As it Happened: Che Guevara — the body and legend
SBS, Friday October 12, 8.30pm
The Motorcycle Diaries
SBS, Saturday October 13, 10.15pm
Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Argentinean-born socialist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara's death, SBS is screening a documentary, Che Guevara: the Body and Legend, on October 12. It was on October 9, 1967, that Che, who had been a central leader of the Cuban Revolution and was leading a force of guerrilla fighters inside Bolivia in an attempt to spread the revolution, was captured by the Bolivian military. On the orders of Bolivia's military dictatorship and the CIA he was executed in cold blood. The documentary reveals, how in the aftermath of his death and over subsequent decades, Che's legendary status as a fighter for a better world has continued to grow.
The documentary uses archival stills and film footage to examine the circumstances and politics surrounding Che's death, and the subsequent disappearance and eventual recovery of his body 30 years later. Interviewed are residents of Villegrande, the Bolivian village where Che was captured and killed, "Benigno" a comrade of Che's who fought with him in Bolivia, journalists present when Che's lifeless body was presented to the world, and figures from the Bolivian military involved in his capture and death.
A wounded Che, shot in the leg, was captured by the military near Villegrande and taken to a local school. The documentary explores the reasons why the Bolivian military chose to have Che killed. Bolivian Army Major Miguel Ayoroa, one of Che's captors, describes how they were unprepared for his capture and unsure what to do with him. The military regime handed down the order for Che to be killed, and Ayoroa instructed non-commissioned officer Mario Teran to carry the order out. Haunting archival images show Che in death, fist clenched and eyes open, as the international press snapped pictures.
In an historical twist that reveals the fundamental difference between the basic humanity of the socialism that Che died fighting for and the barbarism of his executioners, the September 30 Melbourne Age reported that Cuban doctors had performed an eye-operation on Teran to restore his sight. Thousands of Cuban medical staff are currently providing free health care in Bolivia at the request of left-wing President Evo Morales.
The military regime initially tried to hide its cold-blooded murder by claiming Che had died in combat, however villagers had seen him captured alive. The documentary features footage of a Chilean journalist in the immediate aftermath, appearing almost gleeful, revealing that his sources told him that Che was shot repeatedly after being captured and left to slowly bleed to death.
What happens next created a mystery that remained unsolved for three decades — Che's body disappears, but not before the generals had his hands chopped off as evidence of their victory over the legendary guerrilla. Frightened by the consequences of killing a rebel loved the world over for his commitment to his ideals, the military attempted to prevent his grave becoming a place of pilgrimage and symbol of their brutality. The documentary shows how their actions had the opposite effect, with Che's status continually growing.
The documentary examines the international context that enabled Che's body to remain undiscovered for so long, exploring the antipathy of the nominally socialist Soviet Union to the genuinely revolutionary Che. It shows how, in his last public speech in Algeria in 1965, Che had condemned the Soviet Union for being complicit in imperialist exploitation of the Third World. For this reason, the Soviet Union was more than happy for Che to disappear.
One weakness, however, is that the documentary implies that the Soviet Union, whose position was "peaceful coexistence" with imperialism, was successful in forcing this onto the revolutionary Cuban government of Fidel Castro around the time of Che's death. However, while the Cuban government was forced to make some concessions based on its dependence on trade with the Soviet Union, there is no evidence it succumbed to the "peaceful coexistence" line and abandoned its approach of seeking to extend the revolution internationally. Cuba's military intervention into Angola, for instance, in the 1970s, helped defeat the invading South African army and was crucial to bringing Apartheid down.
Che continues to be a hero in Cuba. As the documentary shows, by the mid-1980s there was a strong push to revive his ideas and example.
The documentary shows how changes internationally, with the fall of Stalinism in the USSR and the formal ending of the Cold War, as well as changes inside Bolivia away from military dictatorship, created the conditions for a new search for Che's remains. Cuban and Argentine forensic anthropologists carried out an extensive search that was eventually successful in 1997. An emotional Alejandro Inchaurregui, an Argentinean anthropologist who led the discovery, tells of a phone call just before the discovery from a friend who was tortured by the Argentinean military dictatorship about the significance of finding Che. He also reveals that the Cubans present were so overcome with emotion they were unable to work, refusing to even touch the bones.
Che's remains were returned to Cuba for an official burial, and the documentary provides footage of the moving ceremony where Fidel insists Che's ideas are more relevant than ever. A journalist present at the filming of Che's corpse on October 9, 1967, comments: "I would never, ever have imagined that after 20, 30, 40 years Che was more alive than ever."
On October 13, SBS is screening The Motorcycle Diaries, a film based on a book by Che that documents his travels through South America in his youth and witnessing first hand the role that US political and economic domination played on the continent.