[1] N THE MORNING, Without discussing it with me, Monje said that he was withdrawing and that he would present his resignation to the party leaders on the 8th of January. Acording to him his mission was finished. He left looking as though he were being led to the gallows. My impression is that when he found out from Coco of my decision not to give in on strategic matters, he took advantage of this point to force the rupture, as his arguments are inconsistent.
In the afternoon, I brought everyone together and explained Monje's attitude to them, announcing that we would unite with all those who wanted to make the revolution. And I foretold of difficult times and days of moral anguish for the Bolivians; we shall try to solve their problems by means of collective discussion or through political commissars.
I arranged Tania's trip to Argentina in order to interview Mauricio and Jozami, so as to arrange a meeting with them here. We decided on the duties that were to be carried out by Sanchez, and agreed on leaving Rodolfo, Loyola and Humberto in La Paz for the present, one of Loyola's sisters in Camiri and Calvimonte in Santa Cruz. Mito will travel around the zone of Sucre to see where he can settle. Loyola will be in charge of finances and 80,000 will be sent, out of which 20,000 are to be used for the truck that Calvimonte should buy. Sanchez will get in touch with Guevara for an interview. Coco will go to Santa Cruz to interview one of Carlos" brothers and put him in charge of receiving the three that are to come from Havana. I wrote the mesage to Fidel which is in document C ZO #2.
[2] THE MORNING WAS SPENT writing the letter in code. The others (Sanchez, Coco, and Tania) left in the afternoon, when Fidel's speech was over. He referred to us in such a way that we are even more obligated, if that's possible.
The only work done in the camp was on the cave; the rest went out to look for the things from the other camp. Marcos, Miguel and Benigno went out to explore the north; Inti and Carlos explored the Nacahuasu until they ran into people; Joaquin and El Medico should explore the Yaki River until they reach the mouth or run into people. They all have five days at the most.
After leaving Monje, the men arrived at the camp with the news that El Loro had not yet returned.
[3] WE WORKED ON THE ROOFING of the cave, without achieving it; we must finish it tomorrow. Only two men went to pick up the load and they brought back the news that everyone had left last night. The rest of the comrades dedicated their time to the task of roofing the kitchen; now it's ready.
[6] MARcoS, JOAQUIN, AleJandro and I went to the barren firme in the morning. There I made the following decision: Marcos, together with El Camba and Pacho, will try to reach the Nacahuasu on the right, trying to avoid being seen; Miguel, with Braulio and Aniceto, will search for a passage through the firme in order to make the main trail; Joaquin, with Benigno and Inti, will look for the pass to Rio Frias which, according to the map, runs parallel to the Nacahuasu, on the other side of the firme, which must be the Tiger Pampa.
In the afternoon, El Loro arrived with two mules which he had bought for 2000 pesos; a good buy; the animals are docile and strong. An order was given to look for Braulio and Pacho so that he could leave tomorrow; Carlos and El Medico will take over for them.
After class, 1 held forth on the topic of the necessary qualities of the guerrilla fighter and the need for more discipline, and explained that our mission, above all, was to form a nucleus of steel to serve as example, and in this way explained why it is so necessary to study, an imperative need for the future. After that, I brought together the heads of the groups: Joaquin, Marcos, Alejandro, Inti, Rolando, Pombo, El Medico. El Nato and Ricardo. I exA CHANGE WAS MADE in the permanent watch at the old camp; Rubio and Apolinar replaced Carlos and El Medico. The river remained swollen, even though it was going down. El Loro went to Santa Cruz and hasn't returned.
El Medico (Moro), Tuma and I, climbed the Pampa del Tigre with Antonio, who was to stay in charge of the camp. There I explained to Antonio what his duties were to be in relation to the exploration of a creek that might be situated west of our camp. From there, we searched for a connection with Marcos' old trail, which was rather easy to find. Six of the explorers arrived at dawn: Miguel, with Braulio and Aniceto, and Joaquin, with Benigno and Inti. Miguel and Braulio reached a river exit which cut through the firme and fell into another which seems to be the Nacahuasu. Joaquin went down the river, which must be El Frias, and followed it a little way. This must be the same one that the other group followed, which means that our maps are not so bad, as both rivers are separated by a wooded area and flow into El Grande by way of separate outlets. Marcos still hasn't returned.
A radio message was received from Havana, saying that El Chino and El Medico will depart on the 12th, and the radio technician and Rea on the 14th. No mention is made of our other two comrades.
[11] ANTONIO LEFT to explore the adjaçent creek with Carlos and Arturo: he returned at night and the only solid news which he brought was that the stream ended in the Nacain front of the grazing area where we hunt.
Alejandro ombo. who were making maps in Arturo's cave, came with the news that my books were wet: some were ruined and the radio equipment was wet and rusted. Adding this to the fact that the two radios are broken shows a sad view of Arturo's aptitudes.
Marcos arrived at night. The Nacahuasu River didn't turn up where it was expected to and it didn't even reach the fork of the river which was presumed to be the Frias River. We began studying quechua with Aniceto and Pedro as our teachers.
Day of boro; fly larvae were removed from Marcos, Carlos, Pombo, Antonio, Moro and Joaquin.
[12] THE GONDOLA WAS SENT to bring what was left. El Loro still hasn't returned. We practiced climbing the hills of our creek but this meant two or three hours for the sides and only seven minutes in the center; this is where we shall have to carry out the defense. Joaquin told me that Marcos was hurt because of the reference that was made to his errors in the meeting the other day. I have to speak to him.
[13] I SPOKE TO Marcos; he complained because the criticism took place in front of the Bolivians. His argument was senseless. Except for his emotional state, worth considering; all the rest was unimportant.
Some despicable phrases which Alejandro had used against him were mentioned. This was cleared up and it appears as though there were no bad intentions, nothing except a little gossip. Marcos calmed down a little.
Inti and Moro went hunting, but brought nothing back.
Groups went out to make caves in a place that could be reached by mules, but nothing could be done along this line, and it was decided to make a hut close to the ground. Alejandro and Pombo studied the defense of the entrance and marked off trenches: they will continue tomorrow. Rubio and Apolinar returned and Braulio and Pacho went to the old camp. No news from Loro.
[14] MARCOS, WITH HIS VANGUARD, except for Benigno, went downstream to make the shelter. They should have returned -at night. but came back at noon because of the rain, without having finished the hut.
Joaquin led the group which began work on the trenches. Moro, Inti. Urbano and I departed to make a path which would horder our position across the firme on the right of the creek, but it did not turn out well and it was necessary to scale rather dangerous cliffs. It began to rain at midday and all activities were stopped. No news of oro the hut are finished.
El Loro came to make the report of his trip. When I asked him why he had gone, he answered that he thought that his trip was taken for granted, and confessed that he had gone to visit a woman that he had there. He brought the harness for the mule but could not manage to make him walk in the river.
There is no news of Coco; by this time it is alarming.
[18] THE DAY DAWNED CLOUDY, so I did not inspect the trenches. Urbano, Nato, the doctor (Moro), Inti, Aniceto and Braulio left on the gondola. Alejandro did not work because he was feeling ill.
A short time later, it began to pour. Loro arrived under the downpour to inform me that Argañaraz had spoken to Antonio, implying that he knew many things and offering to collaborate in cocaine or in whatever we were doing. meaning by "whatever we are doing" that he suspected that there was something else. I gave instructions to Loro to commit him but to offer little, only the payment for the trips which he made in his jeep, and to threaten him with death if he betrays us. Due to the heavy rain, Loro left immeditely to avoid being cut off by the river.
The gondola did not arrive at 8 and permission was given to eat the food of the gondoleros, which was devoured. Braulio and Nato arrived a few minutes later, informing us that the swelling waters had surprised them on the way: all of them tried to follow, but Inti had fallen into the water, had lost his rifle and was injured. The rest decided to spend the night there and these two arrived with difficulty.
[19] THE DAY BEGAN as usual, working on defense measures and improving the camp. Miguel fell ill with a high fever that has all the characteristics of malaria. I had chills all day, but the illness did not overtake me.
The four stragglers arrived at 8 in the morning and brought a good supply of choclos. They had spent the night huddled around the fire. They waited for the river to go down in order to recover the rifle.
About 4 in the afternoon, when Rubio and Pedro had left to take over for the others on watch in the other camp, Lieutenant Fernandez and four civilian-dressed policemen arrived in a rented jeep, looking for the cocaine factory. They only looked over the house and observed some strange things, such as the calcium carbide bought for our lamps which had not been taken to the cave. They took the pistol from Loro, but left the mauser and the 22; they "pretended", to take the .22 from Arganaraz, which they showed to Loro, and withdrew with the warning that they knew everything and had better take them into account. Lt. Fernandez told Loro that he could reclaim the pistol in Camiri, saying "just come and talk to me, without calling much attention." He asked for the "Brazilian."
Loro was given instructions to threaten El Vallegrandino and Argañaraz, who must be responsible for the espionage and informing, and to go to Camiri on the pretext of hunting for the pistol in order to get in contact with Coco (I doubt that he's still free). We must stay in the woods as much as possible [20] I INSPECTED THE POSITIONS and gave orders for carrying out the defense plan which was explained last night. It's based on the rapid defense of a zone bordering the river, which depends on a counterattack from the men of the vanguard stationed parallel to the river, which flows into an outlet at rearguard.
We intended to have practice drills, but the situation is becoming dangerous in the old camp; a gringo arrived at the farmhouse firing bursts with his M-2; he is "a friend" of Argañaraz and has come to spend a few days of vacation at his house. Exploring parties are being sent out, and we shall move the camp to a spot closer to Argañaraz' house. If things go wrong, we shall get even with him before we leave the zone.
Miguel's temperature continues to be high
Adrenal, which was the weakest point of open a trail parallel to the east, and another with Rolando the drill. The com asions departed: one, with Braulio to to do the same in the west. Pacho went to the barren hill to try out the radio equipment, and Marcos departed with Aniceto to try to find a way in which to keep an adequate watch on Arganaraz. All, except Marcos, should have returned before 2. Both the audio check and the pathmaking turned out well. Marcos returned early, as the rain prevented all possible visibility. Pedro arrived in the rain, bringing Coco with him, together with three new recruits: Benjamin, Eusebio and Walter. The first comes from Cuba and goes to the vanguard, as he has knowledge of weapons, and the other two to the rearguard. Mario Monje spoke to three who came from Cuba and persuaded them not to enter the guerrilla. Not only did he not resign from the Party Committee but he also sent the enclosed document to Fidel (document IV). I received a note from Tania in which she told of her departure and Ivan's illness, and another from him, which is enclosed (document V).
I brought the entire group together at night, and read the document, pointing out the inaccuracy of points a) and b) contained in the proposals, and then I let off a little additional steam. They seem to have reacted adequately. Two of the three new ones seem to have firm convictions and are sure of what they are doing. The youngest is an Aymaran peasant, who looks strong and healthy.
[22] A 13-MEN gondola WAS SENT OUT, and Braulio and Walter went with them to replace Pedro and El Rubio. They returned in the afternoon without all the supplies. On returning, El Rubio suffered a tremendous fall but was not seriously hurt. I wrote a document to Fidel, No. 3, in order to explain the situation and to try out the mailing contact. It should be sent to La Paz with Guevara if he appears for the appointment in Camiri on the 25th.
I wrote the instructions for the urban cadres, the Document III. Due to the gondola, there wasn't much activity in the camp. Miguel is better, but now Carlos has a high temperature. The tuberculine test was made today. Two turkeys were shot down while hunting, and an animal fell into the trap, but he was able to escape because the trap cut off his paw.
[23] TASKS IN THE CAMP and some explorations were divided up: Inti, Rolando and Arturo were sent to search for an eventual hiding place that could be used by the doctor for the wounded. Marcos, Urbano and I went to explore the hills facing us, hunting for the spot frora which Arganaraz' house can be seen. It was well done.
Carlos is still feverish; typical malaria.
[24] THE gondola LEFT WITH seven men, returning early with the entire load and also some corn; this time it was Joaquin who took the tumble, losing his Garand, but recovering it late. El Loro is back and hidden; Coco and Antonio are still out and should be here tomorrow or the day after with Guevara. One of the roads was improved to be used to surround the guards in case of an eventual defense of these positions.
An explanation was given of the other day's practice, correcting some errors.
[25] WE WENT OUT WITH MArcos to explore the road that would lead to the rearguard of the attackers; it took almost an hour to reach there, but the place was very good.
Aniceto and Benjamin went to try out the transmitter from the hill that overlooks Argañaraz' house, but they got lost and so no test. was made; the practice must be repeated. Work has begun on another cave for personal belongings. El Loro arrived and has been incorporated in the vanguard. Loro spoke to Argañaraz and told him what I thought. He admitted having sent the vallegrandino to spy, but denied being the author of the denunciation.
Coco scared the latter away from the house, because he had been sent by Argañaraz to spy. A message was received from Manila, reporting that everything had been received in good order and that Kolle was on his way to the place where Simon Reyes is waiting for him. Fidel warns that he will listen and be hard on them.
[26] JUST AS WE WERE BEGINNING WORK on the new cave, news came that Guevara had arrived with Loyola: we left for the little house in the intermediate camp and they reached there at 12. I put forth my conditions to Guevara: group dissolution, no ranks for anybody, no political organization yet and the necessity to avoid polemics about national and international discrepancies. He accepted everything with frank sincerity and, after a cool beginning, relations with the Bolivians became cordial.
Loyola made a good impression on me. She is very fol lace determination can We are becoming short of s Dr. Pareja was named chief of the network, and Rodolfo will come to join us within 15 days.
I sent a letter with instructions to Ivan (document VI). I gave instructions to Coco to sell the jeep but to assure communications with the farm.
At nightfall, we parted, at approximately 7 o'clock. They will leave tomorrow night and Guevara will come with the first group of four on the 14th of February. He said he could not come before that, due to communications and to the dropping out of the men because of the carnival.
