 In August 1961 , during an economic conference of the Organization of American States in Punta del Este , Uruguay , Che Guevara sent a note of " gratitude " to United States President John F. Kennedy through Richard N. Goodwin , Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter @-@ American Affairs . It read " Thanks for Playa Girón ( Bay of Pigs ) . Before the invasion , the revolution was shaky . Now it 's stronger than ever . " In response to United States Treasury Secretary Douglas Dillon presenting the Alliance for Progress for ratification by the meeting , Guevara antagonistically attacked the United States claim of being a " democracy " , stating that such a system was not compatible with " financial oligarchy , discrimination against blacks , and outrages by the Ku Klux Klan " . Guevara continued , speaking out against the " persecution " that in his view " drove scientists like Oppenheimer from their posts , deprived the world for years of the marvelous voice of Paul Robeson , and sent the Rosenbergs to their deaths against the protests of a shocked world . " Guevara ended his remarks by insinuating that the United States was not interested in real reforms , sardonically quipping that " U.S. experts never talk about agrarian reform ; they prefer a safe subject , like a better water supply . In short , they seem to prepare the revolution of the toilets . " 
