Ñancahuazú Guerrilla
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The Ñancahuazú Guerrilla or Ejército de Liberación Nacional de Bolivia (''National Liberation Army of Bolivia''; ELN) was a group of mainly
Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
n and
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
n guerrillas led by the guerrilla leader
Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...
which was active in the Cordillera Province of
Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
from 1966 to 1967. The group established its base camp on a farm across the Ñancahuazú River, a seasonal tributary of the
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...
, 250 kilometers southwest of the city of
Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; "Holy Cross of the Mountain Range"), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River (Bolivia), P ...
. The guerrillas intended to work as a ''
foco A guerilla foco is a small cadre of revolutionaries operating in a nation's countryside. This guerilla organization was popularized by Che Guevara in his book Guerilla Warfare, which was based on his experiences in the Cuban Revolution. Guevara w ...
'', a point of armed resistance to be used as a first step to overthrow the Bolivian government and create a
socialist state A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country, sometimes referred to as a workers' state or workers' republic, is a Sovereign state, sovereign State (polity), state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. The ...
. The guerrillas defeated several Bolivian patrols before they were beaten and Guevara was captured and executed. Only five guerrillas managed to survive, including
Harry Villegas Harry "Pombo" Villegas (10 May 1940 – 29 December 2019) was a Cuban communist guerrilla. He was born in Yara and was a descendant of African slaves. He fought alongside Che Guevara in battles from the Sierra Maestra to the Bolivian insurgenc ...
, and fled to
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
.


Background


Congo Crisis

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...
was committed to ending
American imperialism American imperialism refers to the expansion of American political, economic, cultural, and media influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. Depending on the commentator, it may include imperialism through outright military conquest ...
, and he decided to travel to the
Congo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...
during its civil war to back the
anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economi ...
guerrilla groups. Guevara's aim was to
export the revolution Export of the revolution is actions by a victorious revolutionary government of one country to promote similar revolutions in unruled areas or other countries as a manifestation of revolutionary internationalism of certain kind, such as the Marxis ...
by instructing local anti-
Mobutu Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...
Simba Simba is a fictional character and the protagonist of Disney's ''The Lion King (franchise), The Lion King'' franchise. Introduced in the 1994 film ''The Lion King'', Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation's List of Walt Disney Anim ...
fighters in
Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
ideology and
foco A guerilla foco is a small cadre of revolutionaries operating in a nation's countryside. This guerilla organization was popularized by Che Guevara in his book Guerilla Warfare, which was based on his experiences in the Cuban Revolution. Guevara w ...
theory strategies of
guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...
. In his ''Congo Diary'', he cites the incompetence, intransigence and infighting of the local Congolese forces as key reasons for the insurgency's failure. On 20 November 1965, in ill health with
dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...
, suffering from acute asthma, and disheartened after seven months of frustrations and inactivity, Guevara left the Congo with the Cuban survivors (six members of his 12-man column had died). At one point, Guevara considered sending the wounded back to Cuba, and fighting in Congo alone until his death, as an ideological example. After being urged by his comrades and pressed by two emissaries sent by Castro, at the last moment, Guevara reluctantly agreed to leave Africa. In speaking about his experience in the Congo months later, Guevara concluded that he left rather than fight to the death because: "The human element for the revolution in the Congo had failed. The people have no will to fight. The revolutionary leaders are corrupt. In simple words... there was nothing to do." A few weeks later, when writing the preface to the diary he kept during the Congo venture, he began: "This is the story of a failure." At a meeting in
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
,
Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected P ...
, who was sympathetic to Guevara but disapproved of Guevara's choice of
guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...
as antiquated, warned Guevara about starting operations in Bolivia.


