The Bolivian Diary (36 page)

ACUÑA NÚÑEZ, JUAN VITALIO (Joaquín
or
Vilo).
Born in the Sierra Maestra, Cuba, in 1925. He was one of the first peasants recruited by the Rebel Army, which he joined in April 1957. Due to his role in the revolutionary war, he attained the rank of major. A member of the central committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, he arrived at the Ñacahuazú farm at the end of November 1966. He commanded the rearguard detachment, soon after it left for Muyupampa to facilitate the withdrawal of Ciro Bustos and Régis Debray. Before he was able to meet up with Che, he was killed along with his entire group on August 31, 1967, in the ambush at Puerto Mauricio, on the Río Grande River. Vado del Yeso, the name under which this action has passed into history, is on the Masicuri River, a tributary of the Río Grande.

ADRIAZOLA VEIZAGA, DAVID (Darío).
Born in Oruro, Bolivia, in 1939. He joined the guerrilla movement with Moisés Guevara's group and was part of the vanguard detachment. He survived the battle of Quebrada del Yuro (October 8, 1967) and left the guerrilla area in the group led by Inti. Later, together with Inti, he participated in the underground reorganization of the ELN. He was gunned down by police in La Paz on December 31, 1969.

ALARCÓN RAMÍREZ, DARIEL (Benigno).
Born in Manzanillo, Cuba, in 1939. A veteran of the Sierra Maestra, he achieved the rank of captain in the Rebel Army. He arrived at the Ñacahuazú farm on December 11, 1966, and was part of the vanguard detachment. He survived the battle of Quebrada del Yuro, leaving Bolivia through Chile, together with Urbano and Pombo, arriving in Cuba on March 6, 1968. In 1995, he published a book
Los sobrevivientes.
He left Cuba in 1996.

Alejandro.
See MACHÍN HOED DE BECHE, GUSTAVO (Alejandro).

ALVARADO MARÍN, CARLOS CONRADO DE JESÚS (Merci).
A Guatemalan internationalist combatant who later proved his honesty and loyalty to the revolutionary cause.

Aniceto.
See REINAGA GORDILLO, ANICETO (Aniceto).

Antonio.
See DOMÍNGUEZ FLORES, ANTONIO (León or Antonio).

Antonio.
See PANTOJA TAMAYO, ORLANDO (Antonio or Olo).

Apolinar or Apolinario.
See AQUINO QUISPE, APOLINAR (Apolinar, Apolinario, or Polo).

AQUINO QUISPE, APOLINAR (Apolinar, Apolinario,
or
Polo).
A Bolivian, born in Viacha, Ingavi province, state of La Paz, in 1935. He was a trade union leader at the Figliozzi factory in La Paz and a member of the PCB. He joined the guerrilla struggle as a combatant in December 1966 after he had been working for several months as an unskilled laborer at the Ñacahuazú farm, purchased by Coco Peredo. He was killed in the ambush at Vado del Yeso on August 31, 1967.

AQUINO TUDELA, SERAPIO (Serapio
or
Serafín).
A Bolivian, born in Viacha in 1951. He was a nephew of Apolinar. Like his uncle, he initially joined the guerrilla force as an unskilled laborer at the farm, which is why Che—in his analysis of the month of March—still described him as a “refugee” and a noncombatant. Subsequently, he joined the rear guard. He was killed in combat in the Iquira River canyon on July 9, 1967, when alerting his compañeros to the presence of the military.

ARANA CAMPERO, JAIME (Chapaco
or
Luis).
Born in Tarija, Bolivia, on October 31, 1938. He was a member of the youth organization of the National Revolutionary Movement (MNR). He was studying in Cuba when he decided to join the guerrilla struggle. He arrived at the Ñacahuazú farm in March 1967 and was part of the center group. In the battle of Quebrada del Yuro, he was able to break through the encirclement. The group of survivors advanced to Cajones, where they were gunned down on October 14, 1967.

ARANCIBIA AYALA, WÁLTER (Wálter).
Born in Macha, state of Potosí, Bolivia, on January 21, 1941. He was one of the founders of the local “Lincoln-Murillo-Castro” youth movement in solidarity with Cuba. He was active in the JCB and a member of its national committee. He arrived at the Ñacahuazú farm on January 21, 1967, and was assigned to the rear guard. He was killed in the Vado del Yeso ambush on August 31, 1967.

Arturo.
See MARTÍNEZ TAMAYO, RENÉ (Arturo).

BAIGORRIA, PAULINO.
A peasant, about 20 years of age, who served as a liaison for the guerrilla force and asked to join their ranks. While fulfilling the mission assigned by Che, he was detained in Comarapa, held incommunicado, and tortured.

BARRERA QUINTANA, PASTOR (Daniel).
A Bolivian

who joined the guerrilla forces with the group led by Moisés Guevara. He deserted within a few days, before the start of armed actions in March 1967. He was acquitted in the Camiri trial.