More powerful radios will come for transmitting.
[27] A STRONG gondola was sent which brought almost everything. Coco and the messengers should leave tonight; they will remain in Camiri, and Coco will go on to Santa Cruz to arrange for the sale of the jeep, making preparations for after the 15th.
The work on the cave continues. A tatu was caught in the trap. The preparation of supplies for the trip is being finished. In principle, we should leave when Coco comes back.
[28] THe gondola CLEARED out the old encampment. Information was brought saying that El Vallegrandino was surprised while circling the cornfield, but he escaped.
Everything indicates that the moment of making a decision as to what to do about the farm is close.
Supplies for the ten-day march are now ready and the date has been set: one or two days after Coco's arrival, or on the 2nd of February.
[29] A DAY OF IDLENESS for everyone except the cooks, hunters and sentry. Coco arrived in the afternoon. He went to Camiri instead of Santa Cruz. He left Loyola to continue to La Paz by bus and Moises will go to Sucre by bus. Sunday was set as contact day.
The 1st of February was established as the day of departure.
[30] THE gondola wAs MADE up of 12 men and transported the greatest part of the food. It will take five men to bring what's left.
The hunters did not bring back anything The cave to be used for personal belongings is finished; it is not very good.
[31] THE LAST DAY IN THE CAMP. The gondola cleared the old campsite and withdrew the men on watch. Antonio, Nato, Camba and Arturo stayed behind with the following instructions: get in touch at least every three days; as long as there are four, two will be armed; the watch must never be neglected; the newcomers should be trained according to the general regulations, but they must not know any more than is absolutely necessary; the site must be freed of all personal effects, and the weapons will be hidden in the thicket and covered with a canvas; the money in reserve must remain in the camp at all times, to be kept on one of the men; the trails that have been opened are to be explored as well as the neighboring creeks. In case of an unexpected withdrawal, Antonio and Arturo will go to Arturo's cave; Nato and Camba will withdraw by way of the creek and one will leave word at the place that is to be selected tomorrow. If there are more than four men, a group will keep watch on the supply cave.
I spoke to the troops, giving the latest instructions concerning the march. I also addressed Coco, giving him the latest instructions (document VI).
MONTHLY ANALYSIS: As to be expected, Monje's attitude was evasive at first and later on treacherous.
The party is now taking up arms against us and I do not know what it will lead to, but it will not test us, and it may in the long run prove beneficial (1 am almost certain of this. The most honest and combative men are with us, although they have occasional struggles with their consciences.
Up until now, Guevara has responded well. We shall see how he and his men behave in the future.
Tania has departed but there have been no signs of life from the Argentinians nor from her. Now is when the actual guerrilla period begins; we shall test the troops and time will tell the results and what the perspectives of the Bolivian Revolution are.
Out of all that was foreseen, the incorporation of Bolivian combatants was what took the longest to accomplish.
FEBRERO, 1967 [1] HE FIRST STAGE has been completed. The men arrived somewhat tired, but in general they carried out their be part well. Antonio and Nato came up in order to In the rearguard, Joaq uin gave way under the weigh and held the entire group back [2] A SLOW AND LABORIOUS DAY. The doctor slows down the march a little, but in general the tempo is slow anyway. At 4 we reached the last place with water and camped. The Vanguard received the order to go as far as the river (presumably the Frias) but they were not making good time either. It rained at night.
[3] THE DAY DAWNED RaINY and because of this we postponed our departure until 8. When we started to walk, Aniceto arrived with the rope to help us through the difficult passes, and shortly after, it started to rain again. We arrived at the creek at 10, soaking wet, and it was decided not to go on today. The creek can not be the Frias River; it is simply not on the map Tomorrow, the vanguard will go out with Pacho at the front, and we shall keep in touch every hour.
[4] WE WALKED FROM MORNING until 4 in the afternoon, with a two hour break to eat soup at noon. The path followed the Nacahuasu, which is relatively good, but fatal for shoes, as there are already several comrades who are almost barefoot.
The troop is tired but everyone has responded quite well. I have been relieved of almost 15 pounds and can walk freely, but the pain in my shoulders becomes unbearable at times.
No traces have been found that people have recently been along the river, but we should come across inhabited zones at any moment according to the map.
[5] UNEXPECTEDLY, after walking five hours in the morning (12-14 kilometers) we were told by the vanguard that they had found some animals (it turned out to be a mare and its small colt). We stopped and ordered an exploration so as to avoid this presumably populated place. The discussion was whether we were at the Iripiti or at the fork with the Saladillo marked on the map. Pacho came back with the news that there was a big river several times larger than the Nacahuasu and that it could not be crossed. We went there and actually came upon the authentic Rio Grande, which was swollen besides. There were signs of life but somewhat old, and the roads followed led to grass-covered felds where there were no signs of life. We camped in a bad river (east and west) to become acquainted with the differ- walch, and tomoron we shall expiore ent places, and the other group will attempt crossing it.
[6] A DAY OF CALM and of replenishing strength. Joaquin went out with Walter and the doctor to explore the Rio Grande, following its course for eight kilometers but did not find a place to ford, finding only a creek with salt water. Marcos made little progress against the current and did not reach the Frias; Aniceto and Loro accompanied him. Alejandro Inti and Pacho tried to swim across the river, but they did not make it. We moved back almost a kilometer, looking for a better location. Pombo is rather sick Tomorrow we shall start work on the raft and make an attempt to cross it.
[7] THE RAFT WAS MADE under the direction of Marcos; it was too big and was difficult to move. At 1:30 we began to move towards the river and began crossing at 2:30. The vanguard made it in two trips. Half of the center plus my clothes, except for the knapsack, went on the third; when crossing again to move the rest of the center, Rubio miscalculated and the raft was carried downstream and couldn't be recovered.
It was destroyed and Joaquin started another one which was ready at 9 in the evening, but it was not necessary to cross at night because it did not rain and the river continued to go down. Tuma, Urbano, Inti, Alejandro and I were left from the center. Tuma and I slept on the ground [10] ACTING AS INTI's AIDE, I went to talk to the peasants. I believe that the comedy was not very effective due to the shyness on his part.
We talked to a typical peasant: capable of helping us but incapable of realizing the danger that this entails, and be cause of this, potentially dangerous. He indicated certain things about the peasants, but he could not be very precise due to the lack of certainty.
The doctor treated the children who had parasitic worms, and another who had been kicked by a mare, and then we departed. We spent the afternoon and night preparing huminta (it isn't good). At night, I made some observations to all of the comrades gathered together, about the following ten days. In essence, what I intend to do is walk ten more . Mr order to have all the comrades see
[1] MY FATHER'S BIRTHDAY: (67). We followed a clearly marked trail along the shore of the river until it became almost impassable and disappeared at times, showing signs that nobody had passed through there in a long time. At noon, we reached a place next to a large river which was completely closed off. This suddenly made me doubt that it was the Masicuri. We halted by a creek while Marcos and Miguel went to explore up-river in order to find its outlet. That's how it was confirmed that this one is the Masicuri; its first ford seems to be farther downstream, where several peasants were seen from far off loading their horses. They have probably seen our tracks, so from now on it is necessary to be extremely cautious. We are one or two leagues from Arenales, according to what the peasant said. h = 760 ms.
[12] THE TWO KILOMEtErs covered yesterday by the vanguard were walked rapidly, but after that the trailbreaking was done slowly. At 4 in the afternoon we reached the main road which seemed to be the one we were looking for. We decided to reject the house that stood facing us on the other side of the river and to look for another one on this side, which should be Montaño's, the one that was recommended by Rojas. Inti and Coco went up there but did not not find anyone, although everything indicated that this was it.
At 7:30 we went out on a night march which served to point out all that has yet to be learned. At approximately 10, Inti and Loro went to the house again but didn't bring hack very good news: the man was drunk and not at all sociable; he had nothing but corn. He had gotten drunk at Caballero's house on the other side of the river, where the ford is. We decided to stay and sleep in a nearby woods. I was extremely tired because the humintas hadn't agreed AFTER MIDNIGHT, a heavy rain whipped down which lasted all morning, swelling the river. The news improved: Mootado is the owner's son, about 16 years old. The father was the river, which is a league away. A sterich of nond along the left shoes, umall. Only the l Perez lives on thi middle-chan his danghner in the We moved to a sew patch. Maroos and Miguel built a trail to h=650 (stormy weather)
[14] A DAY OF QUIET, spent in the s The boy from the hotee came ome people had cond over to the sher side of the boking for some pigs—-but went no further. He was paid more for the deruction done to the corn patch. All day was spent opening trails without finding any houses. They figure that they have prepared about six kilometers, half of the task for tomorrow.
A long message from Havana was deciphered, the nucleus of which is the news of the interview with Kolle. In it, Kolle said that he had not been informed of the continental magnitude of the task, and this being the case, he would be willing to collaborate on a plan, the characteristics of which and Ramirez would be the ones to come. They also informed me that Simon had expressed that he has decided to help us, no matter what the party resolves to do.
They also said that El Frances, traveling with his own passport, will arrive in La Paz on the 23rd and will stay in Pareja's or Rhea's house. There is a part that cannot be deciphered so far.
We shall see how we face this new conciliatory offensive.
Other news: Merci appeared without the money claiming robbery; misapplication of funds is suspected, although the possibility of something more serious has not been discarded.
Lechin is going to ask for money and training.
[15] HILDITA'S BIRTHDAY (11).
A day of uneventful marching. At 10 in the morning we had come to the point that had been reached by the trailbreakers. Later everything went slowly, At 5 it was reported that a cultiváted patch of land had been found, and at 6 it was confirmed. We sent Inti, Loro and Aniceto to talk to the peasant; he turned out to be Miguel Perez, the brother of a rich peasant, Nicolas, but he is poor and exploited by his brother, so that he is willing to collaborate with us. We did not eat because it was very late.
[16] WE WALKED A FEW METERS SO as to avoid arousing the curiosity of the brother and camped on a hill facing the river, which is 50 meters below. The position is good with respect to avoiding surprises, but a little uncomfortable.
We began the task of preparing a large amount of food for the crossing, when we go over the Sierra towards Rosita.
In the afternoon a persistent downpour continued all night long without stopping, hampering our plans, causing the river to rise and leaving us isolated again. $1000 will Everything is wet. The river is very swollen. I sent Marcos with Miguel and Braulio to hunt for a trail to get to Rosita. They returned in the afternoon after having opened a four kilometer trail. He reported that there was a barren firme similar to the one that we call the Pampa del Tigre.
Inti feels sick, the result of stuffing himself. h=720 (abnormal atmospheric conditions).
[18] JOSEFINA'S BIRTHDAY (33). A partial failure. We walked slowly, keeping up the same speed as the trailbreakers, but at 2 they had reached the firme plateau where cutting through the brush was not necessary. We were delayed a little longer, and at 3 we reached a watering place where we camped, expecting to cross the firme in the morning Marcos and Tuma went on exploration and came back with very bad news; the whole hill has very steep cliffs which cannot be climbed down. There is nothing else to do but go back. h=980 [19] A LOST DAY. We came down the hill until we reached the creek and tried to climb up, but it was impossible. I sent Miguel and Aniceto to climb the new counterfort and they tried to cross over to the other side but were not successful.
Tomorrow we shall try to climb the last firme past the creek which lies to the west (the others lie to the south and there the hill ends). h=760 [20] A DAY OF SLOW MArCHING but full of accidents; Miguel and Braulio went out by way of the old road in order to reach the stream by the corn field and lost their way there, returning to the creek at dusk. On reaching the next creek I sent Rolando and Pombo to explore until they reached the clift, but they did not return until 3, so we followed the ame trail that Marcos had been making, leaving Pedro a El Rubio to wait for them. We came to the creek by patch of corn at 4:30, where we camped. The explorers [21] A SLOW WALK UPSTREAM. Pombo and Rolando returned with the news that the other creek was fordable, but Marcos said that this one was too. We left at 11, but at 13:30 we came across pools of very cold water which could not be forded. Loro was sent to explore, and he took so long that I sent Braulio and Joaquin from the rearguard. Loro Back with the news that the creek was wider further more practicable, wbereupon we decided to go hour waiting for Joaquin's report. At 6, we had camped when be brought the news that it was possible to climb to the firme and that there were many paths that could be used.
Inti is sick, all gassed up; the second time this week. h=860 [22] THE WHOLE DAY WAS SPENT climbing rather difficult firmes which were covered with heavy underbrush. After an exhausting day, the hour for making camp overtook us before we reached the top, so I sent Joaquin and Pedro to try to do it alone and they returned at 7 with the news that at least three hours of brush cutting were necessary.
We are at the source of the creek that flows out into the Masicuri, but towards the south. h=1180 [23] A BLACK DAY FOR ME; I made it on guts alone as I was exhausted. Marcos, Braulio and Tuma went out to prepare the way while we waited for them in the camp. There we deciphered a new message saying that they had received mine through the French box. At 12, we went out under • a sun so hot that it cracked stones; a short time later I felt faint when reaching the top of the highest hill and from this moment on I walked on will power alone. The maximum height of this zone is 1400 meters; a wide area can be observed from it, including the Rio Grande, the outlet of Nacahuasu and part of the Rosita. The topography is different from that shown on the map. After a clear dividing line, one comes down abruptly to a kind of tree-covered plateau eight or ten kilometers wide, at the end of which the Rosita flows; then another range of mountains rises to a height similar to those of this sierra, and one can see the plains in the distance. Even though it was very steep, we decided to descend in a more practicable place, in order to follow a stream that leads to the Rio Grande and from there to the Rosita. It looks as though there are no houses on the shore, contrary to what the map shows. We camped at 900 meters, after an infernal walk, without water and getting dark Early in the morning yesterday, I heard Marcos telling a comrade to go to hell, and saying the same to another today. It is necessary to speak to him. was made, without water, as the stream which we were following was dry The trailbreakers were changed at 12 because they were exhausted; it rained a little at 2 in the afternoon and the canteens were filled; a little later we found a shallow pool, and at 5 we camped in a small level place by the water. Marcos and Urbano continued the exploration and Marcos came back with the news that the river was a couple of kilometers away, but the path by the creek was very bad because it turned into a swamp. h=680 [25] A BLACK DAY. Very little progress was made, and to top it off, Marcos mistook the route and lost the morning; he had Braulio, Tuma and Pacho went. Pacho returned two hours later saying that Marcos had sent him because they could not hear well anymore. At 4:30 I sent Benigno to warn Marcos that if he did not find the river by 6 he should return; after Benigno's departure, Pacho called me to tell me that Marcos had given him arbitrary orders and had threatened him with his machete and hit him across the face with the handle. When Pacho returned and told him that he would not continue, he threatened him again, shook him and tore his clothes.
