Che Guevara and his Cigar until The Indonesian Revolution

Ernesto “Che” Guevara once said: smoking a cigar at leisure is a true friend to a lonely warrior.

For Che Guevara, smoking a cigar is not a luxury, but an important part of his revolutionary path. Cigars such as spiritual components erode the hardships of life which are full of obstacles and distress.

Together with his loyal guerrillas who fought for the revolution, Guevara once said: smoking tobacco at leisure is a true friend for lonely warriors.

The habit of smoking cigarettes is also practiced by many world authorities, including Fidel Castro (his favorite brand Cohiba) and his opponent John F. Kennedy (bought a thousand more Cuban cigars before implementing an embargo), to great people like Winston Churchill (8 to 10 cigarettes per day).

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In Indonesia, one name that needs to be mentioned is Suharto, an anti-communist ruler for 32 years who did not hesitate to apply political intrigue among his loyal servants for power to remain safe.

Therefore, for several New Order officials who were close to the ‘Father of Development’, Suharto’s habit of smoking a cigar could illustrate the heart. Once in the 1980s, the Tien Soeharto land certificate was falsified by an Army officer.

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Army Chief of Staff General Rudini cracked down on the officer. However, the rumors that Rudini cracked down on the officers broke out. Rudini did not accept. He faced Suharto at the Palace, who was smoking a cigar. After Rudini explained, Soeharto ordered Rudini to go to Mrs. Tien in Cendana.

First Lady understands. Rudini’s name is free from land certificate matters. Soon Suharto passed by smoking a cigar. Smiling, Suharto asked, “How’s the matter?” Rudini answered, “It’s over, sir.”

Introduced by Europeans, used to Dispel Invaders 

Long before the regions now called Indonesia, the habit of smoking cigars here was originally introduced by Europeans.

Dutch people in the 17th century had the habit of “downing a glass of jenever before breakfast, and late in the evening consuming glasses of wine while sitting naked in his dark, windless house.

And because the small Dutch cigars are worth only a few guilders per box and the quaint Havana cigars are only a few more expensive guilders then the Betawi air is always blue from tobacco smoke, “Simon Winchester writes in Krakatoa: When the World Exploded August 27, 1883 (2007).

Slowly the people imitated him. For inferior natives, smoking cigars and drinking tobacco can make them feel like Europeans.

Adrian Vickers in Modern History of Indonesia (2005) concludes: “If wearing shoes makes someone on par with the Dutch, then the new sensation of smoking kretek typical of Indonesia is a marker of someone who has the sophistication of the city.”

Cigars don’t originate in Europe, and the origins of cigars aren’t quite right Some say that the habit of smoking cigars from Mayan civilization According to the Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World (2009), the Mayan term for smoking is cyclo, the root word for cigar alias cigars.

In the era of colonial rule, tobacco plantations, including for cigarettes and cigars, began to develop as an industry since the era of Forced Cultivation in 1830.

There have been at least three centers of cigar tobacco since that time: Deli, the east coast of Sumatra, Vorstenlanden or ‘Kingdom Land’ to refer to areas in Surakarta and Yogyakarta Sultanate, and Residency of Besuki (Jember, Probolinggo, Bondowoso, Situbondo, and Banyuwangi).

“Deli has become the most famous in the world as a production area for cigar wrapping leaves, “writes Jan Breman in Taming the Coolie (1997). According to the Kretek Encyclopedia (2014), which describes the world of tobacco from A-Z, a pioneer of tobacco plantations for cigars in Deli called Deli Maatschappij.

It was founded in 1869 by Jacobus Nienhuys, P.W. Janssen, and Jacob Theodare Cremer. He dominates the Deli tobacco market, known as the best cigar wrapping alias in the world. When World War I broke out (1914-1918), more than 92% of imported wraffer in the United States came from Sumatra. I

n Vorstanlanden, a man named Mendez da Costa was considered to be the pioneer of cigar type tobacco in the area that now entered the Klaten area in 1858. While in Besuki, Na-oogst alias tobacco for cigar cigarettes is now the largest center in Jember. Jember is also known for the development of the only Cuban tobacco plantation in Indonesia.