Che has undoubtedly been romanticised; the darker side to his story, ignored.

It gives rise to the question: were he to have survived, would his myth be as potent?

Ultimately, as with all heroes, it is the good that one ought to take from Che's story. All the young revolutionary wanted to do -- initially, at least -- was make things better for the less fortunate. If his methods were certainly questionable, his intentions have rarely been faulted. That he continues to inspire a world starved of heroes four decades after he left it proves, if nothing else, that Che touched a great many lives. Photograph: The little village of La Higuera, in southwest Bolivia, 330 km from Santa Cruz, where Che Guevara was killed after being held captive in a schoolhouse. He was later buried near an airstrip at Vallegrande. A special memorial and statue of the Cuban-Argentine revolitionary leader now stands at the spot. Bolivia honoured him on his 78th birth anniversary with a special tribute here in 2006 attended by Bolivian President Evo Morales and Guevara's eldest son Camilo. A Bolivian Army helicopter participates in the ceremony. Photograph: Aizar Raldes/AFP/Getty Images