Guerrilla operations

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...
entered
Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
with the pseudonym "Adolfo Mena González" on 3 November 1966. Three days later, he left the capital city of
La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...
for the countryside. He planned to organize a
foco A guerilla foco is a small cadre of revolutionaries operating in a nation's countryside. This guerilla organization was popularized by Che Guevara in his book Guerilla Warfare, which was based on his experiences in the Cuban Revolution. Guevara w ...
with Bolivia as his target. Planning to start a guerrilla campaign against the military government of President
René Barrientos René Barrientos Ortuño (30 May 1919 – 27 April 1969) was a Bolivian military officer and politician who served as the 47th president of Bolivia twice nonconsecutively from 1964 to 1966 and from 1966 to 1969. During much of his first term, ...
, he assembled a band of 29 Bolivians, 25 Cubans, and a few foreigners which included Guevara himself, one woman from East Germany named
Tamara Bunke __NOTOC__ Tamara may refer to: People * Tamara (name), including a list of people with this name * Tamara (Spanish singer) (born 1984) * Tamara, stage name of Spanish singer Yurena (born 1969) * Tamara, stage name of Macedonian singer Tamara Tod ...
, and three Peruvians. This small but well-armed group carried out two successful ambushes against two army patrols in the spring of 1967, but failed to gain significant support from fellow opposition groups in Bolivia's cities or from local civilians, some of whom willingly informed the authorities of the guerrillas' movements. Barrientos was very concerned with Guevara's rising insurgency, and clamped down in the area with some very heavy-handed measures (such as the
San Juan massacre The San Juan massacre is the name given to an attack by the Bolivian military on miners of the Siglo XX-Catavi tin mining complex in Bolivia. The attack occurred on 24 June 1967, in the early hours of the traditional festival of the Night of ...
). Guevara felt that such an atrocity by the Bolivian Army and Air Force would be the tipping point in his favour in rallying the miners to his communist cause, but eventually the miners signed with government-owned mining company, COMIBOL, an agreement which Guevara felt undermined his reason for being there. As part of the operation, Tamara Bunke managed to infiltrate Bolivian high society to the point of winning the adoration of President
René Barrientos René Barrientos Ortuño (30 May 1919 – 27 April 1969) was a Bolivian military officer and politician who served as the 47th president of Bolivia twice nonconsecutively from 1964 to 1966 and from 1966 to 1969. During much of his first term, ...
and even going on holiday with him to
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...
. Bunke used her position to relay intelligence to the guerrillas and act as their contact with the outside world. In late 1966, the unreliability of many of her comrades in the urban network set up to support the guerrillas forced her to travel to their rural camp at Ñancahuazú on a number of occasions. On one of these trips, a captured Bolivian communist gave away a safe house where her jeep was parked in which she had left her address book. As a result, her cover was blown, and she had to join Guevara's armed guerrilla campaign. With the loss of their only contact with the outside world, the guerrillas found themselves isolated. By mid-1967, Guevara's men became fugitives, hunted down by Bolivian special forces and their American advisers. In the last few months of the venture, Guevara wrote in his diary that: "Talking to these peasants is like talking to statues. They do not give us any help. Worse still, many of them are turning into informants." The guerrillas suffered heavy losses in a series of clashes with the
Bolivian Army The Bolivian Army ( es, Ejército Boliviano) is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of Bolivia. Figures on the size and composition of the Bolivian army vary considerably, with little official data available. It is estimated that the arm ...
. Constantly on the move and facing shortages of food, medicine, and equipment, Guevara's guerrillas were worn down and several desertions occurred. Units of the Bolivian Army's 4th and 8th Divisions cordoned off the general area where Guevara was operating, gradually encircling the guerrillas. The rough terrain of canyons, rolling hills with deep thorn-infested ravines, and thick vegetation hampered the army's search for the guerrillas, all the while the guerrillas kept moving, trying to find a way to escape from the encirclement.The 2nd Ranger Battalion and the capture of Che Guevara
/ref> On 31 August 1967, a small group of the guerrillas, totaling eight men as well as Tamara Bunke, were ambushed and killed by Bolivian soldiers as they attempted to cross the
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...
in Bolivia. On 26 September 1967, Guevara's band, which by then had been reduced to 22 guerrillas, entered the village of
La Higuera La Higuera (; ) is a small village in Bolivia located in the Province of Vallegrande, in the Department of Santa Cruz. It is situated in the La Higuera Canton (civil parish) belonging to the Pucará Municipality. Geography The village is situ ...
, which they found almost deserted. There, Guevara discovered that the Bolivian authorities knew of his presence in the area when he found a telegram to the village mayor warning of the band's approach. As the guerrillas left the village, they fell into another Bolivian Army ambush and three more were killed. The guerrillas then fled two kilometers west into the rugged canyons of the area. Two more guerrillas deserted during the retreat. On 8 October 1967, the Bolivian Army's 2nd Ranger Battalion located Guevara's band. Most of the surviving guerrillas were surrounded and destroyed as a fighting force by the Bolivian Army Rangers. The fighting ended with Guevara's capture. Still, some guerrillas remained active across Bolivia during the rest of October and November 1967. Meanwhile, the Bolivian Army continued to hunt down the remaining guerrillas. In fighting that lasted from 8 to 14 October, the Bolivian Army Rangers killed 11 guerrillas for the loss of 9 killed and 4 wounded. Five other guerrillas deserted and escaped into
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
.


