In the land of Ernesto "Che" Guevara's last stand, Bolivians are preparing to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the revolutionary's death with a mixture of honor and hatred.
For many here, the Argentine-born doctor-turned-guerrilla leader who was executed at age 39 remains an iconic hero, a socialist ideologue who was snatched from life too soon and is even revered as a saint by some.
But for others in the country where Che was killed four decades ago, particularly the soldiers involved in Che's capture, the occasion arouses feelings of bitterness and anger.
"We feel sick about this grand show that goes on every year on the anniversary of his death," said Gary Prado, 68, the commander of the elite army rangers unit that captured Che on Oct. 8, 1967.
"The homage that [Bolivian] President Evo Morales pays him is an offense to the country's dignity," he said.
"Rather than honor a man who came to invade the country, we should honor the armed forces, the soldiers who defended the country," Prado said.
Che led a small clutch of rebels in Bolivia for 11 months. His fighters took control of a remote swath of jungle with the aim of training a larger rebel army. Though they survived clashes, hunger and illness, they also encountered an unexpected lack of cooperation from local dissidents.
"He came here for our own good but the Bolivians betrayed him," said tailor Jose Mujica, 84, recalling how locals were harassed and threatened by soldiers who warned of consequences if they did not cooperate in the hunt for the rebel chief.
At the time, authorities even restricted the sale of cortisone in pharmacies because they had heard Guevara was suffering from worsening asthma and would probably need the medication as treatment.
The Bolivian army and two Cuban-American CIA agents captured Guevara in the village of La Higuera. He was taken to an abandoned school and the following afternoon, on Oct. 9, he was summarily executed by Bolivian Sergeant Mario Teran.
Susana Ocinaga, the nurse who washed the blood and mud from Guevara's corpse at the hospital morgue, said his "wide-open eyes" have left an indelible imprint on her memory.
"I felt like he was watching me, that he was going to speak to me," she recalled.
Now a 74-year-old grandmother, Ocinaga said that Guevara is "forever linked to Bolivia by his blood," even though his remains, recovered in 1997, have been shipped to Cuba, where he played a key role in that country's revolution of the 1950s.
In La Higuera, where the cult of Che lives on today with effigies and slogans adorning many buildings and household walls, 63-year-old farmer Manuel Cortez recalled his "penetrating gaze" which sometimes made the locals "afraid."
"But in fact he was fighting for the poor people. I will never forget the commander," he said.
A nighttime march with the lighting of a tribute flame is planned in La Higuera yesterday.
In neighboring Vallegrande, where his remains were found, a political-themed ceremony is set for today.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese