The Bolivian Diary
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Guevara. See GUEVARA RODRÍGUEZ, MOISÉS (Moisés or Guevara).
GUTIÉRREZ ARDAYA, MARIO (Julio). A Bolivian, born in Sachojere, near the city of Trinidad, in the state of Beni, on May 22, 1939. A member of the PCB, he graduated as a doctor in Cuba and joined the guerrilla movement in March 1967. He was killed, together with Coco and Miguel, in the ambush at Quebrada del Batán, near La Higuera, on September 26, 1967.
GUZMÁN LARA, LOYOLA. A Bolivian woman member of the national executive committee of the Bolivian Communist Youth until February 1967. In January 1967, she met with Che, who assigned her the task of handling the finances of the movement’s urban network. She was detained in September 1967, following the discovery of photographs found in the Ñacahuazú farm caves, but freed in 1970, in exchange for the German hostages captured by the guerrilla force at Teoponte. Guzmán rejoined the ELN’s clandestine struggle during the Hugo Bánzer dictatorship and was again detained in 1972 when she entered Chile clandestinely with her husband who was subsequently disappeared.
GUZMÁN LARA, VICENTA. Sister of Loyola Guzmán.
GUZMÁN, ROBLES. Bolivian peasant who was detained by the Bolivian Army when he returned from purchasing food for the guerrillas.
HERNÁNDEZ OSORIO, MANUEL (Miguel or Manuel). Born in the Santa Rita neighborhood, Granma province, Cuba, in 1931. A veteran of the Sierra Maestra, he attained the rank of captain in the Rebel Army, under Che’s command. He joined the guerrilla forces at the end of November 1966 and was designated chief of the vanguard detachment, replacing Marcos. He was killed at Quebrada del Batán, close to La Higuera, on September 26, 1967.
HUANCA FLORES, FRANCISCO (Pablo or Pablito). Born in Bolivia in 1945, either in the state of Oruro, or the village of Laja. He joined Moisés Guevara’s group and was assigned to the vanguard detachment. He was the youngest among the guerrillas. Surviving the Quebrada del Yuro action, he went with the group of survivors to the fork of the Mizque and Río Grande rivers, where he was killed on October 14, 1967.
Humberto. See VÁZQUEZ VIAÑA, HUMBERTO (Humberto).
Inti. See PEREDO LEIGUE, GUIDO (Inti).
Iván. See MONTERO, IVÁN (Renán or Iván).
JCB. Bolivian Communist Youth.
JIMÉNEZ BAZÁN, ORLANDO (Camba). Born in Riberalta, state of Beni, Bolivia, on June 27, 1934. A Bolivian peasant leader and member of the PCB, he initially worked as an unskilled laborer on the farm at Alto Beni, an area where it was initially planned to launch the guerrilla campaign. In December 1966, he was transferred to the Ñacahuazú farm and assigned to the vanguard detachment. He had asked to be discharged from the guerrilla force, and after he deserted he was captured on September 27, 1967, near La Higuera. He was taken to the military tribunal in Camiri, and was a prosecution witness against Debray and Bustos. After being freed in 1970, he obtained political asylum in Sweden, where he died in 1994.
JIMÉNEZ TARDÍO, ANTONIO (Pan Divino or Pedro). Born in Tarata, Cochabamba, Bolivia, on May 3, 1941. An activist in the Bolivian Communist Youth, he was a member of its national executive committee until February 1967. He joined the guerrilla struggle at the end of 1966 and was assigned to the rear guard. He died fighting in the Iñaó mountains on August 9, 1967.
Joaquín. See ACUÑA NÚÑEZ, JUAN VITALIO (Joaquín or Vilo).
Jorge. See VÁZQUEZ VIAÑA, JORGE (Bigotes, Loro, or Jorge).
JOZAMI, EDUARDO. Former member of the Argentine Communist Party. Journalist and lawyer.
Julio. See GUTIÉRREZ ARDAYA, MARIO (Julio).
