Hasta Siempre, Comandante

"Hasta siempre, comandante"
Song by Carlos Puebla
Songwriter(s)Carlos Puebla
The Che Guevara monument in Santa Clara, Cuba (detail)

"Hasta Siempre, Comandante," ("Until Forever, Commander" in English) or simply "Hasta Siempre", is a 1965 song by Cuban composer Carlos Puebla. The song's lyrics are a reply to revolutionary Che Guevara's farewell letter when he left Cuba, in order to foster revolution in the Congo and later Bolivia,[1] where he was captured and killed.

The lyrics recount key moments of the Cuban Revolution, describing Che Guevara and his role as a revolutionary commander. The song became iconic after Guevara's death, and many left-leaning artists did their own cover versions of the song afterwards. The title is a part of Guevara's well known saying "¡Hasta la victoria siempre!" ("Until victory, always!").[2]

The song has been covered numerous times.

  1. ^ Aviva Chomsky (13 December 2010). A History of the Cuban Revolution. John Wiley & Sons. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-4051-8774-9. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  2. ^ For some background information about the meaning and origin of this phrase see Hasta la victoria Siempre – always until victory!, 8. June 2020. In: Cubanews.de