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9 October 1967. Che Guevara's death
Aleida 2013.11.05. 10:54
On 9th of October 1967 the Bolivian president, René Barrientos gave the order to execute Che Guevara - although the American government wanted him to stay alive and be taken to Panama for further interrogation and even American helicopters were on stand-by to evacuate Che.
The order arrived at La Higuera at 12:30.
Willy was killed, then Felix Rodriguez took Che out of the school building where the last photographs of Che were taken. Then Rodriguez took Che back - while the other guerrillas were being shot nearby.
According to Rodriguez, Che suspected that he would be killed soon and when he was told about the command, he faced death with grace and courage.
The execution took place at 1 p.m.
A volunteer was asked and Sergeant Mario Terán applied for the job. He had lost three of his comrades during the fight against the guerrillas on the previous day, that is why he chose to do the execution, but he did not dare to face Che, so he drank a couple of drinks before fulfilling his task.
When Che saw the sergeant, he already knew what was going to happen. Terán hesitated, thereupon Che shouted at him: - „I know that you came to kill me. Shoot. Do it. Shoot, you coward! You are only going to kill a man!” – then Terán shot.
(There are different versions about Che's last words.)
As he was ordered, he shot the bullets at Che's lower body, so the previously published announcement, that Che died in combat on the previous day, be verified. Che fell on the floor, biting his wrist in pain in order not to cry out, then he was shot again. He was dying when someone shot him in the heart and he died. His body was tied on the foot of a helicopter and taken to Vallegrande where photographs and reporters took photos of him.
Then his hands were cut off and sent to Buenos Aires for fingerprint identification. The Bolivian soldiers cut locks of his hair as souvenirs, the nuns in the hospital kept his filthy socks as a relic.
It was announced that his body was cremated but in real it was taken to and buried in a secret place, near an airstrip in Vallegrande.
The Bolivian and the American government hoped that this way, by this secret burial Che would be forgotten.
Well, they failed.
Che became a legend - and even the American media helped to create this status. They wrote sensational articles about him - for example Time magazine published the untrue story of the love affair between Che and Tania on 12th October 1970.
The school building in La Higuera, where Che was kept and killed, and the laundry room of the Nuestra Señora de Malta in Vallegrande, where he was shown to the press - both became places of pilgrimages. People came and come to visit these places, they bring flowers, light candles and leave messages on the walls. In La Higuera Che Guevara is adored as San Ernesto de la Higuera, while in Cuba he has been worshipped alongside the gods and goddesses of the Santería.
Mario Terán went into hiding after the execution, he turned to alcohol and he lost his eyesight. In 2007 a team of Cuban eye surgeons working in Bolivia as part of a good will mission restored his eyesight so for the first time he could see his grandchildren.
The autopsy report:
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