KOLLE CUETO, JORGE (Kolle). Organizational secretary of the Bolivian Communist Party.
Lagunillero, The. See CHÁVEZ, MARIO (the Lagunillero).
LECHÍN OQUENDO, JUAN. Key leader of the Bolivian Workers’ Confederation (COB).
LEONI, RAÚL. President of Venezuela in 1967.
Loro. See VÁZQUEZ VIAÑA, JORGE (Bigotes, Loro, or Jorge).
Loyola. See GUZMÁN LARA, LOYOLA.
LOZANO, Dr. HUGO. Bolivian stomatologist, member of the guerrilla movement’s urban network in La Paz.
LUCAS, Don. Peasant farmer who collaborated with the guerrillas.
Luis. See ARANA CAMPERO, JAIME (Chapaco or Luis).
MACHÍN HOED DE BECHE, GUSTAVO (Alejandro). Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1937. He participated in the struggle against Batista, in the ranks of the Revolutionary Directorate, reaching the rank of major. He was Vice-Minister of Industry in the Cuban revolutionary government and a top military official in Matanzas province. He joined the guerrilla force in November 1966 and was appointed by Che as chief of operations. He belonged to the center group, but due to health problems, remained in the rear guard. He was killed at Vado del Yeso on August 31, 1967.
Manila. Code for Cuba.
Manuel. See HERNÁNDEZ OSORIO, MANUEL (Miguel or Manuel).
Marcos. See SÁNCHEZ DÍAZ, ANTONIO (Marcos or Pinares).
Mario. See MONJE MOLINA, MARIO (Estanislao, Monje, Mario or Negro).
MARTÍNEZ TAMAYO, JOSÉ MARÍA (Papi, Ricardo, Chinchu, Mbili or Taco). Born in Mayarí, Holguín province, Cuba, in 1937. He participated in the clandestine struggle of the July 26 Movement and then joined the Rebel Army to fight on the Second Eastern Front during the war against Batista. By the end of the revolutionary war, he had attained the rank of sergeant, commanding a tank. He was among the founders of the Ministry of the Interior and attained the rank of captain in the Revolutionary Armed Forces. He completed several internationalist missions and arrived in Bolivia for the first time in July 1963, to coordinate, together with the Bolivian Communist Party, support for the People’s Guerrilla Army (EGP) that was operating in northern Argentina under the leadership of Ricardo Masetti. He fought in the Congo with Che and returned to La Paz in March 1966 to prepare for Che’s arrival. He belonged to the center group. He was seriously wounded on July 30, 1967, and died shortly afterwards while being cared for by his compañeros.
MARTÍNEZ TAMAYO, RENÉ (Arturo). Born in Mayarí, Holguín province, Cuba, in 1941. A combatant in the Sierra Maestra, after the revolution he worked in the Ministry of the Interior and in the research department of the Rebel Army. He arrived at the Ñacahuazú farm in December 1966 and joined the center group, and was put in charge of radio communications. He was killed in the battle of Quebrada del Yuro on October 8, 1967.
MASETTI, JORGE RICARDO (Segundo). An Argentine, Jorge Ricardo Masetti was the first Latin American journalist to interview Fidel Castro and Che and others, in the Sierra Maestra in 1958. After the revolution, he was the founder and first director of the Prensa Latina news agency. Later, as a leader of the People’s Guerrilla Army (EGP) Masetti (known as Comandante Segundo) was killed in combat on April 21, 1964, in the Salta mountains of northern Argentina.
Mauricio. See BUSTOS, CIRO (Mauricio, Pelao, Pelado, or Carlos).
MAYMURA HURTADO, FREDDY (Ernesto or El Médico). A Bolivian, born in Trinidad, state of Beni, on October 18, 1941. A member of the PCB, he graduated as a doctor in Cuba, and joined the guerrilla forces in November 1966. He was captured alive in the ambush at Vado del Yeso, but because he refused to collaborate, he was killed by his captors on August 31, 1967.
