In his final moments, communist revolutionary Che Guevara faced a grim fate.
With his leg pierced by bullets and his weapon knocked from his grasp, Ernesto “Che” Guevara surrendered to the U.S.-trained Bolivian forces closing in on him.
He pleaded, “Do not shoot!
I am Che Guevara and more valuable to you alive than dead,” after enduring 2 1/2 years in secrecy before finally being apprehended.
Guevara, the iconic guerrilla leader known for leading firing squads post the Communist triumph in Cuba, had abruptly resigned from his government positions in Cuba to embark on missions to spark revolutions in Africa and South America.
Unfortunately, these endeavors, including the one aimed at inciting an uprising in Bolivia, were met with failure.
On that fateful October 8, 1967, afternoon, Guevara was taken captive and transported by soldiers to a small schoolhouse in La Higuera, Bolivia, merely four miles away from the site of his capture, according to Richard Harris’s biography, “Death of a Revolutionary: Che Guevara’s Last Mission.”
Félix Rodríguez, a Cuban American CIA operative masquerading as a Bolivian military officer, discovered Guevara the following day inside the schoolhouse.
Guevara appeared disheveled, covered in dirt, with tattered and soiled clothing, and his limbs bound.
While the U.S. government aimed to have him alive for interrogation, the Bolivian authorities determined that Guevara must be executed to prevent a sympathetic public trial, with the official narrative suggesting he perished in combat.
Rodríguez, pivotal in Guevara’s capture, experienced conflicting sentiments during this period.
Despite acknowledging Guevara’s role in assassinating numerous individuals, Rodríguez expressed some pity toward him.
As he recounted in an interview years later, Guevara acknowledged his imminent demise upon being informed by Rodríguez.
The two men shared a poignant moment of embrace before Rodríguez departed, instructing a soldier to aim below the neck to align with the official account of Guevara’s death in battle.
Guevara’s parting words were directed at Sgt.
Jaime Terán, the soldier tasked with executing him, as noted in journalist Jon Lee Anderson’s biography, “Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life.” Guevara stoically accepted his fate, recognizing the inevitability of his demise, stating, “I know you’ve come to kill me.
Shoot, you are only going to kill a man.” Terán discharged his weapon, striking Guevara in the arms, legs, and thorax, ultimately claiming the life of the revered guerrilla leader, who was loved by many and despised by others, 50 years ago at the age of 39.
Following his death, Guevara was discreetly interred in a mass grave, with Bolivian soldiers exhibiting his emaciated body to the media in Vallegrande.
His remains were laid out on a hospital laundry sink for photographic documentation, a spectacle orchestrated by the Bolivian commander, who also ordered the severance of both of Guevara’s hands to confirm his identity through fingerprint analysis, providing definitive proof of his demise to Castro.
Confirmation of Guevara’s death reached the United States several days later, as detailed in a memorandum to President Lyndon B. Johnson by adviser Walt Rostow.
The report underscored the significance of Guevara’s passing within Latin America, noting his strategic influence on Cuban revolutionaries and predicting his glorified portrayal posthumously.
This prophecy materialized when Castro delivered a eulogy honoring Guevara as a valiant martyr to a vast audience at Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución.
In the five decades since his death, Che Guevara has ascended to an emblematic status, with his life and legacy enshrined in romanticized narratives.
The locales associated with his capture and demise have become pilgrimage sites for tourists, memorializing his memory.
Guevara’s image, characterized by his distinctive beret, unkempt beard, and intense gaze, adorns various mediums, including T-shirts, murals, and banners.
Jon Lee Anderson, renowned for his comprehensive biographical works on Guevara, portrays him as a charismatic yet enigmatic figure, whose audacity was often overshadowed by his arrogance and volatility.
Guevara epitomized fearlessness as a leader but displayed recklessness by forsaking his family without certainty of return in his late thirties, prompting Anderson’s introspection on the extraordinary life choices of this revolutionary icon.