Faced with the seriousness of the situation, I called Inti and Rolando, who confirmed the fact that a bad atmosphere existed in the vanguard due to Marcos' character, but they also informed me of some of Pacho's injudicious actions.
[26] IN THE MORNING, I had an explanation from Marcos and Pacho, after which I was convinced that there had been insults and ill treatment on the part of Marcos and, perhaps, threats with the machete but not the blow. On the part of Pacho, there were insulting answers and an innate tendency to bravado, having displayed the same conduct heretofore. I waited until everybody was gathered together and then said what this effort to reach the Rosita meant, explaining that this type of privation was an introduction to what we would suffer, and I explained that the lack of discipline would produce shameful incidents like this one which had taken place between two-Cubans; I criticized Marcos' attitude and I made it clear to Pacho that another incident like this would result in a dishonorable discharge from the guerrilla. Pacho not only refused to continue with the communication equipment but came back and did not tell me anything about the incident, and later, quite probably, he lied about Marcos' hitting him I asked the Bolivians to tell me and not to resort to devious methods if their convictions weaken, and they will be permitted to leave freely.
We continued walking, trying to reach the Rio Grande It was reached and we were able to follow it for a little over a kilometer, but we had to climb again as it was impossible to bypass a cliff. Benjamin fell behind again, due to difficulties with his knapsack and because of physical exhaustion. When he reached our side 1 gave him orders to continue and he did so, walking some 50 meters but then losing the upgoing trail setting out to look for it on a ledge When I was instructing Urbano to warn him of this, Benjamin made a sharp movement and fell into the water. He did not know how to swim. The current was strong and dragged him along while he was trying to get on his feet; we ran to try to help him and, when we were täking off our clothes, he disappeared under a slow current. Rolando swam out there and tried to dive, but the current dragged him far off. After five minutes we gave up all hope. He was a weak boy, absolutely unfit, but with a will to win; the proof of this was stronger than he; his physique did not match his will, and now we have our baptism of death on the shores of the Rio Grande which occurred in an absurd manner. Without having reached the Rosita we camped at 5 in the evening. We ate our last ration of black beans.
[27] AFTER ANOTHER TIRESOME DAY, marching along the shore and climbing cliffs, we came to the Rosita River. This one is bigger than the Nacahuasu and smaller than the Masicuri and its waters are reddish. We ate our last ration that had been left in reserve, and no signs of life were found in spite of our nearness to the populated areas and the highways. h=600 [28] A DAY OF SEMI-REST. After breakfast (tea), I gave a short talk, analyzing Benjamin's death and telling some anecdotes of the Sierra Maestra. Right after that the explorers went out; Miguel, Inti, and Loro went up the Rosita, with instructions to walk for three and a half hours, the time I believed necessary to reach the river Abaposito, but it turned out not to be so since there was no trail. They did not find any signs of recent life. Joaquin and Pedro climbed the hills in front, but they did not see anything nor did they find tracks, or any signs of them. Alejandro and Rubio crossed the river but found no trail; the exploration was a superficial one. Marcos directed the construction of the raft, and just as soon as it was finished, the crossing was started in a bend of the river where the outlet of the Rosita is. The knapsacks of
not finished, so that we postponed the crossing until tomorrow.
MONTHLY SUMMARY: Although I have no news about what happened in the camp, everything goes quite well, with due exceptions, fatal in this case.
From the outside, there is no news of the two men that should be sent to me to complete the group; the Frenchman should be in La Paz already and in the camp any day now; I have no news from the Argentinians nor from Chino; the messages are received well in both directions; the attitude of the party continues to be vacillating and double, that is the least that can be said concerning it, although there is still another explanation which could be the final one, when I talk with the new delegation.
The march was carried out quite well but was tarnished by the accident which cost Benjamin's life; the people are still weak and not all of. the Bolivians will endure. The past days of hunger show a lessening of enthusiasm, which becomes more evident when they are divided.
Of the Cubans, two of the ones with little experience, Pacho and Rubio, have not responded well, but Alejandro definitely has; of the old ones, Marcos continuously causes headaches and Ricardo is not carrying his load. The rest are doing well. The next stage will be combative and decisive.
MARZO, 1967 T BEGAN TO RAIN at 6 in the morning. We postponed the crossing until it was over, but it continued raining until 3 in the afternoon; by that time the river was rising and we didn't consider it wise to try crossing. Now the river is high, without any signs of going down quickly.
I moved to an abandoned tapera to get away from the water and made a new camp there. Joaquin remained in the same place. I was informed in the evening that Polo had taken his can of milk and Eusebio the milk and sardines.
In the meantime, as punishment, they won't be allowed to eat these when the rest do.
[2] AT DAWN, it was raining and nerves were on edge, beginning with mine. The river had grown even more. We decided to leave the camp as soon as it stopped raining and continue moving parallel to the river along the same way that we had come. We left at 12 and got a good supply of palmito de corojo. We stopped at 4:30 since we had gotten off our main track, while trying to take advantage of an old trail which had been lost.
There is no news from the vanguard.
[3] WE BEGAN WITH ENTHUSIASM, walking well, but the hours wore us down and it was necessary to cut straight through to the firme as I was afraid that an accident would occur in the zone where Benjamin fell. It took us four hours to cover the same areas that took less than half an hour when we were below. We reached the edge of the creek at 6.
We had only two palmitos, Miguel and Urbano, and later Braulio went to look for some more farther away, arriving at 9 at night. Around 12 we ate the palmito and the corojo (totai in Bolivia), which are saving the situation.
h=600 [4] MIGUEL AND UrBAno left in the morning and were breaking trail all day, returning at 6 in the afternoon; they advanced five kilometers and saw an open space that would permit us to go farther, but there's no place for camping until we can lengthen the trail. The hunters managed to get two monkeys, a parrot and a dove, which were eaten along with the palmito, abundant in this creek.
The morale of the men is low and they are physically weaker day by day. My legs are showing signs of edema.
[5] JOAQUIN AND BRAULIO went out to open a trail in the rain, but both are weak and didn't make much progress. Twelve palmitos were gathered and some little birds were shot, which permitted us to save the canned goods for another day and save a reserve of palmito for two days.
A DAY OF INTERMITTENT walking until 5 in the afternoon. Miguel, Urbanp and Tuma are the trailbreakers. Some progress was made, and some firmes, which seem to be those of the Nacahuasu, can be seen in the distance. Only a little parrot was found today and was given to the rearguard. ate palmito with meat. We only have three Today we skimpy meals left. h=600 [7] MS. becoming me and more dismilk, which is the end. Nacahuasu must be two or three days away. h=610 [8] A DAY OF LITTLE PROGRESS including surprises and tension. We left the camp at 10 in the morning without waiting for Rolando who was hunting. We walked only an hour and a half before we reached the trailbreakers and the hunters (Urbano, Miguel, Tuma-Medico and Chinchu, respectively) who had a pile of parrots, and had stopped because they found a watering place. After having ordered that camp be made, I went to see the place, which looked like an oil pumping station. Inti and Ricardo dived into the water; they had to feign being hunters. They jumped in completely dressed, planning to cross in two stages, but Inti had difficulties and almost drowned; Ricardo helped him and they finally reached shore, calling the attention of everyone. They didn't give the watchword announcing danger and then disappeared. The crossing had begun at 12. and at 15:15 when I withdrew there still weren't any signs of life from them. All afternoon went by and they didn't appear. The last sentry went off duty at 21 and no signals had been given. I was very worried: two valuable comrades were exposed to danger and we didn't know what had happened to them. It was decided that the best swimmers, Alejandro and Rolando, should cross the river tomorrow at dawn. In spite of the lack of palmito, we ate better than in previous days due to the abundance of parrots and the two little monkeys that Rolando had killed.
[9] WE BEGAN THE CROSSING EARLY, but it was necessary to make a raft, which took quite a bit of time. The sentry announced that he had seen semi-nude people on the other side; it was 8:30 and the crossing was suspended. A path had been made which leads to a clearing on the other side, but we could easily be seen while in it, so it is necessary to leave early in the morning to take advantage of the river fog. About 16 hours, after a trying watch which, for me, lasted from 10:30, the supply men (Inti and Chinchu) dived into the river coming out far below. They brought back one pork, bread, rice, sugar, coffee, some canned goods, and bread, and permission was given to open a can of candied fermented corn, etc. We had a little feast of coffee and condensed milk which we had in reserve. They explained that they had let themselves be seen every hour, but to no avail. Marcos and his men passed three days ago, and Marcos, as usual, let his arms be seen. The engineers of Yacimientos didn't know the distance to the Nacahuasu, but supposed it to be about five days" walk; the food supplies will not last if this is so. The pump belongs to a pump ing station that is being built.
[10] WE LEFT AT 6:30 walking for 45 minutes until we reached the trailbreakers. It began to rain at 8 and continued until 11. We walked effectively for about three hours or so, making camp at 5. Some hills could be seen that could be the Nacahuasu. Braulio left to explore and returned with the news that there is a trail and the river runs directly west.
h = 600 [11] THE DAY BEGAN under favorable signs. We walked for more than an hour along a perfect trail, but it suddenly stopped.
Braulio took the machete and went on laboriously until he found a beach. We gave him and Urbano time to open the way, and just as we were about to continue, the rising of the river cut us off, all of a sudden, and the river grew almost a couple of meters. We were cut off from the trailblazers and forced to make our way through the thicket. At 13:30 we stopped, and I sent Miguel and Tuma to make contact with the vanguard and to transmit the order to return if they had not managed to reach the Nacahuasu or another good place.
They returned at 18, having walked some three kilometers and having run into a steep cliff. It seems as though we are near, but the last days are going to be rough if the river doesn't go down and this looks quite unlikely.
We walked four to five kilometers.
A disagreeable incident has occurred because the rearguard lacks sugar and the suspicions waver between a smaller quantity having being divided up or liberties on Braulio's part. He has to be spoken to.
h - 610 [12] IN AN HOUR AND A HALF We covered the territory opened yesterday. When we arrived, Miguel and Tuma, who had gone ahead, were already exploring in order to try to bypass the steep cliff. The day was spent in this; our only activity was to hunt four little birds which we ate to accompany rice and clams. We have two meals left. Miguel stayed on the other side and it looks as though he has managed to find a way to the Nacahuasu. We walked three to four kilometers. some rough parts, and therefore in five hours we advanced very little. We camped under a moderate rainfall at 17. The men were rather tired and quite demoralized again. Only one meal left. We walked another six kilometers but to little avail.
WE, THE CENTERGUARD, crossed the river, with Rubio and Medico helping us. We expected to arrive at the mouth of the Nacahuasu but we were carrying a heavy cargo and three men who didn't know how to swim. The current carried us along nearly a kilometer, and we could not cross with the raft as we had intended to. Eleven of us stayed on this side and Medico and Rubio will cross again tomorrow. We shot four hawks for our food; they could have been worse. Everything has become wet, and the weather Miguel's feet are swollen, and there are several more with continues to be rainy. The morale of the men is low, the same problem. h = 580 [16] WE DECIDED TO EAT the horse, as our swelling has become alarming. Miguel, Inti, various symptoms. I am extremely weak, We made a mis- Urbano, Alejandro are presenting take in our calculations, as we thought that Joaquin would cross, but it wasn't so. Medico and Rubio tried to cross to help us and were forced downstream, being lost from sight; Joaquin asked permission to cross and it was given, but he too was lost downstream. I sent Pombo and Tuma to reach them, but they returned at night without having found them. At 17 we had an orgy of horsemeat. We will probably suffer the consequences tomorrow. According to calculations, Rolando should arrive at the camp today. Message #32 was deciphered completely, which announced the arrival of a Bolivian who will join us bringing another load of Glucantine, an antiparasitic (leismania). Up until now we haven't had any of this.
[17] ANOTHER TRAGEDY BEFORE tasting combat. Joaquin appeared at midday; Miguel and Tuma had gone to meet him with some good pieces of meat. The odyssey had been serious; they could not control the raft and it was carried down the Nacahuasu, until a whirlpool turned it over several times according to them. The final result being the loss of several knapsacks, almost all the bullets, six rifles and a man, Carlos; he was pulled under by a whirlpool together with Braulio, but each had a different outcome: Braulio reached the shore and could see that Carlos was being pulled without any sign of resisting. Joaquin had already cross. Up until now, he was considered to be the best of the along. come out wit men farther ah didn't see him Bolivians in the rearguard, because of his seriousness, discipline and enthusiasm The weapons lost are: one Brno, that of Braulio; 2 M-1s -Carlos and Pedro; three mausers-Abel, Eusebio and Polo. Joaquin informed me that he had seen Rubio and Medico on the other side and had already ordered them to make a little raft and return. At 14 they appeared with their share of trials and tribulations, naked, and Rubio barefoot. The raft had turned over in the first whirlpool.
