans le reste de l'Amérique latine et en Afrique, ensuite. Cet ouvrage est devenu l’un des grands classiques dans le domaine. Etant donné que les guerres asymétriques sont toujours d’actualité, voire même en augmentation, il est utile de revenir sur les grands principes de la guérilla selon Che Guevara, principes qui sont, en grande partie, toujours d'actualité.

Ci-après, quelques extraits centraux de l’ouvrage. Le texte est accessible en anglais ici.

Sur les insurgés
"Who are the combatants in guerrilla warfare? On one side we have a group composed of the oppressor and his agents, the professional army, well armed and disciplined, in many cases receiving foreign help as well as the help of the bureaucracy in the employ of the oppressor. On the other side are the people of the nation or region involved. It is important to emphasize that guerrilla warfare is a war of the masses, a war of the people. The guerrilla band is an armed nucleus, the fighting vanguard of the people. It draws its great force from the mass of the people themselves".
(…)
"The guerrilla fighter needs full help from the people of the area. This is an indispensable condition. This is clearly seen by considering the case of bandit gangs that operate in a region. They have all the characteristics of a guerrilla army: homogeneity, respect for the leader, valor, knowledge of the ground, and, often, even good understanding of the tactics to be employed. The only thing missing is support of the people; and, inevitably, these gangs are captured and exterminated by the public force".
(…)
"When we analyze more fully the tactic of guerrilla warfare, we will see that the guerrilla fighter needs to have a good knowledge of the surrounding countryside, the paths of entry and escape, the possibilities of speedy maneuver, good hiding places; naturally, also, he must count on the support of the people. All this indicates that the guerrilla fighter will carry out his action in wild places of small population".

Sur la guérilla
"The fundamental principle is that no battle, combat, or skirmish is to be fought unless it will be won".
(…)
"'Hit and run', some call this scornfully, and this is accurate. Hit and run, wait, lie in ambush, again hit and run, and thus repeatedly, without giving any rest to the enemy".
(…)
"Thus, it is clear that guerrilla warfare is a phase that does not afford in itself opportunities to arrive at complete victory. It is one of the initial phases of warfare and will develop continuously until the guerrilla army in its steady growth acquires the characteristics of a regular army".
(…)
"The blows should be continuous. The enemy soldier in a zone of operations ought not to be allowed to sleep; his outposts ought to be attacked and liquidated systematically. At every moment the impression ought to be created that he is surrounded by a complete circle".
(…)
"The fundamental characteristic of a guerrilla band is mobility. This permits it in a few minutes to move far from a specific theatre and in a few hours far even from the region, if that becomes necessary; permits it constantly to change front and avoid any type of encirclement".
(…)
"Another fundamental characteristic of the guerrilla soldier is his flexibility, his ability to adapt himself to all circumstances, and to convert to his service all of the accidents of the action".

Sur le terrorisme
"Acts of sabotage are very important. It is necessary to distinguish clearly between sabotage, a revolutionary and highly effective method of warfare, and terrorism, a measure that is generally ineffective and indiscriminate in its results, since it often makes victims of innocent people and destroys a large number of lives that would be valuable to the revolution. Terrorism should be considered a valuable tactic when it is used to put to death some noted leader of the oppressing forces well known for his cruelty, his efficiency in repression, or other quality that makes his elimination useful. But the killing of persons of small importance is never advisable, since it brings on an increase of reprisals, including deaths".