| MAJOR ERNESTO "CHE" GUEVARA DE LA SERNA: |
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An outstanding revolutionary, a founder and one of the main leaders of
the Rebel Army, he was one of the most noteworthy figures of the Cuban
revolution and an internationalist soldier. For his merits, a law of the
Republic of Cuba declared him a Cuban citizen by birth.
He was born in Rosario, Argentina, on
June 14, 1928. He graduated as a doctor in 1953. In 1954, he was
in Guatemala, where he first took up arms in revolutionary activity,
opposing the CIA plans against the Guatemalan people. When the popular movement
was defeated, he migrated to Mexico, where he met Fidel Castro and he enrolled in
the Granma yacht expedition in 1956.
During the national liberation war in Cuba, which began in 1956 in the
Sierra Maestra, he stood out for his courage and fearlessness, for which he
achieved the rank of Major. In July 1957, he was appointed head of the second
column that was created, No. 4 of the First Front. At the end of August 1958, he was appointed commander of the
Ciro Redondo Invasion Column No. 8. With
that troop he undertook the invasion of Las Villas and became head of that
province. He led the combat to take Santa Clara, the third most important city
in Cuba, in December 1958. After
the triumph of the Revolution, he carried out important civilian and military
responsibilities, often holding several positions at the same time.
An archetype of a revolutionary intellectual, his works on revolutionary
theory and action are extremely valuable. He is the author of Guerrilla Warfare,
a book that summarizes the main experiences of the two years of armed struggle
in Cuba, and of other valuable works of historical, political and social content.
In 1965, he bid farewell to Fidel Castro and the Cuban people to go to
other lands in the world to fight for his ideals of justice and freedom.
In that same year, he offered assistance to the Congo (now Democratic
Republic of the Congo), leading a detachment of Cuban volunteers. From November
1966 to October 1967, he led the guerrilla movement in Bolivia, which marked the
beginning of the struggle for independence in the Americas.
After an uneven battle, with his gun rendered useless, he was captured
wounded on October 8, 1967 in the Yuro Ravine, he was taken to the little school
in La Higuera and murdered on the 9th. His remains were found in Valle Grande,
Bolivia, and transferred to Cuba on July 12, 1997.
They now rest in the mausoleum built in his memory in the city of Santa
Clara, alongside the remains of several of his comrades of the Bolivian
guerrilla unit.
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