They came out on shore in almost the same place we did Our departure is set for early tomorrow and Joaquin will make it around midday. I expect to receive news sometime tomorrow during the day. The morale of Joaquin's men appears to be good [18] WE DEPARTED EARLY, leaving Joaquin to digest and prepare his half horse with instructions to leave as soon as he felt strong. I fought to reserve some meat, against the opinion of the men who wanted to eat it all. Ricardo, Inti and Urbano fell behind in the middle of the morning and we had to wait for them, contrary to my plans for resting in the camp of departure. Anyway, we walked badly. At 14:30 Urbano came in with an urina which had been hunted by Ricardo; this permitted us to loosen our belts a little and at the same time keep the horse ribs in reserve. We reached midpoint at 16:30 and slept here. There are several complaining and badly humoured men: Chinchu, Urbano and Alejandro.
[19] THE MEN AT THE FRONT walked well and we stopped at 11, as had been agreed upon beforehand, but Ricardo and Urbano had fallen behind again, together wih Alejandro.
They arrived at 13, with another urina, also hunted by Ricardo. Joaquin arrived with them. An incident arose between Joaquin and El Rubio, and I had to speak rather sharply to the latter, without being convinced that he was guilty. I decided to reach the creek come what may, but there was a small airplane flying around that was up to no good, and besides that I was worried about the lack of news from the base. I had expected the stretch to be even longer, but in spite of the reluctance of the men, we arrived at 17:30.
There we were received by the Peruvian doctor, "Negro,"
been here in the area for two days but had not c was an eyewitness of the attack on the farm by six men. Neither Antonio nor Coco was there, the latter having gone to Camiri to look for another group of Guevara's men and Antonio had left immediately to report the desertion. I received a long report from Marcos (document VIII), in which he explains his conduct in his own way; he arrived at the farm against my express orders; and two reports from Antonio explaining the situation (documents IX and X).
El Frances, Chino, and their companions, El Pelao, Tania, and Guevara, with the first part of his group, are now in the base. After having eaten an abundant meal of rice and beans with urina, Miguel went out to look for Joaquin the rest of us in the early hours of the morning.
[20] WE LEFT AT 10, at a good pace. Benigno and Negro went ahead with a message for Marcos, ordering him to take charge of the defense and to leave the administrative work to Antonio. Joaquin came out leisurely, after having concealed the tracks at the entrance to the creek. Three of his men are barefoot. At 13, when we were having a prolonged stop, Pacho arrived with a message from Marcos. This information added more to that of Benigno's, but now it was more complicated as 60 soldiers had entered El Vallegrandino's trail and took prisoner one of our messengers, Salustio, one of Guevara's men. One of our mules was taken and the jeep was lost. Nothing has been heard from Loro who stayed behind on guard at the little house. AnyMiguel and Urbano on to prepare food for hungry men; and we arrived at dusk. Danton, El Pelao, and Chino were in the camp, along with Tania and a group of Bolivians who were used as gondolas to bring food and then withdraw.
Rolando had been sent to order a complete withdrawal; an atmosphere of defeat prevailed. A recently incorporated Bolivian physician arrived with a message for Rolando, saying that Marcos and Antonio were waiting at the watering station, and for him to go to a meeting. I sent the same messenger back and told them that war is won with bullets and that they should go back to the camp at once and to wait for me there. Everything gives the impressio of complete chaos: they don't know what to do.
I spoke to Chino first He asked for 55000 monthly for ten months, and he was told in Havana that he sbould speak to me. He also brought a message that was too long to be deciphered by Arturo. In essence I agreed on the basis that they take to the mountains within six months. He planned on doing so in the zone of Ayucucho- -he as chief and accompanied by 15 men. Besides that, we agreed that he would receive five men now and 15 more a short time later to be sent with weapons after being trained in combat. He has to send me a couple of medium range (40 miles) transmitters and we shall work on a code for our use to maintain permanent contact. He seems to be very enthusiastic.
He also brought several very old reports about Leche.
It is known that Loro has appeared and announced that he had killed a soldier.
[21] I SPENT THE DAY talking and having discussion clearing up some points with Chino, El Frances, El Pelao and Tania. El Frances brought news that was already known about Monje, Kolle, Simon Reyes, etc. He came to stay but I asked him to return in order to organize an auxiliary network in France, and while on his way there he should go to Cuba, which I know he wants to do, to get married and have a child. I have to write to Sartre and B. Russell to have them organize an international fund to help the Bolivian Liberation Movement. He should also talk to a friend and have him organize everything that he can to help, especially in the way of money, medicine and electronics, sending an electrical engineer and equipment.
El Pelao, of course, is willing to be under my command, and I made the proposal to him to be at present a kind of coordinator of the groups of Jozamy, Belman and Stamponi, and to send five men to begin training. He was to give my regards to Maria Rosa Oliver and the old man. He will be given 500 pesos to send off and 1000 for moving around. If they accept, they should begin the exploration in the north of Argentina and send me a report.
Tania made the contacts and the men came, but according to her, they made her come here in their jeep. She had intended to stay a day, but things became complicated. Jozamy could not remain the first time and he didn't even get in touch the second because Tania was here. Ivan is looked down on; I don't know what's at the bottom of this. Loyola's account was received up until the 9th of February ($1500).* Two reports were received from Ivan, one of a military academy together with photographs of no interest whatsoever, and the other information concerning some points also of little importance. The most important of all is that the writing cannot be made out (Document XIII). A report was received from Antonio (Document XII) try[22] A (TEXT MUTILATED) left leaving the camp abandoned with some food, poorly put away (MUTILATED). We reached the bottom at 12, being a group of 47 men, including visitors and all.
On arriving, Inti spoke about la certain lack of respect on the part of Marcos; I exploded and told Marcos that if this were so, he would be expelled from the guerrilla, answering that (MUTILATED) shot before.
A five-man ambush had been ordered to take place farther down the river and three others were to do exploratory work, headed by Antonio with Miguel and Loro. Pacho went to watch from the barren hill which overlooks Argarañaz' house but didn't see anything. The explorers returned at night and I received them with a severe going over. Olo reacted emotionally and denied the charges. The meeting was tense and explosive and didn't turn out well. It still isn't clear what Marcos said.
I sent for Rolando to finally clear up the number of the newly-incorporated members and the matter of their numbers and distribution, , as there were more than 30 men from the center going hungry.
[23] A DAY OF WARLIKE EVENTS. Pombo wanted to organize a gondola up the trail in order to recover supplies, but I opposed it until the situation with Marcos had been cleared up. A little after 8, Coco came running up to inform me that a section of the army had fallen into the ambush. The final result is up until now, 3 60 mm. mortars, 16 mausers, 2 Bz, 3 USIS, 1 30, 2 radios, boots, etc., 7 deaths, 14 unwounded prisoners and 4 wounded, but we haven't managed to get any food. The plan of operations was seized; it consists of advancing from both extremes of the Nacahuasu and to make contact in the center. We rapidly moved the men to the other side and placed Marcos with the majority of the vanguard at the end of the road for maneuvers, while the center and part of the rearguard took over the defense and Braulio took charge of an ambush at the end of the other road for maneuvers. We are spending the night this way to see if the famous rangers will come tomorrow. The major and the captain taken prisoners talked like parrots.
The message sent by way of Chino was deciphered. Debray's trip is mentioned; also the $60,000, the things which Chino had asked for, and an explanation of why they don't write to Ivan. I also received communication from Sanchez Eg me about the possibilities of establishing Mito [24] THE COMPLETE SPOILS are the following: 16 mausers, 3 mortars with 64 shells, 2 Bz, 2000 rounds of mausers, 3 USIS with 2 clips each, 1.30 with 2 belts. There are 7 dead, 14 prisoners, including 4 wounded. Marcos was sent out to scout but nothing new was found out, only that the planes are bombing near our house.
I sent Inti to speak to the prisoners for the last time and to set them free, after taking away everything that could be used. The officers were spoken to apart and permitted to leave with their belongings. We told the major we would give him until 12 on the 27th to remove the . dead and offered a truce in the entire Lagunilla zone if he stayed there, but he answered that he was retiring from the army. The captain said that he had reentered the army a year ago, because the party had so requested, and that he had a brother studying in Cuba. Besides that, he gave us the names of two other officers who would be willing to collaborate with us. When the bombing began, they really became frightened, but so did two of our men, Raul and Walter, the latter also being weak during the ambush.
Marcos explored the terrain without finding anything in the zone. Nato and Coco went up with the drifters on a gondola, but they had to bring them back because they did not want to walk. They have to be discharged.
[25] NOTHING NEW HAPPENED TODAY. Leon, Urbano, and Arturo were sent to a lookout which covers the entrance of the river on both sides. At 12, Marcos withdrew from his position and all the men were concentrated on the main ambush. At 18:30, with almost all the personnel present, I made an analysis of the trip and what it meant. I pointed out Marcos' errors and took away his command, and then named Miguel as chief of the vanguard. At the same time I discharged Paco, Chingolo and Eusebio, and Pepe, telling them that if they don't work, they won't eat. I suspended their tobacco ration and redistributed their personal belongings among the most needy. I referred to Kolle's project of coming to discuss what is to be done, simultaneously with the expulsion of the members of the Youth now present. Here we are concerned with facts; words that don't coincide with facts are not important. 1 also announced that we shall look for the cow and that classes will be begun again.
I talked to Pedro and El Medico, to whom I announced their nearly total graduation as guerrilleros, and with Apolinar, whom I encouraged. I criticized Walter for becoming soft during the trip, for his attitude during combat and for the fear he showed when faced with the planes. He didn't react well. I cleared un some details with Fl Chine and INTI LEFT EARLY with Antonio, Raul, and Pedro to hunt for a cow in the Ticucha zone but ran into troops about three hours away, and returned, apparently without having been seen. They informed us that the soldiers had a lookout maced on a barren spot and a house with a shiny root. fom which some six men came out. They are neat the river that we had called Yaki. I spoke to Marcos and sent him to the rearguard; I don't believe that his conduct will improve.
A short gondola was carried out as well as the customary watches; the landing of a helicopter and 30 or 40 soldiers were seen from the Argaranaz lookout [27] TODAY THE NEWS BROKE, using up most of the space on the airwaves and causing a multitude of communiques, including a press conference with Barrientos. The official dispatch claims one more dead than we have and gives them as wounded and later shot, listing our losses as 15 dead and four prisoners, two of them foreigners. They also speak of a foreigner who eliminated himself, and of the composition of the guerrilla. It is obvious that the deserters talked or the prisoner did, but how much they said and how they said it is not known exactly. Everything indicates that Tania has become known, which means that two years of good patient work has been lost. Departure is becoming very difficult now. I received the impression that Danton was not the least bit pleased when I told him so. We shall see what happens Benigno, Loro and Julio left to look for the trail to Perirenda; it takes two or three days and they have instructions not to be seen in Perirenda so as to make another expedition later on to Gutierrez. The réconnaissance plane dropped a few parachutes which the lookout reported as. having landed in the hunting fields; Antonio was sent with two more to investigate and to try to take prisoners, but nothing was found At night we had a staff meeting, during which we made plans for the following days: prepare a gondola to our little house tomorrow with the object of getting corn, then another gondola later on for making purchases in Gutierrez, and last of all a little attack for diversion which can take place in the woods on the vehicles that travel between Pincal and Lagunilla. The No. 1 communique was drafted, we shall try to get it to the newspapermen in Camiri i docu ment XVII).
[28] THE RADIO CONTInUEs to be saturated with news about the guerrilla. We are surrounded by 2000 men within a radius of 120 kilometers, and the encirclement is closing in; this is combined with napalm bombings. We have around 10 or 15 losses.
I put Braulio in charge of nine men and sent them out to find corn. They came back with some crazy news: 1) Coco, who had left ahead of us in order to warn us, had disappeared; 2) at 16:00 when they reached the farm. they found that the cave had been searched. But they spread out to begin the pick-up when seven Red Cross men, two doctors and several unarmed military men ap-. peared. They were taken noners, and were told that the truce was over but were unorized to continue; 3) a truckload of soldiers arrived, but instead of shooting them, they made them say they would withdraw, 4) The soldiers, in a disciplined manner, withdrew, and ours accompanied the health officers to the place where the rotting corpses were, but they said they couldn't carry them all and so would be back to burn them tomorrow. They confiscated two of Argarañaz' horses and returned, leaving Antonio, Rubio,* and Aniceto where the animals cannot follow them. Just when they were looking for Coco he appeared; apparently he had overslept.
There is no news from Benigno yet.
El Frances was too vehement when he mentioned how useful he could be outside.
[29] A DAY OF LITTLE ACTION but of lots of news: the army gave out ample information which, if it be truc, can be of great value. Radio Habaña has given out the news and the government announces that it will support the Venezuelan action, presenting the Cuban case in the OAS Among the news, there is one piece that worries me, a clash in the Tiraboy pass in which two guerrilleros were killed. This is the way to Pirirenda, the spot that Benigno was to explore, and he should have come back today, but he hasn't. He was told not to go through the pass, but during the last days, my orders have been repeatedly disobeyed.
Guevara is advancing slowly with his work; he was given dynamite but it wasn't used during the day. A horse was killed and the meat was eaten generously, although it should last for four days. We shall try to bring the other up here, but it doesn't look easy. According to the birds of prey, the corpses still haven't been burned. As soon as the cave is finished, we can move from this camp, as it is becoming uncomfortable and is too well known I told Aleiandro to
[30] EVERYTHING IS QUIET once mote: Benigno and his comrades arrived in the middle of the morning. They had effectively gone through the Piraboy pass, but found nothing except traces of two people. Although they had been seen by the peasants, they reached their point of destination and returned. The report indicates that it takes around four hours to reach Pirirenda and that, apparently, there is no danger. The planes strafed the little house constantly.
Antonio was sent with two more to explore up-river, and the report is that the soldiers remain stationary, although there are traces of an exploratory run by the river. Trenches have been dug.
