55 years after the fall of the revolutionary humanist and communist Ernesto Guevara, the President of the Plurinational State, Luis Arce Catacora, participated in his homage in Vallegrande, department of Santa Cruz, on the date and site where the heroic guerrilla and part of his comrades of the National Liberation Army, ELN, were captured by army troops and U.S. advisors on October 8, 1967.
On the occasion, the representative of solidarity with Cuba, Zoia Coronado, expressed that “today we make a commitment of ratification and atonement to the Cuban doctors who were vilely kicked out during the dictatorship (of Jeanine Áñez)”.
On his part, the Cuban ambassador in Bolivia, Danilo Sánchez, pointed out that, “we confirm once again the love of the people of Cuba for the people of Bolivia, as well as we ratify our company in the Bolivian process of its democratic and cultural revolution”, and referred to the fact that, “Times are extremely difficult in the world. In Cuba we are also living through complex situations, when the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States Government against our country is increasing. We lived 60 years ago in a trench of combat and we managed to triumph and also to help other peoples, thanks to the solidarity, among others, of you Bolivian brothers. I want, on behalf of my government and my people, to reiterate our conviction to continue working together with you, together with the social organizations, together with the authorities, so that mutual solidarity may be eternal, as Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara and Comandante Fidel Castro wished”.
In his first visit as Head of State to the homage that takes place every year in Vallegrande, Luis Arce said that “we are 55 years after the presence of Commander Che Guevara in our country. A long time has passed and I believe that all of us who have had the opportunity to read Che’s Diary in Bolivia, his texts and, above all, his story, know that Che, besides being a great writer, is a great example for every revolutionary. And that example of life, dedication and perseverance must be present, especially in the minds of young people who seek a transformation and a more just country”, and added that, “It is very interesting to see how Che Guevara dedicated himself to writing even on the economic issue. He was a great scholar of political economy. And in this regard, he wrote many things that are still valid today and that we, as a national government, have not lost sight of. In several of his articles, Che Guevara mentioned industrialization, and we, here in Bolivia, have already started with industrialization”.
Likewise, President Arce stated that, “Che Guevara taught us that being a revolutionary means the greatest detachment of love that a person can make; and that the struggle for the most humble and to transform an unjust society, a capitalist society that only pursues profit, means even giving one’s life. One must give one’s life if necessary to build a better society”, and added that, “It is also necessary to pay tribute to that generation of young people who accompanied him. To remember Inti Coco Peredo, Benjamín Coronado, Lorgio Vaca; the heroic miners like Simeón Cuba, Moisés Guevara, on whose backs they carried their wounded brother in an indelible gesture of combative solidarity. Because we Bolivians also accompanied the heroic deed that Comandante Che Guevara did for these lands. How can we forget them?”.
“Che Guevara has not died. He continues to be the light for many of us, for many revolutionaries and fighters. All of us who are here are the living proof that the thought of Che Guevara has not died, Che lives, the struggle continues, until victory always,” the Bolivian president ended his speech.
Under the offensive and barbarism of a planetary capitalism in multidimensional crisis and whose productive forces have become criminal forces destructive of nature and humanity, in the Andean center of Latin America there is a people and its leaders who continue to cherish the definitive independence and to organize the material, spiritual and social conditions for freedom.
As if Guevara’s star were a compass and dignity were customary.
INTERNATIONALIST 360° 