Guevara's capture and execution

Félix Rodríguez, a
Cuban exile A Cuban exile is a person who emigrated from Cuba in the Cuban exodus. Exiles have various differing experiences as emigrants depending on when they migrated during the exodus. Demographics Social class Cuban exiles would come from various eco ...
turned
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
Special Activities Division The Special Activities Center (SAC) is a division of the United States Central Intelligence Agency responsible for covert operation, covert and paramilitary operations. The unit was named Special Activities Division (SAD) prior to 2015. Within S ...
operative, advised Bolivian troops during the hunt for Guevara in Bolivia. In addition, the 2007 documentary ''
My Enemy's Enemy ''My Enemy's Enemy'' (''Mon Meilleur Ennemi'', My best enemy in french) is a documentary film directed by Kevin Macdonald in 2007. Synopsis The story of Klaus Barbie through World War II and post-war hiding journey in Bolivia including his in ...
'', directed by Kevin Macdonald, alleges that
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
war criminal
Klaus Barbie Nikolaus "Klaus" Barbie (25 October 1913 – 25 September 1991) was a German operative of the SS and SD who worked in Vichy France during World War II. He became known as the "Butcher of Lyon" for having personally tortured prisoners—primari ...
aka ''"The Butcher of Lyon"'', advised and possibly helped the CIA orchestrate Guevara's eventual capture.Barbie "Boasted of Hunting Down Che"
by David Smith, ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'', 23 December 2007.
On 7 October, a local informant apprised the Bolivian Special Forces of the location of Guevara's guerrilla encampment in the Yuro ravine. On 8 October, they encircled the area with 180 soldiers, and Guevara was wounded and taken prisoner while leading a detachment with
Simeon Cuba Sarabia Simeón Cuba Sarabia (15 January 1935 – 9 October 1967), also known as Willy, was a member of the Ñancahuazú guerrilla column led by Che Guevara in Bolivia. Born in the Cochabamba region of Bolivia, he became a leader among tin miners in ...
by a Bolivian Army Ranger unit commanded by Captain Gary Prado. Che biographer
Jon Lee Anderson Jon Lee Anderson (born January 15, 1957) is an American biographer, author, investigative reporter, war correspondent, and staff writer for ''The New Yorker'', reporting from war zones such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Uganda, Palestine, El Salvador, Ir ...
reports Bolivian Sergeant Bernardino Huanca's account: that a twice wounded Guevara, his gun rendered useless, shouted "Do not shoot! I am Che Guevara and worth more to you alive than dead." Guevara was tied up and taken to a dilapidated mud schoolhouse in the nearby village of
La Higuera La Higuera (; ) is a small village in Bolivia located in the Province of Vallegrande, in the Department of Santa Cruz. It is situated in the La Higuera Canton (civil parish) belonging to the Pucará Municipality. Geography The village is situ ...
on the night of 8 October. For the next half day, Guevara refused to be interrogated by Bolivian officers and would only speak quietly to Bolivian soldiers. One of those Bolivian soldiers, helicopter pilot Jaime Nino de Guzman, describes Che as looking "dreadful". According to de Guzman, Guevara was shot through the right calf, his hair was matted with dirt, his clothes were shredded, and his feet were covered in rough leather sheaths. Despite his haggard appearance, he recounts that "Che held his head high, looked everyone straight in the eyes and asked only for something to smoke." De Guzman states that he "took pity" and gave him a small bag of tobacco for his pipe, with Guevara then smiling and thanking him.The Man Who Buried Che
by Juan O. Tamayo, ''Miami Herald'', 19 September 1997.
Later on the night of 8 October, Guevara, despite having his hands tied, kicked Bolivian Officer Captain Espinosa into the wall, after the officer entered the schoolhouse in order to snatch Guevara's pipe from his mouth as a souvenir. In another instance of defiance, Guevara spat in the face of Bolivian Rear Admiral Ugarteche shortly before his execution. Captain Prado told Guevara that he would be taken to the city of
Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; "Holy Cross of the Mountain Range"), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River (Bolivia), P ...