The mare that was left behind arrived, so that in the worst of circumstances, we have meat for four days. We shall rest tomorrow, and the day after, the vanguard will leave for the next two operations, taking Gutierrez and setting up an ambush on the road to Argaranaz-Lagunillas.
[31] NO SPECIAL EVENT. Guevara announced that the cave would be finished tomorrow. Inti and Ricardo reported that the soldiers had again taken our farm, after a heavy artillery attack (mortars), aviation, etc. This obstructed our plans to go to Pirirenda for supplies, so I gave Manuel instructions to advance to the little house with his men; if it's empty, to take it and to send two men to let me know so that we can get under way the day after tomorrow, and if it is taken and a surprise attack cannot be made to return and consider the possibility of flanking Argaranaz to carry out an ambush betwen Pincal and Lagunillas. The radio continues clamoring, and the dispatches are followed with officious announcements of combat. They have fixed our position with absolute precision betwen Yaki and Nacahuasu, and I am afraid that they will try to make a move to close in on us. I spoke to Benigno about his mistake in not going out to look for us and explained to him the situation of Marcos. He reacted At night I spoke to Loro and Aniceto. The conversation was very bad. Loro said that we were deteriorating, and when I pinned him down, he left it up to Marcos and Benigno: Aniceto half agrees with him but later he confessed to Coco that they had been accomplices in a theft of canned goods, and to Inti that he didn't agree with the statements of Loro about Benigno and the statements of other about Pombo and the "general deterioration of the guerrilla," more or less.
SUMMARY OF THE MONTH: This month was spilling over with events but the general outlook consists of the following: a period of consolidation and purification for the guerrilla, strictly fulfilled; a period of siow progress with the incorporation of those who came from Cuba who seem to be quite good, and with those of Guevara who in general are rather weak (two deserters, one prisoner "who talked," three quitters and two weaklings); a period of beginning the fight, characterized with a spectacular and precise attack but sprinkled with glaring indecisions before and after the feat (Marcos' withdrawal, Braulio's action); a period of the beginning of the enemy counteroffensive, which has been characterized up until now by: a) a tendency to establish controls that would isolate us, b) a clamoring on a national and international level, c) total ineffectiveness up until now, d) mobilization of the peasants.
Evidently, we shall have to start the march before I had thought, leaving behind a group in reserve and with the handicap of four possible informers. The situation is not good, but another period of trials is beginning now for the guerrilla which will be good for them once it has been overcome.
Composition: Vanguard: Chief = Miguel; Benigno, Pacho, Loro, Aniceto, Camba, Coco, Dario, Julio, Pablo, Raul.
Rearguard: Chief = Joaquin; Segundo; Braulio, Rubio, Marcos, Pedro, Medico, Polo, Walter, Victor (Pepe, Paco, Eusebio, Chingalo).
Centro = Myself, Alejandro, Rolando, Inti, Pombo, Nato, Tuma, Urbano, Moro, Negro, Ricardo, Arturo, Eustaquio, Guevara, Willy, Luis, Antonio, Leon (Tania, Pelado, Danton, Chino-visitors), (Serapio-refugee).
[1] HE VANGUARD DEPARTED at 7, way behind time. Camba has not returned from his expedition with El Nato to El Oso cave where they went to hide the weapons. Tuma arrived at 10 from the look-out with the news that he had seen three or four soldiers on the pampita where hunters go. We took positions and Walter notified us from the look-out that he had seen three soldiers with a mule or a donkey, and that they were setting up something; he pointed it out to me but I didn't see anything. I withdrew at 16:00, considering that it was not necessary to remain there, for they would not attack in any case, but I believed it to be just an optical illusion on Walter's part.
I decided to make a complete withdrawal tomorrow, at the Serapio, Eustaquão and three ( The other mare was killed eo as to leave charqui for the remaining six. Antonio arrived at 23:00, with a sack of corn and with the news that everything had gone off as planned. Rolando left at 4 in the morning, carrying the impedimenta of the four weak ones with him (Chingolo, Eusebio, Paco, Pepe). Pepe wanted to be given a weapon and to remain. Cambra went with him. At 5, Coco arrived with the news that a cow had been slaughtered and that they were waiting for us. I told him that the creek that leads down the hill toward the farm house would be the meeting place at noon the day after tomorrow:
THE INCREDIBLE AMOUNT of things we had accumulated forced us to spend the entire day storing them in their respective caves, finishing the job at 17:00. A four-man watch was maintained, but not even planes interrupted the dead calm that prevailed all day. The radio announcers spoke of the closing in of the encirclement and of the guerrilla preparing the defense in the narrow pass of the Nacahuasu. They also reported the arrest of Don Remberto and told how he had sold the farm to Coco.
As it was too late, we decided to postpone the departure until 3 in the morning, thereby gaining an entire day by going directly down the Nacahuasu, in spite of the fact that the appointed meeting place is in the other direction. I spoke to Moro, explaining that I had not named him as one of the best in the group due to his weakness concerning food and his tendency to exasperate his comrades with his crude jokes. We talked for a while about these topics.
THE SCHEDULE WAS CARRIED OUT without problems, leaving at 3:30 and walking slowly until we passed the bend of the shortcut at 6:30, and reaching the edge of the farm at 8:30. When we passed by the place where the ambush had taken place, nothing was left of the corpses except for completely stripped skeletons, on which the birds of prey had done their duty with the utmost responsibility. I sent two men (Urbano and Nato) to get in touch with Rolando, and in the afternoon we moved to the Piraboy ravine where we slept, having gorged ourselves with beef and corn.
I spoke to Danton and Carlos, setting forth three alternatives: to come along with us, to go out alone or to take Gutierrez and try their luck as best they could; they chose the third. We shall try our luck tomorrow.
[6] A DAY OF GREAT TENSION. We passed the Nacahuasu River at 4 and remained there to wait for daybreak before conMiguei begas oring later but had to corse baci twice due to errors which brought us too close to the soldiers. At 8 Rolando reported that there were a dozen soldiers in front of the ravine which we had just abandoned. We left slowly, and at 11 we were on a firme, out of danger. Rolando arrived with the news that there had been more than 100 soldiers placed there on guard in the ravine.
At night, when we still had not reached the creek, cowhands' voices were heard from the river. We came out and took four peasants who had several of Argarañaz' cows with them. They were carrying an army pass to look for 12 head of stray cattle; some were already out of reach and it was not possible to find them. We took two cows for qurselves, and we drove them down the river to our creek. The civilians turned out to be a contractor and his son, a peasant from Chuquisaca, and another from Camiri, who appeared to be very receptive and promised to spread the proclamation which we gave him.
We held them for a while and later let them go, asking them not to say anything, and this they said they would do We spent the night eating.
[7] WE PENETRATED FURTHER UP the creek, taking the last surviving cow with us, which we later slaughtered to make charqui. Rolando stayed in ambush at the river with orders to shoot at whatever appeared: there was nothing new throughout the entire day. Benigno and Camba followed the trail that should lead us to Pirirenda, and reported that they had heard the motor of a sawmill in the canyon near I sent Urbano and Julio with a message for Joaquin, and they did not return all day.
AN UNEVENTFUL DAY. Benigno went and returned from work without having finished it and said that he wouldn't be able to finish tomorrow either. Miguel departed to look for a canyon which Benigno had seen from high up, and has not returned. Urbano and Julio returned with Polo. The soldiers have taken over the encampment and are searching the hills; they passed the "elevator" on their way down. Joaquin has reported on these and other problems in the enclosed document (XIX).
We had three cows with their calves, but one escaped so there are four animals left; we shall make charqui out of one or two of them with the salt we still have.
hour or so from our present position, although they are a little too close to the creek. Miguel arrived; according to the results of his exploration, the ravine comes out at Pirirenda and it takes a day to travel it with a knap. sack; therefore I told Benigno to stop the exploration he was making as it would take at least another day.
IT DAWnED; there were few important events during the morning while we prepared to leave the creek, unpolluted and cross by way of the Quebrada de Miguel to PirirendaGutierrez. In the middle of the morning El Negro arrived in an agitated state, to warn us that 15 soldiers were coming down-river. Inti had gone to the ambush to warn Rolando There was nothing else to do except wait and so this we did; I ordered Tuma to be ready to inform me.
The first unpleasant news soon arrived: El Rubio, Jesus Suarez Gayol, was critically wounded. He arrived at out camp dead, a bullet in his head. It happened in this way: the ambush was composed of eight men from the rearguarda reinforcement of three from the vanguard, distributed on both sides of the river. On his way to make the report of the arrival of the 15 soldiers, Inti passed by El Rubio and noticed that he was in a bad position, as he was clearly visible from the river. The soldiers advanced with little caution, exploring the edges of the river while looking for tracks, and in the process of doing this, they penetrated the wooded area and ran into Braulio and Pedro, before reaching the ambush. The firing lasted a few seconds, with one dead and three wounded lying on the ground, plus six prisoners. A short time later a low ranking officer also fell and four escaped. El Rubio was found agonizing alongside of the wounded; his Garand was jammed and at his side was an unexploded grenade with its pin loose. The prisoner could not be interrogated due to his critical condition, and died a while later, as did the lieutenant in command.
I received the following overview from the interrogation of the prisoners: these 15 men belonged to the same company which was up the Nacahuasu and had crossed the canyon, picked up the remains from the former skirmish and then occupied the camp. The radio announced that documents and photos were found there, but according to the soldiers nothing was found. The company consisted of 100 men; 15 of these were to accompany a group of news. papermen to our camp and were ordered to go out on an exploratory mission and to return at 17:00. The principal forces are at Pincal; in Lagunillas, there are more or less 30 in number, and it is supposed that the group that was in Piraboy has been withdrawn to Gutierrez. They spoke of the odyssey of this group which had been lost in the mountains without water, and therefore it was necessary to rescue them. Calculating that the fugitives would arrive late, I decided to guard. At first, I had ordered it to be withdrawn, but it seemed logical to leave it like this. About 17, the news arrived that the army is advancing with heavy effectives. The only thing to do is wait. I sent Pombo in order to get a clear idea of the situation. Isolated shots are heard once in a while, and Pombo returned saying that they had fallen in the ambush again, that there are several dead and that major has been taken prisoner. This time things occurred this way: the troops advanced down the river, deployed, but without caution, and the (TEXT MUTILATED) was complete. This time there were seven dead, five wounded and a total of 22 prisoners. The final result is the following: (total) (It cannot be done due to the lack of data).
[11] IN THE MORNING, We began to move all our belongings and buried El Rubio in a small shallow grave, due to the lack of materials. Inti was left with the rearguard to accompany the prisoners and to set them free, and also to bring back any arms that may be scattered around. The result of the search was to take two more prisoners with their respective Garands. Two dispatches No. 1 were given to the major with the agreement that he would put them in the hands of the press. The total number of losses was. ten dead, including two lieutenants; 30 prisoners; a major and several junior grade officers; and the rest soldiers, out of which six are wounded, one in the first combat and the rest in the second They are under the command of the 4th Division but include members from mixed regiments: there are rangers, paratroopers, and soldiers from the zone, just boys.
We found the cave and finished transporting all the equipment late in the afternoon, but it still isn't conditioned. The cows were frightened away during the last stretch and we Early, just as we arrived at the new campsite, we met Joaquin and Alejandro who were descending with all their men. The report indicates that the soldiers seen by Eustaquio were only an illusion and the moving here has been in vain.
The radio gave an official communique of "a new and bloody clash" and speaks of nine army deaths and four "confirmed" deaths on our side. A Chilean newspaperman made a detailed account of our old camp, claiming to have
[12] I BROUGHT ALL THE COMBATANTS together at 6:30, except for the four from the drifters; we paid homage to El Rubio and pointed out that the first blood spilled was Cuban. A tendency to underestimate the Cubans was observed among the vanguard, a tendency which crystallized yesterday when Camba remarked that every day he had less confidence in the Cubans, due to an incident that occurred with Ricardo. I again appealed to them for the necessity for unity, this being the only way possible to develop our army, which has increased its firing power and has become accustomed to combat, but which has not increased in size; on the contrary, it has grown smaller lately.
After having placed the spoils of war in a cave wellprepared by Nato, we departed slowly at 14; so slowly that we almost made no progress whatsoever, having to sleep at a small watering place shortly after the walk had begun.
Now the army has admitted 11 deaths, apparently because another body was found or one of the wounded has died.
I started a short course in relation to Debray's book.
Part of a message has been deciphered but it doesn't seem to be very imporant.
[13] THE GROUP WAS DIVIDED into two parts in order to be able to walk more quickly; but in spite of everything the pace was slow, one group arriving at the camp at 16 and the last one at 18:30. Miguel had arrived in the morning; the caves had not been uncovered and nothing has been touched. The benches, the kitchens, the oven and the seed beds were all intact.
Aniceto and Raul went to explore but did not do so well and must do better tomorrow, reaching the Ikira River.
The North Americans announced that the military advisors which they had sent to Bolivia did not have anything to do with the guerrilla, but that this corresponded to an old plan. Perhaps this is the first episode of a new Vietnam.
[14] A 3 ONOUS DAY. Some things wete brought from the dugout for the sick which provide us with food for five days. Canned mil cans had disa bad left 48. nobody seems to ! one of our were take arce our pos until Jo acTives. The plan the operation is not clear, but it seems to me that the best thing to do is to clear out everyone and operate in the zone of Muyupampa, and to fall back to the north later on. If it is possible, Danton and Carlos way toward Sucre-Cocha ponding on the circur ammunique N 2 (document XXI) was writen for the Bolivian peopl and report No. 4 for Manila, which sbould be delivered by El Frances.
[15] JOAQUIN ARRIVED with the entire rearguard, and we decided to leave tomorrow. He reported that planes had flown over the zone and they had fired with cannons into the woods. The day passed by uneventfully. The arming of the group was completed, assigning the 30 machine guns to the rearguard (Marcos), and having the members of the drifters as helpers.