BARRIENTOS ORTUÑO, General RENÉ.
Born in Tarata, Cochabamba, Bolivia, in 1919. An air force career officer, Barrientos imposed his candidacy for vice-president on the MNR, and seized office in a coup against MNR President Víctor Paz Estenssoro in 1964. He was the constitutional president of Bolivia from August 6, 1966, until his death in a helicopter accident on April 27, 1969, which was never completely explained. As president, Barrientos was known for his authoritarian tendencies, his special relations with the rural sector through what was known as the Military Peasant Pact, and his pro-US position.

BÉJAR RIVERA, HÉCTOR.
In 1963, Héctor Béjar Rivera was

the key leader of the National Liberation Army (ELN) of Peru. In 1966, he was arrested and jailed in that country's San Quintín prison.

Benigno.
See ALARCÓN RAMÍREZ, DARIEL (Benigno).

Benjamín.
See CORONADO CÓRDOBA, BENJAMÍN (Benjamín).

Bigotes.
See VÁZQUEZ VIAÑA, JORGE (Bigotes, Loro, or Jorge).

Braulio.
See REYES ZAYAS, ISRAEL (Braulio).

BRAVO, DOUGLAS.
An activist in the Communist Party of Venezuela and a member of its central committee. Bravo took up arms in the struggle against the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez
Jiménez and was commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN) of Venezuela. He opposed the Communist Party's decision to suspend the armed struggle and was expelled from that organization.

BUNKE BIDER, HAYDÉE TAMARA (Tania).
Born in Argentina in 1937, the daughter of German parents. In 1961, Tania traveled to Cuba as a translator. She went to Bolivia in 1964 as an underground combatant, with the mission of infiltrating the higher echelons of the Bolivian government. She made considerable progress, but had to join the guerrilla unit after she was identified, having contacted Debray and Bustos. Assigned to the rear guard, she was killed in the Vado del Yeso ambush on August 31, 1967.

BUSTOS, CIRO (Mauricio, Pelao, Pelado,
or
Carlos).
Ciro Bustos was an Argentine to whom Che entrusted the task of exploring northern Argentina and sending combatants to be trained in guerrilla warfare. He was captured, together with Debray and the photographer Andrew Roth, in Muyupampa in April 1967, and received a 30-year prison sentence by the military tribunal based in Camiri. He was freed by the government of Juan José Torres in 1970.

CABALLERO, EVARISTO.
Mayor of Arenales in 1967.

CABRERA FLORES, RESTITUTO JOSÉ (El Médico
or
Negro).
Born in Callao, Peru, in 1931. He was a member of the Peruvian ELN and joined the guerrillas in Bolivia in the first half of March 1967, together with Chino and Eustaquio, in the rearguard detachment. On August 31, during the ambush at Vado del Yeso, he attempted to escape along the river, but was captured and brutally murdered on September 3 on the Palmarito River.

Camba.
See JIMÉNEZ BAZÁN, ORLANDO (Camba).

Carlos.
See BUSTOS, CIRO (Mauricio, Pelao, Pelado, or Carlos).

Carlos.
See VACA MARCHETTI, LORGIO (Carlos).

CASTILLO CHÁVEZ, JOSÉ (Paco).
A Bolivian member of the PCB, until the organization split in 1965. He joined the guerrilla movement as part of Moisés Guevara's group and was captured in the ambush at Vado del Yeso. He was used by the Bolivian Army to identify the bodies of the guerrillas, to provide information, and to offer testimony in the Camiri trial; he remained in prison until 1970.

CHANG NAVARRO LÉVANO, JUAN PABLO (Chino).
Juan Pablo Chang Navarro Lévano was a leader of the Peruvian ELN. He met with Che in December 1966, and returned with Eustaquio and Negro in March 1967. Events forced him to remain with the guerrilla movement in Bolivia. He survived the battle at Quebrada del Yuro, but was reported to have been captured alive (he was almost blind), taken to La Higuera and killed along with Willy and Che.

Chapaco.
See ARANA CAMPERO, JAIME (Chapaco or Luis).

CHÁVEZ, MARIO (The Lagunillero).
A Bolivian member of the PCB, he is also identified as the scout, Mario Chávez. He was recruited by Coco Peredo, with the mission of establishing a small hostel in Lagunillas, a place from where he was to gather information for the guerrilla movement.

Che.
See GUEVARA DE LA SERNA, ERNESTO (Che, Mongo, Ramón, or Fernando).

Chinchu.
See MARTÍNEZ TAMAYO, JOSÉ MARÍA (Papi, Ricardo, Chinchu, Mbili or Taco).

Chingolo.
See CHOQUE SILVA, HUGO (Chingolo).

Chino.
See CHANG NAVARRO LÉVANO, JUAN PABLO (Chino).

