After the success achieved with the Cuban Revolution, the already famous revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara was not convinced of the end of his political struggles. After participating in the historic feat on the Central American island, he decided to expand the revolutionary possibility to other parts of the world. Noting that the American continent had become a great field of imperialist political influence, Guevara decided to engage in new struggles.
In 1966, after suffering a terrible defeat in Congo, he decided to organize a movement that would put an end to the current government in Bolivia. During this period, the country – one of the poorest in the entire continent – had been taken over by a dictatorship aligned with the interests of the North Americans. To this end, Che had the military support of veterans of the Cuban Revolution, who would soon meet their leader in the dense forests of the Bolivian interior.
Counting on the fame and experience he had accumulated in Cuba, Che Guevara was supported by a short contingent of twelve men assigned to participate in this mission. The lack of other recruits and the conflicting relations with the PCB (Bolivia Communist Party) seemed make things difficult, but even so, Che was betting on the success of the guerrilla focuses to be formed. So he spent two months studying the territory and recruiting new participants in the new revolution.
After this stage, it was necessary to train its fighters so that they would be able to face the difficulties imposed by the enemy fronts and follow military guidelines. The harsh conditions in the region eventually forced the loss of Benjamin Coronado Córdoba, a combatant who had died during the crossing of the Rio Grande. In the meantime, a small part of the revolutionaries stayed in the camp waiting for Che and the other members in training.
The discipline and perseverance required to wait for the return of a group deep in the Bolivian forests were too great for some of those in the camp. On March 11, 1967, Pastor Barrera and Vicente Rocabado deserted and left for the village of Camiri, where they tried to sell one of the rifles belonging to the revolutionary group. The lure caused by the strange offer was enough for them to be denounced to the local authorities.
Arrested, they ended up denouncing the “threatening” presence of Che Guevara in Bolivian territory. Before long, a detachment of Bolivian forces was assigned the mission to find the organized focus and its famed leader. In two attempts, the ill-prepared Bolivian army was easily defeated by Guevara-trained revolutionaries. Fearful, the Bolivian authorities soon turned to logistical and military support from the United States and other Latin American nations.
The presence of the military in the region posed great difficulties for Che to reorganize his combat strategies. Those who supported the guerrillas, transmitting information from the capital La Paz, were no longer able to carry out this transit. With that, Guevara decided to split his guerrilla group into two distinct parts: a first group would try to occupy the Muyupampa village, while the others waited for the commands of those who would advance along the territory.
During this action, the informants to be sent to La Paz were arrested and denounced the location of the guerrillas. With this, the Bolivian armies, now relying on American training and more advanced weapons, managed to carry out a new attack against Che Guevara's group. After that, without Che's return, the group that was left on hold decided to go to their leader in the vicinity of Vado del Yeso.
In this endeavor, the guerrillas led by Juan Vitalio, better known as Joaquín, were denounced by a peasant family who had previously cooperated with the participants in the action revolutionary. On August 31, 1967, an attack by the official forces managed to annihilate the group led by Joaquín and force the remaining group to change its entire strategy of action. After that, Guevara and his followers left for the regions of Pucará and La Higuera.
At this point, the shortage of men and hunger ravaged all those who insisted on continuing revolutionary action in Bolivia. On September 26, a new Army ambush managed to reduce the revolutionary troops to just sixteen members. Arriving in La Higuera, the group was spotted by an elderly peasant woman. Fearing the denunciation, the combatants offered money so that they would not be denounced by it.
The action taken did not have the expected effect, the peasant woman took the money and denounced the fighters. The next day, at dawn on October 8, the Bolivian Army managed to ambush Che Guevara and his other followers. In the vicinity of the Quebrada del Yuro, the armies managed to break up the entire guerrillas and arrest Guevara. After a brief interrogation, Che Guevara was shot by Lieutenant Mario Terán on the afternoon of October 9, 1967.
By Rainer Sousa
Graduated in History
Brazil School Team
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20th century - wars - Brazil School
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SOUSA, Rainer Gonçalves. "Che's Last Battle"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/guerras/a-ultima-batalha-che.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.
