Why “guevarism” is a great word
GUEVARISM — [Noun] The political philosophy and revolutionary strategy derived from Che Guevara, prioritizing guerrilla warfare as a catalyst for socialist revolution. From the proper name Guevara (after Argentine Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara) + the suffix -ism (denoting a distinctive practice, system, or philosophy). The term is first attested in the 1960s, with the earliest known use recorded in 1968. Unlike Marxism-Leninism, which insists on a disciplined vanguard party, or reformism, which trusts in gradual institutional change, Guevarism is the doctrine of the catalytic guerrilla foco. It is the scent of damp canvas in a mountain camp, the mimeographed manifesto passed in shadow, and the romantic silhouette against a jungle canopy—a testament to the faith that history can be forced, violently and immediately, into a new shape.