قصة حياه جيفارا

The death of Che Geuvara



On October 9 1967, Ernesto "Che" Guevara died at the hands of US-trained Bolivian soldiers, trained, equipped and guided by US Green Beret and CIA operatives. His execution remains a historic and controversial event and 35 years later, the circumstances of his guerrilla foray into Bolivia, his capture, killing and burial are still the subject of intense public interest and discussion.

As part of the 35th anniversary of his death, the US National Security Archive's Cuba ********ation Project ische posting a selection of key CIA, State Department and Pentagon ********ation relating to Guevara and his death. This electronic ********s book is compiled from declassified records obtained by the National Security Archive, and by authors of two new books on Guevara: Jorge Casta?eda's Compa?ero: The Life and Death of Che Guevara (Knopf), and Henry Butterfield Ryan's The Fall of Che Guevara (Oxford University Press).

The selected ********s, presented in order of the events they depict, provide only a partial picture of US intelligenceche1 and military assessments, reports and extensive operations to track and "destroy" Che Guevara's guerrillas in Bolivia; thousands of CIA and military records on Guevara remain classified. But they do offer significant and valuable information on the high-level US interest in tracking his revolutionary activities, and US and Bolivian actions leading up to his death.
Above: Bolivian army officers show off Che Guevara's body to photographers
Far Right: Cuban-American CIA agent Felix Rodriguez had his picture taken with Che shortly before he was executed.

Fall, 1966: Che Guevara arrives in Bolivia some time between the second week of September and the first of November of 1966, according to different sources. He enters the country with forged Uruguayan passports to organise and lead a communist guerrilla movement. Che chooses Bolivia as the revolutionary base for various reasons. First, Bolivia is of lower priority than Caribbean Basin countries to US security interests and poses a less immediate threat. Second, Bolivia's social conditions and poverty are such that Bolivia is considered susceptible to revolutionary ideology. Finally, Bolivia shares a border with five other countries, which would allow the revolution to spread easily if the guerrillas are successful.
Spring, 1967: From March to August of 1967, Che Guevara and his guerrilla band strike "pretty much at will" against the Bolivian armed forces, which totals about 20 000 men. The guerrillas lose only one man compared to 30 of the Bolivians.

June, 1967: Cuban-American CIA agent Félix Rodr?guez receives a phone call from a CIA officer, Larry S, who proposes a special assignment for him in South America in which he will use his skills in unconventional warfare, counter-guerrilla operations and communications. The assignment is to assist the Bolivians in tracking down and capturing Che Guevara and his band. His partner will be "Eduardo Gonz?lez" and Rodr?guez is to use the cover name "Félix Ramos Medina".

August 31, 1967: The Bolivian army scores its first victory against the guerrillas, wiping out one-third of Che's men. The guerrillas are forced to retreat and Che's health begins to deteriorate.

September 22, 1967: Guevara Arze, the Bolivian Foreign Minister, provides evidence to the Organisation of American States to prove that Che Guevara is indeed leading the guerrilla operations in Bolivia. Excerpts taken from captured ********s, including comparisons of handwriting, fingerprints and photographs, suggests that the guerrillas are comprised of Cubans, Peruvians, Argentineans and Bolivians. The foreign minister's presentation draws a loud applause from the Bolivian audience, and he gives his assurance that "we're not going to let anybody steal our country away from us. Nobody, at any time."

September 24, 1967: Che and his men arrive, exhausted and sick, at Loma Larga, a ranch close to Alto Seco. All but one of the peasants flee upon their arrival.

September 26, 1967: The guerrillas move to the village of La Higuera and immediately notice that all the men are gone. The villagers have previously been warned that the guerrillas are in the area and they should send any information on them to Vallegrande. The remaining villagers tell the guerrillas that most of the people are at a celebration in a neighboring town called Jahue.

1 pm: As they are about to depart for Jahue, the rebels hear shots coming from the road and are forced to stay in the village and defend themselves. Three guerrillas are killed in the gun battle. Che orders his men to evacuate the village along a road leading to Rio Grande. The army high command and the Barriento government consider this encounter a significant victory. Indeed, Che notes in his diary that La Higuera has caused great losses for him in respect of his rebel cell.

CIA agent Félix Rodr?guez, under the alias, "Captain Ramos", urges Colonel Zenteno to move his Rangers battalion from La Esperanza headquarters to Vallegrande. The death of Antonio, the vanguard commander (also called Miguel by Rodr?guez), prompts Rodr?guez to conclude that Che must be close by. Colonel Zenteno argues that the battalion has not yet finished their training, but he will move them as soon as this training is complete. Convinced that he knows Che's next move, Rodr?guez continues pressuring Zenteno to order the 2nd Ranger battalion into combat.

September 26-27, 1967: After the battle of La Higueras, the Ranger battalion sets up a screening force along the river San Antonio to prevent exfiltration of the guerrilla force. During the mission, the troops capture a guerrilla known as "Gamba". He appears to be in poor health and is poorly clothed. This produces an immediate morale effect on the troops because they notice that the guerrillas are not as strong as they thought.

September 29, 1967: Colonel Zenteno is finally persuaded by Rodr?guez, and he moves the 2nd Ranger battalion to Vallegrande. Rodr?guez joins these 650 men who have been trained by US Special Forces Major "Pappy" Shelton.

October 7, 1967: The last entry in Che's diary is recorded exactly 11 months since the inauguration of the guerrilla movement. The guerrillas run into an old woman herding goats. They ask her if there are soldiers in the area but are unable to get any reliable information. Scared that she will report them, they pay her 50 pesos to keep quiet. In Che's diary it is noted that he has "little hope" that she will do so.