and court-martialed there. The following morning on 9 October, Guevara asked to see the ''"maestra"'' (school teacher) of the village, 22-year-old Julia Cortez. Cortez would later state that she found Guevara to be an "agreeable looking man with a soft and ironic glance" and that during their short conversation she found herself "unable to look him in the eye", because his "gaze was unbearable, piercing, and so tranquil." During their short conversation, Guevara pointed out to Cortez the poor condition of the schoolhouse, stating that it was "anti-
pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and Developmental psychology, psychological development of le ...
" to expect campesino students to be educated there, while "government officials drive
Mercedes Mercedes may refer to: People * Mercedes (name), a Spanish feminine name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or last name Automobile-related * Mercedes (marque), the pre-1926 brand name of German automobile m ...
cars" ... declaring "that's what we are fighting against." Later that morning on 9 October, Bolivian President
René Barrientos René Barrientos Ortuño (30 May 1919 – 27 April 1969) was a Bolivian military officer and politician who served as the 47th president of Bolivia twice nonconsecutively from 1964 to 1966 and from 1966 to 1969. During much of his first term, ...
ordered that Guevara be killed. The order was relayed to Félix Rodríguez, who in turn informed the commander of the Bolivian Army's 8th Division, Colonel Joaquin Zenteno Anaya. The US government wanted Guevara to be taken to Panama for interrogation and the CIA had placed aircraft on standby for such a transfer. Rodríguez had been told to keep Guevara alive. He asked Anaya to allow Guevara to be taken into CIA custody in Panama, but Anaya insisted that the order to execute him be carried out. The executioner was Mario Terán, a
sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
in the Bolivian Army who had requested to shoot Che on the basis of the fact that three of his friends from B Company, all named "Mario", had been killed in an earlier firefight with Guevara's band of guerrillas. Taibo 1999, p. 267. To make the bullet wounds appear consistent with the story the government planned to release to the public, Félix Rodríguez told Terán not to shoot Guevara in the head, but to aim carefully to make it appear that Guevara had been killed in action during a clash with the Bolivian army. Captain Prado said that the possible reasons Barrientos ordered the immediate execution of Guevara is so there would be no possibility that Guevara would escape from prison, and also so there would be no drama in regard to a trial. Before Guevara was executed he was asked by a Bolivian soldier if he was thinking about his own immortality. "No", he replied, "I'm thinking about the immortality of the revolution." A few minutes later, Sergeant Terán entered the hut and ordered the other soldiers out. Alone with Terán, Che Guevara then stood up and spoke to his executioner: "I know you've come to kill me." Terán pointed his
M2 carbine The M1 carbine (formally the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine that was a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The M1 carbine was produced i ...
at Guevara, but hesitated in which Guevara spat at Terán which were his last words: "Shoot, coward! You are only going to kill a man!" Anderson 1997, p. 739. Terán then opened fire, hitting Guevara in the arms and legs. For a few seconds, Guevara writhed on the ground, apparently biting one of his wrists to avoid crying out. Terán then fired several times again, wounding him fatally in the chest at 1:10 pm, according to Rodríguez. In all, Guevara was shot by Terán nine times. This included five times in the legs, once in the right shoulder and arm, once in the chest, and finally in the throat. Months earlier, during his last public declaration to the
Tricontinental Conference The Tricontinental Conference was a gathering of countries that focused on anti-colonial and anti-imperial issues during the Cold War era, specifically those related to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The conference was held from 3rd to 16 Janu ...
,Message to the Tricontinental
A letter sent by Che Guevara from his jungle camp in Bolivia, to the Tricontinental Solidarity Organisation in Havana, Cuba, in the Spring of 1967.
Guevara wrote his own
epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...
, stating "Wherever death may surprise us, let it be welcome, provided that this our battle cry may have reached some receptive ear and another hand may be extended to wield our weapons."


