Traveling through the Bolivian jungles was arduous in those early days of October 1967, but for Ernesto “Che” Guevara, fatigue was perhaps the least of his problems.
The Argentine-born doctor was used to hardship, long marches and nights in the mountains and jungles. This time, however, things did not go as he had planned.
His attempt to create a guerrilla nucleus in Bolivia that could gradually expand to other Latin American countries had reached a dead end.
Government forces were pursuing him, supply lines were practically closed, and the support of rural populations, on which he had based an important part of his strategy, never reached the extent he had hoped.
His own diary records this frustration. Che discovered that not only were the villagers not joining the guerrilla movement en masse, but in some cases they were informing the authorities about the guerrilla movements. His group had also become divided, had lost men, and was facing increasing problems with food, water, and communications.
Last days in the diary
On October 7, 1967 - the day before his capture - Che made his last entry in his diary. The 17 men who remained with him were moving through the night, trying to escape the army.
In this last account, he describes a tiring march and notes that the group left many traces behind them, a fact that was especially dangerous since the soldiers were now very close to them.
The guerrillas did not know the area well. In fact, just the day before the final battle, they had to ask an elderly shepherd about the distance between them and the surrounding villages, including La Higuera.
The Bolivian army, on the other hand, was now significantly reinforced. The 2nd Ranger Battalion, specially trained with American assistance, was deployed to the area, while the CIA was closely monitoring developments.
The United States had assisted Bolivia in its efforts to find Guevara, and CIA officers were on the ground.
Battle of the Yuro Gorge
At noon on October 8, 1967, guards under the command of Captain Gary Prado Salmon located the guerrillas in the area of Quebrada del Yuro, the Yuro creek.
According to reports reaching American services at the time, the battle began around 1 p.m. and lasted several hours. Three guerrillas were killed and two were captured. One of the prisoners was the man the entire Bolivian army had been searching for for months.
Che had tried to organize the retreat by dividing his men into smaller groups. He himself remained with a few fighters to cover the departure of the others.
Arma e tij u bllokua gjatë betejës dhe ai u plagos në këmbë. Sipas rindërtimit të ngjarjeve nga arkivat e deklasifikuara, kur ushtarët bolivianë e rrethuan, ai nuk ishte më në gjendje të vazhdonte luftën.
Narrativa popullore e kapjes së tij ka ruajtur frazën që ai dyshohet se u tha ushtarëve: "Mos qëlloni. Unë jam Che Guevara dhe vlej më shumë i gjallë sesa i vdekur".
Fjalët e sakta ndryshojnë në varësi të dëshmisë, por ajo që është e sigurt është se guerili më i famshëm i Amerikës Latine u kap i gjallë.
Pasditen e 8 tetorit, ai u çua i plagosur në La Higuera dhe u mbyll në një dhomë të vogël në shkollën e fshatit. Numërimi mbrapsht kishte filluar.
Nata në shkollë
Kur mbërriti në La Higuera, Che kishte një plagë në këmbë, por gjendja e tij nuk u konsiderua e tillë që të justifikonte vdekjen e menjëhershme. Kjo është veçanërisht e rëndësishme, sepse versioni i parë zyrtar i ngjarjeve nga autoritetet boliviane më vonë pohoi se ai kishte vdekur nga plagët e betejës.
Dokumentet e deklasifikuara të CIA-s thonë të kundërtën: Guevara ishte kapur me një plagë në këmbë, por ishte në gjendje relativisht të mirë.
Mëngjesin e 9 tetorit, agjenti i CIA-s me origjinë kubane, Felix Rodriguez, i cili po punonte me forcat boliviane, ishte gjithashtu në shkollë. Rodriguez u përpoq të nxirrte informacione prej tij.
Sipas një dokumenti të mëvonshëm të CIA-s, Che refuzoi marrjen në pyetje zyrtare, por pranoi të fliste. Ai foli, ndër të tjera, për Kubën, dështimin e misionit të tij në Kongo dhe të ardhmen e lëvizjes guerile në Bolivi.
Ai pranoi se fushata kishte pësuar një disfatë shkatërruese dhe se ishte i zhgënjyer nga mungesa e mbështetjes masive nga fshatarësia boliviane. Megjithatë, ai këmbënguli që lëvizja revolucionare mund të kthehej në të ardhmen.
Kodi "700": Komanda e ekzekutimit
Ndërkohë, fati i Che-së ishte vendosur tashmë në një nivel më të lartë. Një dokument amerikan i deklasifikuar regjistron kodin e përdorur në komunikime nga autoritetet boliviane: Kodi "500" i korrespondonte Guevarës, "600" nënkuptonte që ai duhej të mbetej gjallë dhe "700" që ai duhej të ekzekutohej.
Urdhri që më në fund arriti në La Higuera ishte "700". Félix Rodríguez më vonë pohoi se do të kishte preferuar që Che të mbetej gjallë në mënyrë që të mund të merrej në pyetje, por vendimi ishte marrë tashmë nga udhëheqja boliviane.
Fjalët e fundit para vrasjes
Ekzekutimi u krye nga ushtari bolivian Mario Teran. Urdhri ishte që të shtënat të dukeshin si plagë nga beteja e ditës së mëparshme.
Ekzistojnë disa versione të ndryshme të fjalëve të fundit të Che-së. Më i famshmi është se ai i tha ekzekutorit të tij të qëllonte sepse "do të vrasësh vetëm një burrë". Një dokument amerikan i shkruar disa ditë më vonë regjistron një version pak më ndryshe: "Mbani mend se po vrisni një burrë".
Pak pas orës një të pasdites më 9 tetor 1967, të shtëna u dëgjuan brenda shkollës së vogël. Che Guevara ra i vdekur në moshën 39-vjeçare.
A memo from then-CIA director Richard Helms, written two days later, clearly stated that the order had come from Bolivian army headquarters and that Guevara was executed with a burst of automatic fire.
The body was transported to Vallegrande and placed in a hospital, where journalists and photographers were invited. Images of the dead Che, with his eyes open and his torso bare, traveled around the world. The presentation of the body had a very specific purpose: the Bolivian authorities wanted there to be no doubt that the man they had been following for months was really dead.
However, at the same time, they did not want a pilgrimage site to be created around his grave.
Before the secret burial of the body, the Bolivians cut off Che's hands and preserved them so that his identity could be definitively verified through fingerprints. The location of his burial remained a secret for nearly 3 decades.
In 1997, after investigations, his remains were found in a mass grave near the runway of Vallegrande airport, along with the remains of other guerrillas.
They were transported to Cuba and buried in Santa Clara, where they are today in the mausoleum dedicated to Che Guevara and his comrades.
The diary that survived
Among the items seized from Che was the diary in which he had recorded his campaign in Bolivia almost daily.
The first entry was made on November 7, 1966, shortly after his arrival in the Niancahuasu region, and the last on October 7, 1967, on the eve of his arrest.
Its pages record the gradual decline of the group: absences, failed contacts with the local population, losses of fighters, fragmentation of the guerrillas and the ever-tightening encirclement of the army.
The diary eventually reached Cuba and was published in 1968, providing one of the most important primary sources for the last 11 months of Guevara's life. ©LAPSI.al
