authorities, the disagreements that caused some members to leave the movement, and the difficulty of traveling over mountains. He also shared that he learned it was essential to have the working class join in the revolution and fight for it. He said that the only foreign enemies of the revolution were those that had economic interests and connections with the U.S. State Department.
The U.S. government considered him a threat and the news media were fascinated by him. Both closely followed the activities of Che Guevara. Numerous articles about him were featured in Time magazine and other media. Time ran an illustration of Che Guevara on its cover in August 1960.
Che Guevara held several positions in the new Cuban government, including head of the national bank, and was considered Fidel Castro’s right hand. However, he remained committed to overthrowing other oppressive regimes and in 1965 he left Cuba to lead revolutions in Latin America and Africa.
In his farewell letter to Castro, written April 1, 1965, Che Guevara wrote: “Other nations of the world summon my modest efforts of assistance. I can do that which is denied you due to your responsibility as the head of Cuba, and the time has come for us to part.
You should know that I do so with a mixture of joy and sorrow. I leave here the purest of my hopes as a builder and the dearest of those I hold dear. And I leave a people who received me as a son. That wounds a part of my spirit. I carry to new battlefronts the faith that you taught me, the revolutionary spirit of my people, the feeling of fulfilling the most sacred of duties: to fight against imperialism wherever it may be. This is a source of strength, and more than heals the deepest of wounds.’
In 1967, while leading a small guerilla band of revolutionaries in Bolivia, he was captured and wounded by members of the Bolivian Army. He was executed a few days later on October 9, 1967. He was buried in the small village of Vallegrande, Bolivia.
Che Guevara’s revolutionary statements and activities had made government leaders throughout Latin America nervous. U.S. president Lyndon Johnson sent men to assist in finding and eventually killing Che Guevara in Bolivia. Declassified memos and telegrams sent to the president describe the U.S. military’s training of Bolivian troops to fight the guerillas, updates on Che Guevara’s whereabouts, and confirmation of his death.
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