CHOQUE CHOQUE, SALUSTIO (Salustio).
A Bolivian who joined the guerrilla forces as part of Moisés Guevara's group and was detained on March 17, 1967. His case was dismissed in the Camiri trial, but authorities detained him for a considerable period of time.

CHOQUE SILVA, HUGO (Chingolo).
A Bolivian who joined the guerrilla movement as part of Moisés Guevara's group and deserted in July 1967, together with Eusebio. He apparently led the Bolivian Army to the guerrilla's caves, where weapons, medicines, documents, and food were stored.

COCA, FENELÓN.
Bolivian peasant farmer who collaborated with the guerrilla force. Tuma was operated on in his home.

Coco.
See PEREDO LEIGUE, ROBERTO (Coco).

CODOVILA, VICTORIO.
First secretary of the Argentine Communist Party.

COELLO, CARLOS (Tuma
or
Tumaini).
Born near the city of Manzanillo, Cuba, in 1940. The son of a peasant, he joined the guerrilla movement in the Sierra Maestra before he was 17 years old but still almost illiterate. He became Che's inseparable companion from that moment on and was a member of Che's personal bodyguard. He also fought in the Congo with Che and rose to the rank of lieutenant. He arrived in La Paz in July 1966 and traveled to the Ñacahuazú farm, prior to Che's arrival. He died in combat on June 26, 1967, in Piray in the province of Florida, in the state of Santa Cruz. “With his death, I have lost an inseparable compañero of recent years, one whose loyalty
was unwavering and whose absence I feel now almost as if he were my own son,” Che wrote in his diary.

CONDORI VARGAS COCHI, CASILDO (Víctor).
A Bolivian, born in Corocoro, Pacajes province, in the state of La Paz, on April 9, 1941. He joined the guerrilla movement as part of Moisés Guevara's group. He was part of the rearguard detachment and was killed in an ambush in the Bella Vista area on June 2, 1967, together with Antonio Sánchez Díaz (Marcos).

CORONADO CÓRDOBA, BENJAMÍN (Benjamín).
Born in the city of Potosí, Bolivia, on January 30, 1941. He was a member of the PCB and joined the guerrilla movement on January 21, 1967. He was assigned to the vanguard detachment and participated in scouting parties. He drowned while crossing the Río Grande on February 26, 1967.

CUBA SANABRIA, SIMEÓN (Willy, Willi, Wily,
or
Wyly).
Born in Cochabamba, Itapaya, Bolivia, on January 5, 1935. He was a miner at Huanuni and a compañero of Moisés Guevara, with whom he joined the guerrilla force in March 1967. Willy was assigned to the center group. He was captured in Quebrada del Yuro on October 8, attempting to save Che, who was wounded in the leg and whose weapon was disabled. He was executed on October 9, 1967, in the school at La Higuera, along with Che and Chino.

DAGNINO PACHECO, JULIO.
A Peruvian journalist who resided in La Paz as a liaison for Peru's National Liberation Army (ELN).

Daniel.
See BARRERA QUINTANA, PASTOR (Daniel).

Dantón.
See DEBRAY, JULES RÉGIS (The Frenchman, Dantón, or Debray).

Darío.
See ADRIAZOLA VEIZAGA, DAVID (Darío).

DE LA CONCEPCIÓN DE LA PEDRAJA, OCTAVIO (Moro, Morogoro, Muganga, El Médico,
or
Tavito).
Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1935. He fought on the Second Eastern Front in the Sierra Maestra, and attained the rank of lieutenant. He arrived at the Ñacahuazú farm on December 11, 1966, as a doctor and combatant. In the final period of the guerrilla struggle he became seriously ill. For that reason, Che assigned him, together with Eustaquio and Chapaco, to Pablito's care when the battle of Quebrada del Yuro began. The group made it to Cajones, at the junction of the Río Grande and Mizque rivers, where they were killed on October 14, 1967.

DEBRAY, JULES RÉGIS (The Frenchman, Dantón, Debré
or
Debray).
Jules Régis Debray was a French left-wing intellectual who participated in the preparations for guerrilla warfare in Bolivia. He met with Che in March 1967, who entrusted him with several overseas missions. Debray was captured on April 20, 1967, in Muyupampa, together with Bustos and Roth, and sentenced to 30 years in prison by the military tribunal that deliberated in Camiri. He was later freed by the government of Juan José Torres in 1970.

DIC
Department of Criminal Investigations (DIC) in Bolivia.

DOMÍNGUEZ FLORES, ANTONIO (León
or
Antonio).
A Bolivian of rural origin, Domínguez was a member of the PCB. He initially worked as an unskilled laborer at the Ñacahuazú farm and later became a combatant. He deserted on September 26, 1967, at La Higuera, surrendering to the authorities and offering information on the guerrillas. Domínguez testified against Régis Debray and Ciro Bustos at the trial in Camiri, but was not released. He was eventually freed in 1970 by the government of Juan José Torres.