He is arguably the most well-known revolutionary in modern history and his now iconic photo can be seen on everything from t-shirts to coffee mugs. He has been the subject of many romanticized books and movies, which often gloss over the brutal methods he and others employed to achieve their objectives. Ernesto â??Cheâ? Guevara was a medical student who became radicalized by the poverty and injustice he saw in Latin America in the 1950s. While living in Mexico City, he met Raul and Fidel Castro and sailed to Cuba aboard the yacht, Granma, to fight Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara soon rose to prominence and was promoted to second-in-command, playing a pivotal role in the victorious two-year guerrilla campaign that deposed the Batista regime. Following the Cuban Revolution, Guevara performed a number of key roles in the new government, including major changes in the agricultural sector and reviewing the appeals and firing squads for those convicted as war criminals during the revolutionary tribunals.
He was also considered the chief architect behind enhanced ties with the USSR; however, he later grew angry with Khrushchev when he withdrew the nuclear missiles from Cuba and later said the cause of socialist liberation against global â??imperialist aggressionâ? would ultimately have been worth the possibility of â??millions of atomic war victims.â? His increasing radicalization towards Maoist-style communism led to tensions with the Castros and their relations with Moscow. Guevara then tried to foment international revolution in Algeria and the Congo before heading for Bolivia.
Bolivia, Santa Cruz, Vallegrande, Body of Che Guevara after insertion of formaldehyde, with forceps used to clamp the severed artery, late afternoon Monday 09 October 1967.In the summer of 1966, Ambassador Douglas Henderson at Embassy La Paz received intelligence about the planning of a guerrilla uprising to overthrow Bolivian President René Barrientosâ?? administration. Two members of the militant group were detained and interrogated when they were caught trying to sell their weapons in Camiri, a town just outside of the dry jungle in the Andes. It was then discovered that Guevara was the leader of this group. This is the story of how the famed revolutionary met his end on October 9, 1967 at age 39. Ambassador Henderson served in Bolivia from 1963-1968; he was interviewed beginning in April 1988 by Richard Nethercut.
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