At night, I made remarks concerning the trip and about the disappearance of the canned milk, giving a severe warning.
Part of the long message from Cuba was deciphered. In short, Lechin is aware of what I am doing and is going to write a declaration for support, reentering the country clandestinely within 20 days.
A note was written to Fidel (#4) informing him of the latest news. It is coded and put in invisible writing.
[16] THE VANGUARD LEFT at 6:15 and we at 7:15, walking well as far as River Ikira, but Tania and Alejandro have fallen behind. When their temperatures were taken, Tania had 39° and Alejandro 38°. Besides, we weren't marching as had been planned. We left them with El Negro and Serapio, a kilometer up the Ikira River and went on, taking over an isolated settlement called Bella Vista, or more precisely four peasants who sold us potatoes, pork, and corn. They are very poor farmers and are frightened by our presence here. We spent the night cooking and eating, not moving, waiting for tomorrow night so as not to be recognized by our characteristics while passing by Ticucha.
[17] NEWS KEPT CHANGING and so did the decisions; Ticucha is a loss of time, according to the peasants. There is a road direct to Muyupampa (Vaca-Guzman) which is shorter, and the final stretch permits the passage of vehicles. We decided to go directly to Muyupampa, after many doubts on my part. sent someone to fetch the stragglers and have them stay with Joaquin, who had been ordered to make a demonstration in the zone to prevent excessive movement and to wait for three days, after which he should thing so as to get El Frances and Carlos out once and for all. Moises joined the group of stragglers, who had to stay behind, because of a severe gall bladder attack. This is the outline of our location: returning by the same road will place us in danger of being exposed to a clash with the army on the alert in Lagunillas or by a column which could come from Ticucha, but it has to be done so as not to be cut off from the rearguard.
We left at 22, walking and pausing until 4:30, when we stopped to sleep a bit. We advanced some ten kilometers.
Out of all the peasants that we have met, there is one, Simon, who is cooperative although frightened. There is another, Vides, who could be dangerous; he is the "rich one" of the zone. Besides this, it is necessary to remember that Carlos Rodas' son disappeared and might be an informer (though under the influence of Vides, who is the zone's economic capo).
[18] WE WALKED UNTIL EARLY MORNING, drowsing during the last hour and feeling quite cold. In the morning the vanguard went to explore, coming across a house of guaranies who offered very little information. Our sentry stopped a horseman who turned out to be the son of Carlos Rodas (another one) who was on his way to Yakunday and we took him prisoner. Walking was slow and it was not until 3 that we managed to reach Matagal, the house of A Padilla. He is the poor brother of another man who lived a league from there, whose house we passed. The man was afraid and tried all ways to make us leave and, to make matters worse, it rained and we had to find shelter in his house.
[19] WE STAYED ALL DAY in the place, detaining the peasants that came in both directions, and thereby obtaining a varied mixture of prisoners. At 13, the sentry brought us a "greek present." An English newspaperman by the name of Roth, on our tracks, was brought by some children from Lagunilla His documents were in order but there were some suspicious things. In the part referring to profession, "student" had been sman" (really, he claims to be a photogr Puerto Rican vi and when questioned I an organizer in Buenos Aires, he admitted student body. He told he cam p and had bees shown Brausolid of his travel experiences e lack of dis and of respons By means of the information given the children who had led the newspaperman bere, it was learned that our arrival here was known in Lagunillas from the very first night, thanks to a report brought by someone. We put pressure on Rodas' son and he confessed that his brother and one of Vides' peons had gone to collect the reward, which varies from $500 to $1000. We confiscated his horse in reprisal and let the detained peasants know of it.
El Frances asked to present the problem to the Englishman, and as proof of his good faith, to help them get out. Carlos accepted unwillingly and I washed my hands of it. We arirved at 21 to (TEXT MUTILATED) and continued the journey toward Muyupampa, where everything is calm, according to the reports of the peasants.
The Englishman accepted the conditions proposed by Inti, which included a short anecdote which I prepared. At 23:45, after a cordial leavetaking of those departing, the march to take the town began. I stayed behind, with Pombo, Tuma and Urbano. It was intensely cold, and we made a small bonfire. At 1:00 Nato arrived informing us that the town was in a state of alert and that army troops were quartered in groups of 20 and there were self-defense patrols. One of these, with two M-3s and two revolvers, surprised our outposts but the patrol surrendered without presenting combat. Instructions were asked for and I told them to withdraw, due to the lateness of the hour, permitting the Englishman, El Frances and Carlos to decide what they considered to be the best. At four, we began to return, without having reached our objective, but Carlos decided to stay and El Frances followed, this time unwillingly.
[20] WE REACHED NEMESIO CARABALLO's house around 7 in the morning, having met him during the night when he offered us coffee. The man had gone, leaving the house locked, with only a few frightened servants remaining. We organized our meal right there, buying corn and jocos (zapallos) from the farm hands. About 13, a truck with a white flag appeared, bringing the subprefect, the doctor and the priest from Muyupampa, the latter a German. Inti spoke to them. They came in a peaceful manner, but peace on a national level, in which they offered to be intermediaries; Inti offered peace for Muyupama, on the basis of a list of items which were to be brought before 18:30, which they did not commit themselves to due to the fact that, according to them, the army was in charge of the town. They asked to be given a longer time, until 6 in the morning, but this was not accepted.
As a sign of good will, they brought two cartons of cigarettes and the news that the three who were leaving had been arrested in Muyupampa and two were compromised for having false documents. Things look bad for Carlos; Danton should cone out well.
At 17:30, three AT-6's came and bombarded the verv by those sent, are scared to death We left at 22:30 with two horses, the one that was confiscated and the other which had belonged to the newsman.
We walked toward Ticucha until 1:30, when we stopped to sleep.
[21] WE WALKED A SHORT DISTANCE until we reached the house of Roso Carrasco, who attended us well and sold us what was necessary. At night we walked as far as the highway crossing, Muyupampa-Monteagudo, to a place called Taperillas. The plan was to remain in the watering place and to make an exploration so as to make the ambush. An additional reason existed which was the news of the death of three mercenaries given out by radio, a Frenchman, an Englishman, and an Argentinian. This doubt must be cleared up in order to inflict an exemplary punishment.
Before eating, we paid a visit on veteran Rodas, who was the stepfather of Vargas, the death we had in Nacachuasu, and gave an explanation that seemed to satisfy him. The vanguard did not understand and continued down the road, waking some dogs which barked unusually loud [22] THE ERRORS BEGAN EARLY in the morning. After we had withdrawn, Rolando, Miguel and Antonio set out to explore for a place to establish an ambush, penetrating more deeply into the woods. They surprised several men from a small YPFB truck who were observing our tracks while a peasant was informing them of our nocturnal presence, and they decided to arrest everyone. This changed the order of things. so we decided to ambush during the day and capture the sup. ply trucks that passed and attack the army if they came. A truck with some merchandise and a large quantity of bananas and a considerable number of peasants were seized, but they let other small trucks of Yacimientos pass, including some that were also observing our tracks. The food, combined with the temptation of the bread that was offered but which never arrived, kept us there for a long time.
My intention was to load the small truck of Yacimientos with all the food and advance with the vanguard as far as the crossroads at Ticucha, located four kilometers away. At dusk, a plane began to circle around above our position, and the barking of the dogs in the neighboring houses became more insistent. At 20 we were ready to depart in spite of the evidence that our presence had been detected, when a short combat began and voices intimating us to surrender were heard. All of us were careless and did not have any idea of what was happening. Fortunately, all of our belongings and supplies were in the truck. . Things were organized in a short while. Only Loro was absent, but everything indicated that nothing had happened to him because the clash was with Ricardo, who surprised the guards' guide when they were climbing the firme in order to encircle us. The guide might have been wounded. We left with the truck and all the available horses, six altogether; we alternated the men on foot and on horseback, ending up with everybody in the truck and six from the vanguard on horseback. We reached Ticucha at 3:30, and at El Meson, the priest's property, at 6:30 after we got stuck in a hole.
The result of the action was negative-lack of foresight and discipline on the one side, the loss of a man (I hope it is only temporary) on the other. Merchandise which was paid for and which we did not get, and last of all, a package of dollars which fell from Pombo's bag, were the results of the skirmish. Not taking into account that we were attacked by surprise and forced to withdraw by a group that could not have been large. There is still much to do to turn this into a combative force although the morale is quite high.
[23] TODAY WAS DECLARED A DAY of rest and passed uneventfully. At midday the plane (an AT-6) flew over the zone; the watch was reinforced but nothing happened. The instructions for tomorrow were given at night. Benigno and Aniceto will go to hunt for Joaquin-four days. Coco and Camba explored the trail to Rio Grande and are preparing it so it can be used-four days; we shall stay here near the corn, waiting to see if the army comes, until Joaquin joins us, having received orders to bring everyone, only leaving there one of the drifters, if sick The doubt about Danton, El Pelao and the English reporter still exists; there is press censorship and another clash was announced in which three or five prisoners were taken.
[24] far as the last peasant's house, some 500 meters before arriving at the priest's farm (we found marijuana in the fields). The farmer arrived again and was nosing around; in the afternoon an AT-6 strafed the house twice. Pacho disappeared mysteriously; he was sick and stayed behind; Antonio pointed out the way to him and he marched off in the direction of the place where he should have arrived within five hours, but he did not return. We shall look for him tomorrow.
we were making preparations, be arrived with the news that there were 60 and they were getting ready to continue. The observatory turned out to be inefficient in its mission to warn ahead of time. We decided to plan an improvised ambush on the road that leads to the camp; as fast as we could we chose a short stretch that bordered the creek with a visibility of 50 meters. I stayed there together with Urbano and Miguel with an automatic rifle; El Medico, Arturo and Raul occupied the position on the right to prevent escaping or advancing on this side. Rolando, Pombo, Antonio, Ricardo, Julio, Pablito, Dario, Willy, Luis and Leon occupied the lateral position on the other side of the creek, so as to completely cover the flank. Inti stayed in the river bed to attack those that returned to seek refuge there. Nato and Eustaquio went to the lookout with instructions to withdraw to the rear when the firing began. El Chino stayed in the rearguard in charge of the camp. My men, already scarce, were lessened by three: Pacho, lost, and Tuma and Luis out hunting for him.
A while later the vanguard arrived, which to our surprise was led by three German shepherd dogs and their master. The animals were excited, but it did not seem to me that they would give us away. Nevertheless they continued advancing, and I shot at the first dog and missed. When I was going to shoot at the guide, the M-2 jammed.
Miguel killed the other dog, as far as I could see, and nobody else entered the ambush. An intermittent firing began on the army's flank. When firing ceased, I sent Urbano to order the withdrawal, but he came with the news that Rolando was wounded; he was brought a short while later, already very weak, and died when he began to receive plasma. A bullet had fractured the femur and the whole nervous vascular bundle, and he had lost too much blood before anything could be done. We have lost the best man in the guerrilla and, naturally, one of its pillars, my comrade from the time when he was a messenger in column 4 (then, almost a boy) until the invasion and now this new revolutionary adventure. Of his unknown and unheralded death for a hypothetical future that may crystallize, there is only to say: "Tu cadáver pequeño de capitán valiente ha extendido en lo inmenso su metálica forma."
The rest was a slow operation of withdrawal, gathering up all the things and carrying Rolando's (San Luis') body.
Pacho joined us later; he had erred and reached Coco, taking the night to return. At 3, we buried the body under a thin layer of earth. At 16, Benigno and Aniceto arrived, informing us that they had fallen in ambush (or rather they had clashed with the army, losing their knapsacks but when they were just a short distance from Nacahuasu. Both getting out unhurt. According to Benigno, this occurred of the natural ways out are blocked, and we shall have to take to the mountains because the Rio Grande outlet is not suitable for two reasons: one that it is natural, and the other is that it will remove us further from Joaquin, from whom we have not heard anything. At night we reached the fork of the roads of the Nacahuasu and of the Rio Grande, and we slept there. Here we shall wait for Coco and Camba so as to get our little troop together again. The result of the operation is highly negative; Rolando died, but not only that; the army losses cannot be more than two and a dog, at the most, as the position was neither well-studied nor prepared and the sharpshooters had not seen the enemy.
Last of all, the visibility was very bad which prevented us from making preparations in time.
A helicopter descended over the priest's house twice; it is not known whether a wounded man was removed or not;
the planes bombed our old positions, which means they have not advanced much.
[26] WE WALKED A FEW METERS and ordered Miguel to hunt for a place to camp while we sent someone else to look for Coco and Camba, and he appeared at midday with both.
According to them, they had worked for four hours on the road, loaded down, and there were possibilities of trying to scale the firme. However, I sent Benigno and Urbano to explore a possible escalade near the canyon of the creek that flows into the Nacahuasu, but they returned at dusk with the news that it was very bad. We resolved to follow the trail opened by Coco in order to find another one which led to the Iquiri.
We have a mascot: Lolo, a baby fawn. We shall see if it survives.
[27] Coco's Four Hours turned out to be two and a half. We thought we recognized the place where there are many bitter orange trees as the point marked on the map as Masico. Urbano and Benigno continued to prepare the trail for another hour's journey. It is intensely cold at night.
The Bolivian news broadcast transmitted army comuniques in which they confirm the death of a civilian guide, the instructor of the dogs, and the dog, Rayo. They attribute two deaths to us: one, presumably a Cuban nicknamed Rubio, and the other a Bolivian. It is confirmed that Danton is imprisoned near Camiri; it is certain that the others are alive with him.
h=950 [28] WE WALKED SLOWLY until 15:00. At this time the river had [29] WE TRIED OUT SOME RAVINES which were seen. The results were negative. At this point, anyway, we are in a canyon without faults. Coco thinks he saw a transversal canyon which he did not explore; tomorrow we shall do so with the entire troop. With much delay, message No. 35 was deciphered completely, which had a paragraph in it asking me for authorization to put my signature on a bill in favor of Vietnam, headed by Bertrand Russell.
