La Higuera (; ) is a small village in
Bolivia located in the
Province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
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 Vallegrand ...
, 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 situated some 150 km (bee-line) southwest 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.
Situated on the Pirai River in the eastern Tropical Lowlands of Bolivia ...
and 15 southwest of
Pucará. La Higuera lies at an elevation of 1950 m. Its population (according to the 2001 census) is 119, mainly indigenous
Guaraní people
Guarani are a group of culturally-related indigenous peoples of South America. They are distinguished from the related Tupi by their use of the Guarani language. The traditional range of the Guarani people is in present-day Paraguay between the ...
.
History
On October 8, 1967, the
Argentine Marxist revolutionary
was captured by the
CIA-assisted
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 ...
in the nearby ravine ''Quebrada del Churo'', ending his campaign to create a continental revolution in South America. Che Guevara was held in the schoolhouse, where he was killed the next day. The body was then brought to
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 Vallegrand ...
, where it was placed on display and afterwards secretly buried under an airstrip.
Che tourism
A monument to "El Che" and a memorial in the former schoolhouse are the major tourist attraction for this area. La Higuera is a stop on the "Ruta del Che" (Che Guevara Trail) which was inaugurated in 2004.
The Che Trail in Bolivia
/ref>
References
External links
Che Guevara Legacy Lives on in Bolivia
''BBC News'', August 24, 2004
Bolivian Town Recalls Che Assassination
''Prensa Latina'', October 8, 2008
Che Sat Here: The Making (and Marketing) of a Martyr
by Alex Ayala Ugarte, ''Virginia Quarterly Review'', Winter 2009 Issue
Che Guevara's 81st birthday Marked in Bolivia
''Ahora'', June 15, 2009
{{Che Guevara
Populated places in Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia)
Che Guevara