Médico, El. See CABRERA FLORES, RESTITUTO JOSÉ (El Médico or Negro).
Médico, El. See DE LA CONCEPCIÓN DE LA PEDRAJA, OCTAVIO (Moro, Morogoro, Muganga, El Médico, or Tavito).
Médico, El. See MAYMURA HURTADO, FREDDY (Ernesto or El Médico).
MELGAR, ANTONIO. Courier for the Bolivian Army, killed in combat.
MÉNDEZ KORNE, JULIO (Ñato). A Bolivian, born in Trinidad, state of Beni on February 23, 1937. He was a member of the PCB. Before arriving at the Ñacahuazú farm, he was in charge of the farm at Alto Beni, which was considered by Che and the Cuban officials as an alternative site for launching the guerrilla campaign. He functioned as head of supplies and weapons. He survived the battle at Quebrada del Yuro, but after the encirclement had been broken, was killed in the final military action on November 15, 1967.
Merci. See ALVARADO MA
RÍN, CARLOS CONRADO DE JESÚS (Merci).
Miguel. See HERNÁNDEZ OSORIO, MANUEL (Miguel or Manuel).
MNR. National Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Nacionalista Revolución) came to power in the 1952 revolution in Bolivia.
Moisés. See GUEVARA RODRÍGUEZ, MOISÉS (Moisés or Guevara).
Mongo. See GUEVARA DE LA SERNA, ERNESTO (Che, Mongo, Ramón, or Fernando).
MONJE MOLINA, MARIO (Estanislao, Monje, Mario or Negro). A Bolivian teacher by profession, from a very young age Monje was active in political work and became the first secretary of the Bolivian Communist Party, a position he occupied until his resignation in January 1968. On December 31, 1966, Monje met with Che at the Ñacahuazú farm, and argued that the political direction of the struggle belonged to the PCB leadership as long as the revolution took place on Bolivian soil, an argument not accepted by Che. From that moment, a split occurred between the PCB and the guerrilla force.
MONTERO, IVÁN (Renán or Iván). A Cuban, who was one of the contacts of the urban network in Bolivia. His identity was not revealed for almost 30 years. He functioned as the liaison between La Paz and Havana, until just before the guerrilla campaign was launched. He participated in the armed struggle in Nicaragua and worked in the Sandinista government’s security apparatus between 1979 and 1990.
Moro. See DE LA CONCEPCIÓN DE LA PEDRAJA, OCTAVIO (Moro, Morogoro, Muganga, El Médico, or Tavito).
Muganga. See DE LA CONCEPCIÓN DE LA PEDRAJA, OCTAVIO (Moro, Morogoro, Muganga, El Médico, or Tavito).
MURILLO, PEDRO DOMINGO. Bolivian patriot who led the first struggle for independence of a Spanish colony in the Americas in 1809.
Negro. See CABRERA FLORES, RESTITUTO JOSÉ (El Médico or Negro).
Negro. See MONJE MOLINA, MARIO (Estanislao, Monje, Mario or Negro).
Ñato. See MÉNDEZ KORNE, JULIO (Ñato).
Olo. See PANTOJA TAMAYO, ORLANDO (Antonio or Olo).
ONGANÍA, JUAN CARLOS. A military man who overthrew President Arturo Illía in a coup d’état in Argentina in 1966.
Orlando. See ROCABADO TERRAZAS, VICENTE (Orlando).
OTERO, CHICHO. Owner of one of the homes located in the area in which the guerrilla forces operated.
OVANDO CANDIA, ALFREDO. In 1967, Ovando was commander-in-chief of the Bolivian Armed Forces and a leader of the 1964 coup. He actively participated in waging the counterinsurgency campaign. He was president of Bolivia 1965-66 and again after he overthrew Luis Adolfo Siles Salinas, in September 1969.
Pablo or Pablito. See HUANCA FLORES, FRANCISCO (Pablo or Pablito).
