GOP Rep. Unleashes on U.N. Group for 'Glorifying Mass Murderer Che Guevara

In this July 7, 2008 file photo, manuscripts and photographs belonging to Cuba's revolutionary hero Ernesto "Che" Guevara are displayed for the press in La Paz, Bolivia. (AP Photo, File)

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced it will include the writings of Cuban Revolution leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara in its Memory of the World Register. And Cuban-born Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), Chairman of the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, is not at all pleased with UNESCO’s decision to “protect and care for” the noted revolutionary’s writings.

The documents include original manuscripts from "Che's" youthful "Motorcycle Diaries" days, to his diary from the mountains of Bolivia where he was executed by that nation's military in 1967.

The Guevara documents are now recognized as “world heritage” and will be “protected and cared for,” as the Associated Press puts it, by UNESCO.

“UNESCO continued its longstanding tradition of making a mockery of its own institution when it opted to venerate and memorialize the life of a blood thirsty, murderous sadist, Che Guevara, by including his works as an entry in its ‘Memory of the World Register,’” Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement titled, “UNESCO Once Again Makes a Mockery of its Own Ideals by Glorifying Mass Murderer Che Guevara.”

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.).

“This decision is more than an insult to the families of those Cubans who were lined up and summarily executed by Che and his merciless cronies but it also serves as a direct contradiction to the UNESCO ideals of encouraging peace and universal respect for human rights,” the statement adds.

It continues:

This latest reprehensible action is a microcosm of the existing problems within UNESCO today. There isn’t any semblance of common sense left in that body. From its decision to accept a non-existent state of Palestine into its membership, to glorifying Che’s ruthless crimes against humanity, UNESCO deserves no funding from US taxpayers. The Obama Administration is wrong to continue to seek to restore funding to UNESCO.

The Administration must immediately end its push to send $225 million in American taxpayer money to UNESCO that would enable that organization to keep undermining our friend and ally, the democratic Jewish State of Israel, and would insult the memories of those who suffered under Che and continue to suffer under the Castro brothers.

The Memory of the World Register comprises nearly 300 documents and collections from five continents. Guevara's works are among 54 new additions this year.

Guevara’s widow, daughter, and son were on hand at a ceremony in Havana last week to celebrate the inclusion of the documents in the register.

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(H/T: WZ). The AP contributed to this report.