[30] WE STARTED TO TACKLE the hill. The supposed canyon disappeared into steep cliffs, but we reached a crevice which we climbed. Night surprised us near the peak, and there we slept, without being too cold.
Lolo, a victim of Urbano's impetuousness, died when he threw the rifle at her head.
Radio Habaña transmitted the news that Chilean newsmen had pointed out that the guerrilla had so much strength that they are forcing the cities to take measures and that recently they had seized two military trucks full of food. The Revista Siempre interviewed Barrientos who, among other things, admitted that there were Yankee military advisors and that the guerrilla warfare had emerged as a result of the social conditions in Bolivia.
MONTHLY SUMMARY: Things occurred within normal limits, although we regret two great losses: Rubio and Rolando; the death of the latter is a severe blow, as I had intended leaving him in charge of an eventual second front. We had four more actions; all of them were positive in general and one was very good: the ambush in which El Rubio died.
On the other hand, the isolation continues to be complete; sickness keeps undermining the health of some of the comrades, obliging us to divide forces, which lowers effectiveness. We still have not been able to make contact with Joaquin; the peasant base is still not being formed, although it seems that through planned terror, we can neutralize most of them; support will come later. Not one person has joined up with us, and apart from the deaths, we have lost Loro, who disappeared after the action in Taperillas.
From the notes on military strategy, the following can be emphasized: a) The controls have not been effective up until now, due to their immobility and weakness; they disturb us but they do not prevent us from moving. Besides, after the last skirmish with the dogs and the instructor, it is to he presumed that they will be more careful on entering the wooded areas; b) the clamor continues, but now on both sides, and after the publication of my article in Havana, there can be no doubt about my presence here. It seems certain that the North Americans will intervene with force here and are already sending helicopters and. apparently.
Green Berets, althosch army tat least, one or tro companies) has improved its technique: they surprised us in Taperillas and they were not demoralized at El Meson: d) the peusant mohilization does not exist. except for informative duties which annoy us somewhat. They are neither very rapid nor very efficient: they can be neutralized.
El Chino's status has changed, and he will be a combatant until the second or third front is formed. Danton and Carlos, fell victims of their own haste, their near desperation to leave, and of my lack of energy to stop them, so that communication with Cuba has been cut off (Danton) and the plan of action in Argentina (Carlos) has been lost.
To sum it up, it's been a month in which everything has been resolved normally, taking into consideration the necessary eventualities of the guerrilla. The morale is high for all those combatants that have passed their preliminary test as guerrilla fighters.
MAYO, 1967 [1] E CELEBRATED THE DATE by trailblazing, but we W walked very little we have not yet reached the dividing line of the water.
In Havana, Almeida spoke of me and the famous Bolivian guerrillas. The speech was somewhat long but good. We have sufficient food left for three days. Today Nato killed a little bird with his slingshot. We enter the era of the bird.
[2] A DAY OF SLOW PROGRESS and confusion with respect to our geographical situation. We walked effectively only two hours due to the difficulty in opening the paths. From a height I was able to locate a point near the Nacahuasu which shows that we are very much to the north, but there are no traces of the Iquiri. I gave orders to Miguel and Benigno to keep trailbreaking all day long to try to reach the Iquiri or at least water, since we are without it. There is food left for five days, though it's scarce. Radio Habaña keeps up its offensive with information on Bolivia, exaggerating the news. h=reached 1760; we slept at 1730 morrow we shall make the exploration simultaneously to see if it changes its course, and we shall keep on cutting We have food left for only two days and it is scant. We are at a height of 1080 meters, 200 above the level of the Nacahuasu. A faraway noise of motors is heard, the direction of which is unidentifiable.
[4] IN THE MORNING, the path was continued while Coco and Aniceto explored the creek. They returned close to 13:00 asserting that the creek turned to the east and south; therefore it seemed to be the Iquiri. I gave an order to fetch the trailblazers and to continue walking down the river. We left at 13:30 and at 17 we stopped, already being sure the general course was east northeast; due to this fact it cannot be the Iquiri, unless it changes its course. The blazers reported that they had not found water and kept seeing firmes; it was resolved to keep going forward under the impression that we are going towards the Rio Grande. Only one cacaré was hunted and it was given to the macheteros, considering its minute size. We have little food for two days.
The radio gave the news of the detention of Loro, wounded in the leg; his statements are good so far. Ac cording to what everything seems to indicate, he was not wounded in the house but in some other place, presumably attempting to escape.
[5] WE WALKED EFFECTIVELY for five hours, some 12-14 kilo meters, reaching a camp built by Inti and Benigno. We are, therefore, at the Congri creek which does not appear on the map and is very much more to the north than we had thought. This raises several questions: where is the Iquiri? Could it be the one where Benigno and Aniceto were taken by, surprise? Could the aggressors be Joaquin's people? For the time being we are thinking of going to El Oso where there should be breakfast left for two days, and afterwards we shall go to the old camp. Today two big birds and one cacaré were killed; thereby we shall save food and continue having a reserve supply for two days: dehydrated soups in bags and canned meat. Inti, Coco and El Medico are ambushed to hunt. News was given that Debray will be tried by a military court in Camiri as presumed chief or organizer of the guerrillas; his mother is arriving tomorrow and there is a great to-do about the affair.
Nothing about Loro. h=840 [6] MADE for reaching El Oso failed. The distance to the little house on the creek turned out to be THE CALCULATOS greater than the one estimated, and the trail was closed, so we had to open a new path. We reached the little house at 16:30 after going over heights up to 1400 meters, with the men reluctant to walk. The next to the last meal was directly behind him on the march The news is centered on the Debray case.
h=1100 [7] WE REACHED Oso's CAMP early in the morning and there found eight cans of milk waiting for us, with which we made a good breakfast. Some things were taken out from one of the caves nearby, among them a mauser with five anti-tank shells for Nato who will be our bazooka man. He had a fit of vomiting and continues to be sick Right after reaching the camp, Benigno, Urbano, Leon, Aniceto and Pablito went out to explore the little farm.
We ate the last of the soups and the meat, but we have the provision of lard that was in the cave. Some footprints were seen, and there is some destruction that shows tha soldiers have been here. In the early morning, the explorers arrived with empty hands; the soldiers are at the little farm and they have ruined the corn. (It's been six months since my arrival and the official initiation of the guerrilla.)
[8] EARLY IN THE MORNING I insisted that the caves be repaired and that the can of lard be brought down for filling bottles, for that is all we have to eat. About 10:30, isolated shots were heard in the ambush; two unarmed soldiers were coming up the Nacahuasu; Pacho thought it was a vanguard and wounded them, one in the leg and the other slightly in the abdomen. They were told that the shots The ambush was badly coordinated and Pacho's nervous ments of the soldiers establish that they are located near the Iquiri; but they. really lied. At 12, two more were captured who were hurrying down the Nacahuasu; they stated that they were going rapidly because they had gone out hunting, and on returning they found that the comcaballa plus sugar and coffee were captured on the former group; these, together with the lard which was eaten in great amounts, solved today's problem. Some got sick.
Later the sentry reported repeated explorations by soldiers who reached the corner of the river and then turned back.
Everybody was tense when there arrived what seemed to be 27 soldiers. They had seen something strange and the group commanded by 2nd Lieutenant Loredo advanced; he himself started firing and was killed on the spot, together with two more recruits. Night was falling and we continued advancing, capturing six soldiers; the rest withdraw.
The total result shows: three dead and ten prisoners, two of them wounded; seven M-1's and four mausers, personal equipment, ammunition and a little food, which together with the lard served to assuage our hunger. We slept there.
[9] WE AROSE AT 4 (I did not sleep), and we set the soldiers. free after giving them a talking to. Their shoes were taken from them, their clothing was changed and the liars were sent off in their undershorts. They left for the little farm carrying the wounded one. At 6:30 we finished our withdrawal towards the Creek of the Monkeys by way of the cave, where we put away the spoils. Only lard is left for food. I was feeling faint and I had to sleep two hours in order to be able to keep on at a slow and staggering pace, the march thus being carried on. We ate lard soup at the first watering place. The people are weak and already there are some of us with edema. At night the army gave its report on our combat, naming their dead and wounded but not the prisoners, and announced big battles with heavy losses on our part.
[10] WE KEEP ON ADVANCING SLOWLY. On reaching the camp where Rubio's tomb is, we found tallow and charqui which we had left, in bad condition. We picked up everything; there were no signs of soldiers. We crossed the Nacahuasu with caution and we started on the road to Pirirenda by way of a ravine which Miguel had explored, but the trail still wasn't finished. We stopped at 17:00 and ate the piece of charqui and the tallow.
h=800 [H] THE VANGUARD went out first; 1 stayed behind listening to the news. In a while Urbano came to announce that Benigno had killed a wild pig (pecari) and asked for permission to start a fire and skin it; we decided to remain to eat the animal while Benigno, Urbano and Miguel kept on building the trail towards the lagoon. At 14 hours we started marching again, and pitched camp at 18. Miguel and the others went on ahead.
I must talk seriously with Benigno and Urbano, for the former ate a can of fish on the day of the battle but denied it, and Urbano ate part of the charqui at Rubio's camp.
They gave the news of the replacement of Colonel Rocha, chief of the 4th Division, who operates in the zone.
h = 1050 [12] WE WALKED SLOWLY. Urbano and Benigno were opening the trail. At 15, the lagoon was seen to be about five kilometers away, and a little later an old trail was found. After an hour more we came across a tremendous corn field with zapallos, but there was no water. We prepared roasted joco with some lard, and we husked and toasted corn. The explorers arrived with the news that they had dropped in at Chico's house, the very same one who is mentioned as a good friend of Lieutenant Henry Loredo in his diary. He was not in his house, but four farm hands and a servant were. The servant's husband came to look for her and was retained. A big pig was cooked with rice and fritters and zapallo. Pombo, Arturo, Willy and Dario stayed to guard the knapsacks. The only bad thing is that we have not located the water, apart from that at the house.
We withdrew at 15:30, at a slow pace and with almost everybody sick. The owner of the house had not arrived, and a note was left for him specifying the expenditures;
the farm hands and the servant were each paid $10 for their work.
h=950 [13] A DAY OF BELCHING, farting, vomiting and diarrhea; a genuine organ concert. We remained in absolute immobility trying to digest the pork. We have two cans of water.
I was very sick until I vomited and recuperated. At night we ate corn fritters and roasted zapallo, plus the remains of the previous banquet, that is, those that were in condition to do so. All the radio stations were repeatedly giving out the news that a Cuban landing in Venezuela had been frustrated. The government of Leoni presented two men with their names and ranks. I do not know them, but everything indicates that something went wrong reach the Pirirenda lagoon by a trail that Benigno and Pombo had found on an exploration. Before going out, 1 gathered everybody together and held forth on the problems which had been faced, fundamentally the one on food. A criticism was made of Benigno for having eaten a can of fish and then denying it, of Urbano for eating charqui behind our backs, and of Aniceto for his eagerness to get in on everything where food is concerned and his reluctance to do anything else. During the course of the gathering we heard noises of trucks approaching. In a hiding place nearby we put away some 50 jocos and 200 pounds of husked corn for eventual needs.
When we were already out on our way, busy picking beans, volleys sounded nearby, and a little later we saw the aviation "ferociously bombarding us" about two or three kilometers away from our positions. The lagoon appeared as we kept going up a little hill, and the soldiers continued their shooting. At dusk we approached a house which had recently been abandoned. It was very well supplied and had water. We ate a tasty fricassee of chicken with rice, and stayed until 4:00.
[15] AN UNEVENTFUL DAY.
ON STARTING TO WALk I was overcome by the most violent colic, with vomiting and diarrhea. They stopped it with Demerol, and I lost consciousness while they carried me in a hammock. When I woke up I was very much relieved but smeared all over like a suckling baby. They lent me a pair of pants, but having no water my stench reaches a league away. We spent the whole day there. I drowsed Coco explored finding a road due south-north. At night we followed it while the moon was out and then we rested. Message No. 36 arrived, whereby our total isolation can be inferred.
[17] WE PROCEEDED on the march until 13 hours when we came upon a sawmill having signs of being abandoned some three days ago. It had sugar, corn. lard, cornmeal and water in barrels, apparently having been transported from very far away. We camped there, while explorations were made of the paths that lead from the camp and end in the woods. Raul has a tumor on his knee which is intensely painful and keeps him from walking. He was given a strong antibiotic and tomorrow a puncture will he made. We walked some 15 kilometers. h=920 [18] WE REMAINED ambushed all day, in case the workers or the army come; nothing happened. Miguel went out with Pablito and found the water about two hours from the camp by a side road. A puncture was made on Raul, extracting 50 cc. of purulent liquid; he was given a general anti-infectious treatment. He can hardly take a step. : pulled a tooth for the first time in this guerrilla: the first victim: Camba. We ate bread baked in a small oven and at night had a barbarous stew which put me on the brink again.
[19] THE VANgUArD left early taking position in the ambush at the crossing of the roads. Then we went out, one part replacing the vanguard while it returned to look for Raul and then took him to the crossing: the other part of the center guard went up to the watering place to leave the knapsacks and came back to fetch Raul, who is improving slowly. Antonio made a little exploration down the creek and found an abandoned camp of soldiers where we found some dry rations. The Nacahuasu should not be far and I figure that we should come out below the Congri. It rained all night long, taking the experts by surprise We have food for ten days and there is zapallo and corn in the neighboring regions.
h=780 [20] A DAY WITHOUT MOVEMENT. In the morning the center guard was sent to the ambush, and in the afternoon the vanguard, under the command of Pombo, whose opinion is that the rision selected by Miguel is very bad. Miguel explored d the creek finding the Nacahuasu after two hours of working without his knapsack. A shot was clearly heard, without knowing who had fired it. On the shores of the Nacahuasu there are signs of another military camp with a couple of platoons. Luis was sanctioned "with the order not to go to the ambush" for his continuous protests about everything. He seems to have reacted well.