Pacho. See FERNÁNDEZ MONTES DE OCA, ALBERTO (Pacho or Pachungo).
Pachungo. FERNÁNDEZ MONTES DE OCA, ALBERTO (Pacho or Pachungo).
Paco. See CASTILLO CHÁVEZ, JOSÉ (Paco).
Pan Divino. See JIMÉNEZ TARDÍO, ANTONIO (Pan Divino or Pedro).
PANIAGUA, BENJAMÍN. Bolivian peasant farmer.
PANTOJA TAMAYO, ORLANDO (Antonio or Olo). Born in Maffo, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, in 1933. He fought in the July 26 Movement underground, and subsequently joined the struggle in the Sierra Maestra. He achieved the rank of captain in the Cuban armed forces. He arrived at the Ñacahuazú farm on December 19, 1966, and was part of the center group. He was killed at Quebrada del Yuro on October 8, 1967.
Papi. See MARTÍNEZ TAMAYO, JOSÉ MARÍA (Papi, Ricardo, Chinchu, Mbili or Taco).
Paulino. See BAIGORRIA, PAULINO.
PCB. Communist Party of Bolivia.
PCC. Communist Party of Cuba.
PCML. Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) of Bolivia.
Pedro. See JIMÉNEZ TARDÍO, ANTONIO (Pan Divino or Pedro).
Pelado or Pelao. See BUSTOS, CIRO (Mauricio, Pelao, Pelado, or Carlos).
Pepe. See VELAZCO MONTAÑO, JULIO (Pepe).
PEREDO LEIGUE, GUIDO (Inti). Born in the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia, on April 30, 1938. He was a member of PCB from a very young age and was distinguished as one of the party’s most dedicated and brave cadres. Peredo was first secretary of the PCB regional committee of La Paz and member of the central committee of the party, elected at its second national congress in 1964. Like his brother Coco, he participated in support efforts for the Peruvian guerrilla fighters of the ELN and the organization of the EGP of Argentina. He was one of the most outstanding guerrillas, operating as a political commissar and military officer. After Quebrada del Yuro, he escaped the tenacious military encirclement, and, along with the other survivors was saved by local peasants. With the Cuban Urbano, Inti reached the city of Santa Cruz and then went by air to Cochabamba, where through his father-in-law, the writer Jesús Lara, he made contact with the PCB, which assisted in the rescue of the three remaining guerrillas. Functioning clandestinely in the city, he reorganized the ELN, but while preparing his return to the mountains, he was killed by the repressive forces in La Paz on September 9, 1969.
PEREDO LEIGUE, ROBERTO (Coco). Inti’s brother, born in Cochabamba, Bolivia, on May 23, 1939. He was one of the four members of the PCB assigned by Mario Monje to work with the Cuban liaisons. He was involved in all the preparations of the guerrilla organization from its beginnings and posed as the owner of the Ñacahuazú farm. He was part of the vanguard detachment and was killed in the September 26, 1967, ambush at Quebrada del Batán, near La Higuera, together with Miguel and Julio. Che wrote in his diary: “The deepest loss is that of Coco, but Miguel and Julio were magnificent fighters and the human value of the three is incalculable.”
Pinares. See SÁNCHEZ DÍAZ, ANTONIO (Marcos or Pinares).
PLATA RÍOS, HERNÁN. A major in the Bolivian Army, one of the officers captured by the guerrillas during the March 23, 1967, ambush. Plata gave false testimony in the trial of the captured guerrilla fighters.
Polo. See AQUINO QUISPE, APOLINAR (Apolinar, Apolinario or Polo).
Pombo. See VILLEGAS TAMAYO, HARRY (Pombo).
PRA. Authentic Revolutionary Party, led by Wálter Guevara Arce in Bolivia.
PSB. Bolivian Social Democratic Party.
Quebrada del Yuro (El Yuro ravine) Site of Che Guevara’s last battle on October 8, 1967.