October 8, 1967: The troops receive information that there is a band of 17 guerrillas in the Churro Ravine. They enter the area and encounter a group of six to eight guerrillas, open fire, and kill two Cubans, "Antonio" and "Orturo". "Ramon" (Guevara) and "Willy" try to break out in the direction of the mortar section, where Guevara is wounded in the lower calf.

October 8, 1967: A peasant women alerts the army that she heard voices along the banks of the Yuro close to the spot where it runs along the San Antonio river. By morning, several companies of Bolivian Rangers are deployed through the area that Guevara's guerrillas are in. They take up positions in the same ravine as the guerrillas in Quebrada del Yuro.

About 12pm: A unit from General Prado's company, all recent graduates of the US Army Special Forces training camp, confronts the guerrillas, killing two soldiers and wounding many others. 1:30pm: Che's final battle commences in Quebrada del Yuro. Simon Cuba Sarabia, a Bolivian miner, leads the rebel group. Che is behind him and is shot in the leg several times. Sarabia picks up Che and tries to carry him away from the line of fire. The firing starts again and Che's beret is knocked off. Sarabia sits Che on the ground so he can return the fire. Encircled at less than 10 yards distance, the Rangers concentrate their fire on him, riddling him with bullets. Che attempts to keep firing, but cannot keep his gun up with only one arm. He is hit again in his right leg, his gun is knocked out of his hand and his right forearm is pierced. As soldiers approach Che he shouts, "Do not shoot! I am Che Guevara and worth more to you alive than dead." Che is taken prisoner.
Other sources claim that Sarabia is captured alive and at about 4pm he and Che are brought before Captain Prado. Captain Prado orders his radio operator to signal the divisional headquarters in Vallegrande informing them that Che is captured. With confirmation, "general euphoria" erupts among the divisional headquarters staff. Colonel Zenteno radios Captain Prado and tells him to immediately transfer Che and any other prisoners to La Higuera.

Stretched out on a blanket, Che is carried by four soldiers to La Higuera, seven kilometers away. Sarabia is forced to walk behind with his hands tied against his back. Just after dark the group arrives in La Higuera and both Che and Sarabia are put into the one-room schoolhouse. Later that night, five more guerrillas are brought in.

October 9, 1967: 6:15 am: Félix Rodr?guez arrives by helicopter in La Higuera, along with Colonel Joaqu?n Zenteno Anaya. Rodr?guez brings a powerful portable field radio and a camera with a special four-footed stand used to photograph ********s. He quietly observes the scene in the schoolhouse, and records what he sees, finding the situation "gruesome" with Che lying in dirt, his arms tied behind his back and his feet bound together, next to the bodies of his friends. He looks "like a piece of trash" with matted hair, torn clothes, and wearing only pieces of leather on his feet for shoes. In one interview, Rodr?guez states that, " I had mixed emotions when I first arrived there. Here was the man who had assassinated many of my countrymen. And nevertheless, when I saw him, the way he looked ... I felt really sorry for him."

Rodr?guez sets up his radio and transmits a coded message to the CIA station in either Peru or Brazil to be retransmitted to Langley headquarters. Rodr?guez also starts to photograph Che's diary and other captured ********s. Later, Rodr?guez spends time talking with Che and has a picture taken with him. The photos that Rodr?guez takes are preserved by the CIA.

10 am: The Bolivian officers are faced with the question of what to do with Che. The possibility of prosecuting him is ruled out because a trial would focus world attention on him and could generate sympathetic propaganda for Che and for Cuba. It is concluded that Che must be executed immediately, but it is agreed that the official story will be that he died from wounds received in battle. Félix Rodr?guez receives a call from Vallegrande and is ordered by the Superior Command to conduct Operations Five Hundred and Six Hundred. Five Hundred is the Bolivian code for Che and Six Hundred is the order to kill him. Rodr?guez informs Colonel Zenteno of the order, but also tells him that the US government has instructed him to keep Che alive at all costs. The CIA and the US government have arranged helicopters and airplanes to take Che to Panama for interrogation. However, Colonel Zenteno says he must obey his own orders and Rodr?guez decides "to let history take its course", and to leave the matter in the hands of the Bolivians.

Rodr?guez realises that he cannot stall any longer when a school teacher informs him that she has heard a news report on Che's death on her radio. Rodr?guez enters the schoolhouse to tell Che of the orders from the Bolivian high command. Che understands and says, "It is better like this ... I never should have been captured alive." Che gives Rodr?guez a message for his wife and for Fidel, they embrace and Rodr?guez leaves the room.

According to one source, the top ranking officers in La Higuera instruct the noncommissioned officers to carry out the order and straws are drawn to determine who will execute Che. Just before noon, having drawn the shortest straw, Sergeant Jaime Ter?n goes to the schoolhouse to execute Che. Ter?n finds Che propped up against the wall and Che asks him to wait a moment until he stands up. Ter?n is frightened, runs away and is ordered back by Colonel Selich and Colonel Zenteno.

"Still trembling" he returns to the schoolhouse and without looking at Che's face he fires into his chest and side. Several soldiers, also wanting to shoot Che, enter the room and shoot him.

In Jon Lee Anderson's account, Sergeant Ter?n volunteers to shoot Che. Che's last words, which are addressed to Ter?n, are "I know you've come to kill me. Shoot, you are only going to kill a man." Ter?n shoots Che in the arms and legs and then in Che's thorax, filling his lungs with blood.