Che Guevara after his execution on October 9, 1967
A 1939 Norton 500cc motorcycle races through the rural countryside of South America, snaking its way up the roads and encountering the beauty and the ugly truths that the land has to offer; the odyssey will capitulate a naive 23-year-old medical student to becoming one of the centuries most controversial figures.
Ernesto “Che” Guevera, his iconic portrait by Alberto Korda, is adorned on the shirts of budding rebels to murals on the side of schools is a testament to the lasting legacies of the Marxist revolutionary who helped to overthrow the Batista regime in Cuba. In the midst of the Cold War, the Cuban revolution opened up new possibilities throughout the third world; no longer would countries have to be “vassals” to the United States or other imperialist nations; instead, they could choose to side with the Soviet Union in the hopes of acquiring greater autonomy over their affairs. Not oblivious to the significance of the successful revolt and counter-attack against American back troops in the Bay of Pigs invasion, Che hoped to spread the Communist revolution throughout the world. Creating the Ministry of Exporting Revolution, Guevara traveled to the Congo and Bolivia in the hopes of manufacturing “100 Vietnams” to contest the imperialist core (Woods et al. 210). After failing to recruit more revolutionaries in the Congo, he headed to Bolivia in hopes of better luck under the pseudonym, Adolfo Mena Gonzalez (Anderson 669). However, in less than a year, Che and his comrades would be surrounded by the Bolivian military with no chance of escape. Captured, Che spent his last few hours in a location that would have ignited his journey in the first place, a dilapidated mud-walled schoolhouse left in “a state of poverty that depresses the heart” (Anderson 704).
Declassified CIA documents offer us a glimpse into the final hours of Guevera’s life in La Higuera; his exchange with his captors is charged with stubborn resistance and ideal, or naive, affirmations of the future of Latin America. Although the name is censored in the original document by the CIA director, Richard Helms, the CIA operative assigned was Felix Rodriguez. Rodriguez’s attempt to interrogate Che about the whereabouts of other revolutionaries failed but managed to coax him into a conversion. Discussing a wide array of topics, from former fallen comrades to his failures in the Congo, Che arrives at the topic of Cuba’s economic situation, describing Cuba as the “only self-sufficient country in the socialist world.” In a plan to shift away from Cuba’s reliance on sugar export, the young revolutionaries wanted to diversify and industrialize the country; Che played a vital role in this endeavor as he would helm the title of Minister of Industry until 1964 (Dawson 214). However, the idealism present in Che’s early doctrine to shift away from individualism and cultivate a new consciousness in the Cuban people had failed, and so had economic diversification as the government encountered food shortages in 1962 (Dawson 216). Che retorts that the production of meat would make Cuba self-sufficient; eventually, Cuba will begin to export this product to further help their dire situation.
As Rodriquez and Guevera’s conversation continues, Che is able to pick up that Rodriquez is not Bolivian. Suspecting that Rodriquez is either Puerto Rican or Cuban, Rodriquez responded by affirming that he is, in fact, Cuban and part of the CIA-trained anti-Castro 2506 Brigade, to which Che responds with a simple “ha” (Anderson 706). Perhaps Che recalled all those Castro speeches in which he condemned “gusanos,” pro-American anti-revolutionaries who fled on the eve of the revolution, or he found it painfully ironic. Che was able to repeal the Bay of Pig invaders, only to be snared by one six years later. In these exchanges, Rodriguez’s hatred for the man seemed to dissipate; it is impossible to say if Che’s feelings were mutual. Orders had come from the Bolivian High Command to have Che executed, and orders were orders. Rodriguez asked if Che had any final messages for his family; Che exclaimed, “tell Fidel that he will soon see a triumphant revolution in America.” Whether he believed it or not mattered very little; it was principles that drove Che, and it was principles that he would die with. Rodriquez embraced Che and let destiny take its course.
Among the captured documents from Che in La Higuera were two volumes of his Bolivian Campaign diaries, from which the CIA took extensive notes. A notable aspect of Che’s campaign in Bolivia was the limited amount of resources they began with. Similar to that of the Cuban revolution, they gambled on recruiting more rebels as they made their way into the countryside as per Che’s doctrine of guerilla warfare (Che 212). Many of these original rebels and later recruited rebels were not of Bolivian origins. Two Cubans and one Bolivian accompanied his arrival to the country; eventually, he amassed an army of 40, of which half were Cubans who entered the country via Porto Alegre. A notable figure among these revolutionaries was Juan Pablo Chang Navarro, a Peruvian of Chinese origins, who offered 20 other Peruvians to join the fight; however, he was only able to bring two. In keeping with the ideals of people like Augusto Sandino and Simon Bolivar, Che “internationalized” his band of guerillas (Rostow 3). Being accused of invasion rather than revolution by Lieutenant Colonel Andres Selich, Che, with his principle of Pan-Americanism, claims that he is Argentinian, Cuban, Bolivian, Peruvian, Ecuadorian, etc. To Che, these borders were arbitrary, borders carved out by former colonizers. For the revolutionaries, they were headed toward success; however, the conditions in Bolivia were not suitable for such a violent swing toward upheaval. The government was able to tame the revolution in the 1950s through the nationalization of the tin mines and enacting land reforms. This, coupled with Che’s break from the Bolivian Communists, made the situation volatile and uncertain, eventually leading to his capture.
Mario Terán entered the rooms, stumbling, eager to avenge the death of his friends at the hands of the guerillas. Hesitant, Che’s last words to him and the world were, “Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man.” Terán pulls the trigger, remembering his orders to make it seem as if Che died in a firefight. Blood fills his lungs; Che bites down on one of his wrists to prevent himself from crying out. On October 9, 1967, Ernesto “Che” Guevara passed away.
Documents:
CIA Memorandum, Richard Helms to Dean Rusk et al., “Statements by Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara Prior to his Execution in Bolivia,” October 13, 1967 (declassified August 26, 2007)
NSC Note, Walt Rostow to President Johnson, [attaching CIA Intelligence Information Cable, subject: “highlights of ‘Che’ Guevara’s Diary”], October 21, 1967 (declassified January 10, 2011)
Works Cited:
Anderson, Jon Lee. Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life. Grove Press, 2010.
Dawson, Alexander. Latin America since Independence a History with Primary Sources. Vol. 3, ROUTLEDGE, 2022.
Guevara, Che. “Essence of Guerilla Warfare” In, Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations, edited by James A. Wood and Anna Rose Alexander, 16-21. 5th ed. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.
Wood, James A. and Anna Rose Alexander, editors. Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations. 5th ed. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.
