•v No Objection To Declassification 2007 08 26 NLJ-019R-23-3-3-1 • c CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WASHINGTON D C 20503 OFFICE O F THE DIRECTOR 1 3 OCT 1967 IMORANDUM FOR The Secretary of State The Secretary o f Defense v r Walt W Rostow Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-Am erican A ffa irs i SUBJECT Statements by Ernesto C he Guevara P r io r to His Execution in Bolivia 25X1 1 Further details have aow been obtained __ who was on the scene in the small village of Higueras where Err»c8to nChon Guovdrfe was taken after his capture on 8 October 1967 by the Bolivia Sscoad Hanger Battalion A t y ' s 25X1 J ttsmprtsd to interrogate Guevara on 2 9 Octobor 19o7 as soon as he got access to Kim at around 7 a m A t that time Che” Guevara was sitting on the floor in the corner of a small dark schoolroom in Higuerus Ho had hi hands over his fac „ His w rists and f et 'cre tied In front of him on the floor lay he corpses of tw© Cuban guerrillas Guevara had a flesh 'wovind in Kia leg whi«h was b a n d ied 3 Guevara refused to be interrogated bvt him self to be drawn into a conversation which he made the following comments rm itted during 25X1 a Cuban economic situation to Cuba is the result of pressure by United St its imperialism Now Cuba has becQ-mt £elf-sufficient in meat production and has almost reo ched the point where it wi II tfcgin to export meat Cube 13 the only economically 4 gifsufficient country iii the Socialist world HHfcStHVKlIW iAJf 1 No Objection To Declassification 2 0 0 7 0 8 2 6 N L J -0 19R -23 -3-3-1 m o r i c d f C No Objection To Declassification 2007 08 26 NLJ-019R-23-3-3-1 V v t S p x Z T b Camilo Cienfuegos F or many years the story has circulated that Fidel Castro Ruz had Cienfuegos one of his forem ost deputies killed because hid personal popularity presented a danger to Castro Actually the death of Cienfuegos was an accident Cienfuegos had been in Oriente Province when he received a call to attend a general staff meeting in Havana He left by plane and the theory was that the plane became lost in low -ceiling flying conditions consumed all of its fuel and crashcd in the ocean and no trace of him was ever found Castro had loved Cienfuegos m ore than any of his lieutenants c F id el Castro Ruz Castro had not been a Communist prior to the success of the Cuban Revolution Castro s own statements on the subject are co rrect d The Congo American imperialism had not been the reason for his failure there but rather the Belgian m ercenaries He denied ever having several thousand troops in che Congo as sometimes reported but admitted having had quite a few” j _ e Treatment of Guerrilla Prisoners in Cuba During the course of the Cuban devolution and its aftermath there had been only about 1 500 individuals killed exclusive of armed encounters such as the Bay of Pigs The Cuban Government of course executed all guerrilla leaders who invaded its te r r ito r y Ke stepped than with a quizzical look on his face and smiled as Ke recognized his own position on Bolivian s o il f Future of the Guerrilla Movement in B olivia With his capturc the guerrilla movement had iufiCred an o verwhelming scwback in Bolivia but he pr tiicf«d a resurgence in the future He insisted that his iae ls cuid win in the end even though he was disappointed at the lack of response No Objection To Declassification 2007 08 26 NLJ-019R-23-3-3-1 No Objection To Declassification 2007 08 26 NLJ-019R-23-3-3-1 i f i J P-RFT - 3- from the Bolivian campesinos The guerrilla movement had failed partially because of Bolivian Government propaganda which claimed that the guerrillas represented a foreign invasion of Bolivian soil In spite of the lack of popular response from the Bolivian campesinos He had not planned an exfiltration route from Bolivia in case of failure He had definitely decided to cither fall or win in this effort 25X1 25X1 4 when Guevara Simon Cuba and Aniceto Reynaga Gordillo were captured on 8 October the Bolivian Arm ed Forces Headquarters ordered that they bo kept alive for a tim e A telegraphic code was arranged between La Paz and Higueras with the numbers 500 representing Guevara 600 meaning the phrase “ keep a liv e and 700 representing execute During the course of the discussion with Guevara Simon Cuba and Aniceto Reynaga were detained in the next room oC the school house At one stage a burst of shots was heard and learnadl later that Simon Cuba had been executed A liHIs later s single shot wm heard and it was learned afterward that Anicstc Reynaga hac taen killed When the order came at 1 50 a rru from La Paz to kill Guevara the execution was delayed afi long as possible However when the local commander was advised chat a helicopter would arrive to recover the bodies at approximately 1 30 p m Guevara was executed with a burst of shots at 1 15 p m Guevare1 last words wore uT U my w ife to rem arry and tell Fidel Caetro that the Revolution w ill a ain arise in the A m erica s To his executioner he said Remember you are killing a mar 5 At no time during the period he was unde observation did Guevara lose his composure 3 Richard Helms Director S iO S S T I PRESEftVAtlUNtt %No Objection To Declassification 2007 08 26 NLJ-019R-23-3-3-1 25X1 No Objection To Declassification 2007 08 26 NLJ-019R-23-3-3-1 T CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WASHINGTON D C 20503 2% OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR 1 3 OCT 1967 MEMORANDUM FOR The Secretary of State The Secretary of Defense vJvlr Walt W Rostow Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-Am erican A ffa irs i SUBJECT Statements by Ernesto MCheMGuevara P rio r to Hio Execution in Bolivia 1« Further details have now been obtained who was on the scene ii the small village of Higuoras where Ernesto nChoMGuo t o was taken after his capture on 8 October 1967 by the Bolivia Secoad Ranger Battalion A r r a y - 25X1 ' s 2 1 ___Jaxtssnp ad to interrogate Guevara on 9 Octobor 19o7 as soon as he got access to Kim at around 7 a m the n the corner A t that time ’'Che Guevara was sitting of a small dark schoolroom in Higuer s Ho had hi hands over his facc% His w rists and f et '“’ore tied In front of him on the floor l y he corpses of twQ Cuban guerrillas Guevt ra had a flesh'wouxicl in Kit leg which was band ed o n 3 Guevara refused to be interrogated him self to be drawn into a conversation which he roadc the following comments V o o r l j i Permitted 25X1 a Cuban economic situation Hv n tr to Cuba is the result of pressure by United Staits imperialism Now Cuba has becom elf-sufficient in meat production to and has almost rec ched the point where it vsi» N e port meat Cubs is the only economically aeiisufficient country m the Socialist world s H S iVAltUIUK'Y No Objection To Declassification 2 0 0 7 0 8 2 6 N L J -0 19R -23 -3-3-1 MORI CDF ■ ‘i l l Fkil PalP‘t m l i SSBft se sisrAJTi c p$$ m w m - f r m M m 7 - vx -' - 1'-' •••' — ----------- $ £ W » i »- V $ % r y r j 0 l » l t s ‘» 'v s V •W f ™ 1 1 i s#wr s ■ ■ - - 's - GGV r - - --btts' -- ®f_£4i t l „ g jfrj' l P - % r V•a - 'H- Suii nto-air T■ •■ J i£ »£J N »4£ 'S xaia ■ i#J # $ % # h te $ y u j m b M i z i m i %t a r 4 t 4 -± $ tv ' l t i i i ♦ f ’y ♦ » ' « T » f Y - '‘ - • ' T 11 ' n «w 1J— ■■ V «- » lU i r r ' r im n • s s d S S m T I r - '' § r n S t m This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu Read related article Che Guevara and the CIA in the Mountains of Bolivia 2020-10-09