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Che
Guevara's 81st birthday Marked in Bolivia
La Higuera, Bolivia - Bolivians and Cubans on
Sunday paid tribute to guerrilla commander Ernesto
Che Guevara on his 81st birthday at the same place
where he was murdered in October, 1967.
A group of Cuban working in Bolivia, members of the
Che Guevara foundation, and local authorities
gathered at this distant place to honor the
legendary guerrilla, born on June 14, 1928 in the
Argentinean city of Rosario.
La Higuera (Spanish: "The Fig Tree") is a small
village in Bolivia located in the Province of
Vallegrande, in the Department of Santa Cruz.
Situated some 150 km southwest of Santa Cruz de la
Sierra, the village lies at an elevation of 1950 m.
Its population (according to the 2001 census) is
119, mainly indigenous Guarani people.
On October 8, 1967 Che Guevara was captured by the
Bolivian Army in the nearby ravine Quebrada del
Churo, ending his campaign to create a liberation
movement in South America, but the guerrilla�s
example has remained alive.
A monument and a memorial at the schoolhouse were he
was murdered in La Higuera are a stop in the Che
Guevara Trail inaugurated in 2004 to honor the
Heroic Guerrilla, as he is also known.
In Sunday�s tribute, Cuban teachers, social workers
and health personnel working in Bolivia will be
recognized for their work.
Before travelling to La Higuera, the convoy made a
stopover in the eastern Bolivian town of Vallegrande,
where Che Guavara�s body was placed on display and
afterwards secretly buried under an airstrip. His
remains were found 30 years later and brought to
Cuba, together with most member of his guerrilla
force. |
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