QUISPAYA CHOQUE, RAÚL (Raúl). A Bolivian, born in the city of Oruro on December 31, 1939. He was an activist in the JCB and a member of its national committee. In 1965, he became a member of the PCML. Quispaya joined the guerrilla force as part of Moisés Guevara’s group and he was part of the vanguard detachment. He was killed in the battle at the Rosita River on July 30, 1967, while attempting to assist Ricardo.
RAMÍREZ, HUMBERTO. Leader of the Bolivian Communist Party.
Ramón. See GUEVARA DE LA SERNA, ERNESTO (Che, Mongo, Ramón, or Fernando).
Raúl. See QUISPAYA CHOQUE, RAÚL (Raúl).
REINAGA GORDILLO, ANICETO (Aniceto). A Bolivian, born in Colquechaca, north of Potosí, Bolivia, on July 26, 1940. He was an activist in the JCB and a member of its national executive committee until February 1967. He joined the guerrilla forces at the beginning of December 1966 and was part of the vanguard detachment. He was killed in the battle of Quebrada del Yuro on October 8, 1967.
Renán. See MONTERO, IVÁN (Renán or Iván).
REQUE TERÁN, Colonel LUIS. Commander of the Fourth Division of the Bolivian Army, headquartered in Camiri from May 1967. He played an active part in the 1967 counterinsurgency campaign, specifically in dismantling the guerrilla force’s strategic storage facilities.
REYES RIVERA, SIMÓN (Simón Rodríguez). Union leader and leader of the Bolivian Communist Party.
REYES RODRÍGUEZ, ELISEO (Rolando, or Captain San Luis). A Cuban, born in the village of San Luis, province of Santiago de Cuba, in 1940. He was one of the youngest combatants in the Sierra Maestra, where he fought under Che’s command. He attained the rank of captain. He was a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of Cuba. He arrived at the Ñacahuazú farm in November 1966 and was part of the center group. He was appointed by Che to the post of political commissar. He was killed on April 25, 1967, in the battle of El Mesón, located betw
een the village of Ticucha and the Iquira River. Che wrote in his diary that day, “we have lost the best man among the guerrilla fighters ...”
REYES ZAYAS, ISRAEL (Braulio). Born in Cuba, in the Sierra Maestra mountains in 1933. He joined the revolutionary struggle in the Sierra Maestra as an illiterate peasant, and attained the rank of lieutenant. He joined Raúl Castro’s bodyguard, and became a liaison officer. He was with Che in the Congo, before traveling to Bolivia at the end of November 1966. He was part of the rearguard group, under Joaquín’s command. He was the first to be killed in the ambush at Vado del Yeso, on August 31, 1967.
RHEA CLAVIJO, HUMBERTO. Bolivian doctor, who collaborated with the guerrilla forces.
Ricardo. See MARTÍNEZ TAMAYO, JOSÉ MARÍA (Papi, Ricardo, Chinchu, Mbili or Taco).
ROBLES, MOISÉS. Seventeen-year-old Bolivian peasant who served as a guide for the guerrillas.
ROCABADO TERRAZAS, VICENTE (Orlando). Joined the guerrilla forces in early 1967 with the group led by Moisés Guevara, but deserted within a few days, before the start of armed actions. There are indications that he might have been a provocateur, because it appears that he worked in the Department of Criminal Investigations (DIC). He was acquitted in the Camiri trial of the captured guerrillas.
Rodolfo. See SALDAÑA, RODOLFO (Rodolfo).
ROJAS, HONORATO. A poor peasant, Honorato Rojas lived with his large family on the banks of the Río Grande River. He met the guerrillas during the February 1967 expedition and collaborated with them. At the end of August, Rojas tried to escape, but Major Mario Vargas Salinas forced him to collaborate with the Bolivian Army and betray the guerrillas. He led Joaquín’s column directly into the ambush at the Puerto Mauricio (Vado del Yeso), which earned him a place in the Manchego Regiment. Later, he was also given some land. He was shot by an ELN commander on July 14, 1969.