Aftermath

After he was killed, Guevara's body was lashed to the landing skids of a helicopter and flown to nearby
Vallegrande Vallegrande (''Spanish: "Big Valley"'') is a small colonial town in Bolivia, located in the Department of Santa Cruz, some 125 km (bee-line) southwest of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. It is the capital of the Vallegrande Province and Vallegrande ...
, where photographs were taken of him lying on a concrete slab in the laundry room of the Nuestra Señora de Malta. As hundreds of local residents filed past the body, many of them considered Guevara's corpse to represent a "Christ-like" visage, with some of them even surreptitiously clipping locks of his hair as divine relics. Such comparisons were further extended when two weeks later upon seeing the post-mortem photographs, English art critic
John Berger John Peter Berger (; 5 November 1926 – 2 January 2017) was an English art critic, novelist, painter and poet. His novel '' G.'' won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism ''Ways of Seeing'', written as an accompaniment to the ...
observed that they resembled two famous paintings:
Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
's ''
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp ''The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp'' is a 1632 oil painting on canvas by Rembrandt housed in the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, the Netherlands. The painting is regarded as one of Rembrandt's early masterpieces. In the work, Nicolaes Tu ...
'' and
Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in order ...
's '' Lamentation over the Dead Christ''. There were also four correspondents present when Guevara's body arrived in Vallegrande, including Bjorn Kumm of the Swedish ''
Aftonbladet ''Aftonbladet'' (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lars Johan H ...
'', who described the scene in a 11 November 1967, exclusive for ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...
''. Bolivia had defeated its last major insurgency to date. President Barrientos himself died on 27 April 1969, in a helicopter crash. Most of Guevara's men were killed, wounded, or captured in the campaign. On 17 February 1968, five surviving guerrillas, three Cubans and two Bolivians, managed to get to Chile. There they were detained by policing carabiniers and sent to
Iquique Iquique () is a port city and commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the Atacama Desert. It has a population of 191,468 ...
. On 22 February, the guerrillas applied for asylum. While in Iquique they were visited by
Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...
, then
president of the senate of Chile The president of the Senate of Chile is the presiding officer of the Senate of Chile. The position comes after the Ministers of State in the line of succession of the President of Chile in case of temporary incapacitation or vacancy, according to ...
. After the guerrilla's meeting with Allende and other prominent leftist politicians the interior minister of the
Christian Democrat Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
government
Edmundo Pérez Zujovic Edmundo Pérez Zujovic (May 11, 1912 - June 8, 1971) was a Chilean businessman and politician, militant of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC). He served as Minister of State during the government of president Eduardo Frei Montalva, in the admini ...
decided to expel the guerrillas from Chile. Due to problems in obtaining transit visas the journey to Cuba was done via
Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.Salvador Allende, internacionalista
''Punto Final''. 16 May 2008.
After the failure of Guevara's insurgency, radical leftists in Bolivia began to organize again to set up guerrilla resistance in 1970 in what is known today as the Teoponte Guerrilla. Fernando Gómez, a former member of the Ñancahuazú Guerrilla, led the formation of Salvador Allende's informal bodyguard prior to the
1970 Chilean presidential election Presidential elections were held in Chile on 4 September 1970. Salvador Allende of the Popular Unity alliance won a narrow plurality in a race against independent Jorge Alessandri and Christian Democrat Radomiro Tomic, before having his victor ...
. By the time of the election, the bodyguard had expanded with the addition of more ex-Ñancahuazú Guerrillas volunteering to provide security to Allende and, later, members of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR). On one of Allende's first public appearances after his inauguration, a Chilean journalist inquired of the president who the armed men were accompanying him, to which Allende replied "a
group of personal friends The Group of Personal Friends ( es, Grupo de Amigos Personales), sometimes referred to by the Spanish acronym GAP, was the informal name of an armed guard of the Socialist Party of Chile maintained from 1970 to 1973 for the protection of Salvador ...
", giving the group the moniker from which it would thereafter be known. On 11 May 1976, Joaquin Zenteno Anaya, a career officer who was the person in charge of the Bolivian military region of Santa Cruz when Guevara captured and executed there, was shot dead in broad daylight underneath a subway bridge over the
Seine River ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributaries ...
in
Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. At the time of his assassination, Anaya was Bolivia's Ambassador to France. In a phone call to Agence France‐Presse, an unidentified person said the "International Che GueVara Brigades" claimed responsibility for the slaying.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nancahuazu Guerrilla History of South America Wars involving Bolivia Wars involving Cuba 1960s in Bolivia 20th-century rebellions Military assassinations Guerrilla wars Che Guevara Conflicts in 1967 Communism in Bolivia Communist rebellions Proxy wars