In a press conference, Barrientos denied the status of Debray as a newspaperman and announced that he will ask Congress to reestablish the death penalty. Almost every newspaperman and every foreigner questioned him about Debray: he defended himself with an incredible lack of intelligence. He is the most incapable man imaginable. sccond puncture was made on him extracting 40 cc. of purulent liquid. He has no fever, but is in pain and can hardly walk; he is my present worry. At night we ate sumptuously: stew, corn meal, charqui and zapallo sprinkled with mote.
[22] Ar NoON, GUZMAN RoBles, the man in charge of the sawmill, appeared with the driver and his son in a bangedup jeep, as was to be expected. At first, it looked like a move by the army to see what was going on, but he kept yielding and consented to go to Gutierrez at night, leaving his son as hostage; he should come back tomorrow. The vanguard will stay in ambush all night and tomorrow we shall wait until 15:00. They say it shall be necessary to withdraw because the situation will become dangerous. We had the impression that the man would not betray us, but we don't know if he can make purchases without arousing suspicions. He was paid for everything consumed in the batey. He gave reports about the situation in Tatarenda, Limon, Ipita, where there are no soldiers, except for a lieutenant stationed in the latter. He talks from hearsay of Tatarenda, since he has not been there.
[23] A DAY OF TENSION. The one in charge of the sawmill did not return all day, and although there was no activity, we decided to withdraw at night and to take the big seventeen-year-old boy with us as hostage. We walked an hour along the trail by the light of the moon and slept on the road. We took a ten-day food supply with us.
[24] IN Two HoUrs we reached the Nacahuasu, which was free We came out about four hours down the Congri Creek We walked slowly, putting up with the reluctant pace and unwillingness of Ricardo. which today included Moro also We arrived at the same camp that we had used on the first day of our first trip. We left no traces, nor did we see recent ones. The radio gave the news that Debray's petition for Habeas Corpus will be denied. I figure we are one or two hours away from the Saladillo; on reaching the top we shall decide what to do.
[25] IN ONE AND A HALF HOUrS We reached the Saladillo, leaving no traces. We walked about two hours up-creek, to the source of the river. There we ate and at 15:30 we walked another couple of hours until 18 when we camped at 1100 meters, without surmounting the firme. Then, according to the boy. a couple of leagues are left before arriving at his grandfather's chaco or, according to Benigno a whole day's walk to Vargas house on the Rio Grande Tomorrow we shall make the decision.
[26] AFTER TWO HOURS OF WALKING and the crossing of the 1200 meter peak, we reached the chaco of the brother of the boy's grandfather. Two farm hands who were working had to be detained because they were walking toward us. They turned out to. be brothers-in-law of the old man, married to a sister of theirs. They were sixteen and twenty years old. They gave the information that the father of the boy made the purchases but was arrested and confessed everything. There are 30 soldiers in Ipita and they patrol the town. Since the water in the area had to be transported in barrels from Ipita, we ate fried pork with zapallos charred with lard. At night we left for the chaco which the boys have: it is located eight miles away, four toward Ipita itself and four towards the west. We arrived at dawn. h=1100 [27] A DAY OF LOAFING, and a bit of desperation; after all the marvelous promises, all they had was some old cane and the raill was useless. As was to be expected, the old owner of tae chaco came at noon with his wagon, carrying water for the pigs, and when he saw something queer he returned to the place where the ambush was. He was apprehended together with the farm hand. They were held prisoners until 18 hours when we released them, together with the younger of the brothers. We told them to stay around until Monday and not to say anything. We walked two hours, and slept in a corn field, already on the road that will take us to Caraguataenda.
[28] SUNDAY. We rose early and began to march; in one and a half hours we were within the limits of the chacos of Caraguataenda, and Benigno and Coco were sent to explore. They were seen by a peasant, so they apprehended him. A little later we had a colony of prisoners, without showing much fear, until an old woman began to shout, together with her children, when she was told to halt. Neither Pacho nor Pablo could make themselves detain her and she ran towards the town. We took the town at 14:00, posting ourselves at both ends. A little later a jeep from
There we pried opes a store and took 5500 in merchandise which we left in the hands of the peasants, drawing up a very ceremonious affidavit. We continued our pilgrimage, reaching Itay where they received us very well in a house where we found the teacher that owns the store in Ipitacito, and we compared the prices. I partook in the conversation, and it seems that they recognized me; they had cheese and a little bread and they gave us some with coffee, but there was a dissonant note in the reception. We went on to Espino, along the railway route to Santa Cruz, but the Ford truck from which they had taken off the power gear broke down and it took us all morning to go three leagues from Espino. The motor of the vehicle became burnt out completely and stopped altogether two leagues from there. The vanguard took the ranch and had to make four trips to bring all of us. h=880 [29] THE ESPINO SETTLEMENT is relatively new, for the old one was wiped out by the alluvia of 58. It is a Guarani community whose members are very shy and speak or pretend to speak very little Spanish, Nearby, there were oil workers. We inherited another truck in which we could have loaded everything, but the opportunity was lost, since Ricardo got it stuck and it could not be pulled out. The stillness was absolute, as though we were in a world apart. Coco was placed in charge of information of the roads, but it was deficient and contradictory, to the extent that we were about to leave on a somewhat dangerous journey which would take us near the Rio Grande when, at the last moment, there was a change of plans and we were obliged to go to Muchiri, a place where there is water. With all the existing problems of organization, we left at 3:30, the vanguard in the jeep (six, seven with Coco) and all the others ca foot.
The radio brings us the news of Loro's escape.
[30] AT DAYTIME we reached the railroad line and found that the road shown as the one which would take us to Michuri did not exist. Looking around, we found a straight road 500 meters from the crossing which is used by the oil workers, and the vanguard followed it in a jeep. When Antonio was returning, a boy with a dog was coming along the road with a shotgun, and on being told to halt, ran away. Faced with that news, I left Antonio ambushed at the entrance to the road and we stationed ourselves about 500 meters apart.
At 11:45 Miguel appeared with the news that he had walked 12 kilometers due east without finding any houses or water; only a road turning towards the north. I gave him the order to take three men in a jeep and to explore these ten kilometers to the north and to come back before dusk. At 15, when I was pleasantly sleeping, shooting from the ambush woke me. The news arrived soon; the army had advanced and had fallen into the trap. Three dead and one wounded seems to be the result. Antonio, Arturo, Nato, Luis, Willi and Raul participated in the action. Raul was weak. We withdrew and walked 12 kilos to the crossing without finding Miguel. At this point we received news that the jeep had broken down for lack of water. We found it about three kilometers from there; we all urinated into it and added a canteen of water and thus were able to reach our goal, where Julio and Pablo were waiting. At 2 everybody was already there, gathered around a bonfire on which we roasted three turkeys and fried the pork. We kept an animal to be used to test water, to remove all doubt.
We are coming down from 750; today we reached 650.
[31] THE JEEP CONTINUED BUCKING ALONG, With a couple of canteens of water and some urine in it. Two events happened which changed the tempo: the road due north had ended; there Miguel suspended the march and one of the security groups detained the peasant Gregorio Vargas on a side road. He was coming on his bike to prepare some traps, his trade. His attitude was not altogether clear, but he gave valuable information on the watering places. One of them was to our rear, and I sent a group of men to look for water and food. On arriving, accompanied with him as guide, they saw two army trucks and a hasty ambush was set for them, apparently wounding two men.
When the first blank bullet that Nato used to launch his anti-tank grenade missed, he used a regular war bullet and the thing exploded right under his nose. No harm was done to his person, but the trombone was destroyed. We kept on withdrawing without being harassed by planes and walked 15 kilometers, even though it was dark, until we found a second watering place. The jeep gave out its last gasps, due to lack of gasoline and overheating. We spent the night eating.
The army issued a dispatch yesterday admitting the death of a second lieutenant and a soldier and claiming to have "seen" some dead on our part. Tomorrow I intend to cross the railroad to look for mountains.
h=620 Fi point of view, three new combats, cass ing enemy ses without suffering any ourselves and the penetrations into Pirirenda and Caraguarenda, indicate success. The dogs have been declared incompetent and have been withdrawn from circulation.
The most important characteristics are:
1) Total lack of contact with Manila, La Paz and Joaquin, which reduces the group to 25 men.
2) Complete lack of incorporation of the peasants, although they are losing their fear of us, and we are succeeding in winning their admiration. It's a slow and patient task.
3) The party, through Kolle, offers its collaboration, apparently without reservations.
4) The repeated clamor about the Debray case has given more belligerency to our movement than ten victorious combats.
5) The guerrilla continues acquiring a predominant and secure morale which, well-managed, is a warranty of suc6) The army goes on without being organized and its technique does not improve substantially.
The news of the month is the apprehension and escape of Loro, who should now come back to us or go to La Paz to make contact.
The army issued the communication about the detention of all the peasants who collaborated with us in the zone of Masicuri. Now comes the period when both sides shall exert pressure upon the peasants but in different ways; our triumph will mean the necessary qualitative change for a leap in development.
SENT THE VANGUARD to station themselves along the way and to explore for three kilometers as far as the crossing of the road that leads to the oil fields. Aircraft have begun to circle around the zone, which confirms the information given on the radio, in the sense that the weather had made action difficult during the last few days, but that now it would be reinitiated. A strange dispatch was given out concerning two dead and three wounded, but it is impossible to know whether they are referring to the old ones or the new ones. After eating at 5, we headed toward the road. Seven or eight kilometers were covered uneventfully, walking one and a half along the road and then taking an abandoned lane, which should lead us to a chaco seven kilos from here, but everybody was tired and we slept halfway there. During the entire journey, only one far-off shot was heard.
[2] WE MADE THE SEVEN KILOMETERS predicted by Gregorio and reached the chaco. There we caught a fat pig and killed it, but at that very moment Braulio Robles' cowhand, with his son and two farm hands, appeared. One of them turned out to be Symuni, the owner's achacao.
We carried the butchered pig on their horses for three kilos, until we reached the river. There we held them while we hid Gregorio, whose disappearance was known. Just as we were reaching the center, an army truck with two little soldiers and some barrels passed, an easy prey, but it was a day of frolic and pork. We spent the night cooking and at 3:30 we released the four peasants, paying them $10 each for the day. At 4:30 Gregorio was going to go, but he waited to eat. We gave him $100. The water from the creek is bitter. h = 800 [3] WE LEFT AT 6:30 along the left border of the riverbed and walked until 12, when Ricardo and Benigno were sent to explore the road, finding a good place for the ambush. Ricardo and I took position at 13, each with a group in the center, Pombo at the end, and Miguel, with the entire vanguard, in an ideal place. A truck with pigs which we let go by passed at 14:30; at 16:20 a truck with empty bottles passed and at 17 the same army truck as yesterday went by with two little soldiers wrapped in blankets in the back of the vehicle. I didn't have the courage to shoot at them and my brain didn't function fast enough to detain them, so we let them pass. We left the ambush at 18, and continued down the way until we reached the creek again. Just as we arrived, four trucks in a row and later three more passed, apparently without troops.
[4] WE CONTINUED WALKING along the edge of the creek with the intention of setting up another ambush, if the conditions were favorable, but we came across a trail that led to the west and we followed it; later it continued along a dry ravine and turned to the south. At 14:45 we stopped to make coffee and oatmeal beside a puddle of muddy water, but it took a long time and so we decided to camp right there. At night, the strong south wind let loose with a steady drizzle that lasted all night. through the heavy thicket on the slopes of the mountains in this region. Fire became the great God of the journey. It was a blank day with respect to food; we saved the salty water in our canteens for tomorrow's breakfast. h=250 [6] AFTER A MEAGER BREAKFAST, Miguel, Benigno and Pablito went out to open the trail and explore. At approximately 14 hours, Pablo returned with the news that they had reached an abandoned chaco with cattle. We all began the move, following the course of the river, crossing the chaco and reaching the Rio Grande. From there an exploratory mission was sent out to take a house if they saw one close by and isolated. They succeeded, and the first news showed that we were three kilometers from Puerto Camacho, where there are 50 soldiers. They are connected by a path. We spent the night cooking pork and locro. Today's march was not all we had expected, and we departed at dawn, tired.
[7] WE WALKED AT A MODERATE PACE, rejecting old ranches, until the guide, one of the owner's sons, announced that there were no more. We continued along the beach until we found another chaco, which he had not spoken of, with jocos, cane, bananas, and a few beans. We made camp here. The boy who was acting as guide began to complain of severe abdominal pains; we dia not know whether it was so or whether he was pretending h=560 WE MOVED THE CAMP approximately 300 meters away so as to be free from a double vigilance from the beach and the chaco, although later on we found out that the owner had not made a road and always came by barge. Benigno, Pablo, Urbano and Leon left to try to make a trail that would cut across the cliff, but returned in the afternoon, saying that it was impossible. I had to admonish Urbano for his injudicious manner. We agreed to make a raft tomorrow, near the cliff.
News is being given out concerning the state of siege and the threats of the miners, but it all means nothing.
[11] A DAY OF ABSOLUTE TRANQUILLITY; we stayed in ambush but the army did not advance; only a small plane flew over the zone for a few minutes. It is possible that they are waiting for us at the Rosita. The trail across the for ost reaches the top of the h le shail leave tomorrow at any rate We still have enough food for five or six days.
112] WE UNDERTOOK THE MARCH, believing that we would be able to reach the Rosita, or at least the Rio Grande again Upon reaching a small watering place, the situation began to look difficult, so we stayed there, waiting for news. At 15, another report arrived that there was a larger watering place further along, but it was not possible to go down yet We decided to stay here. The day began to take a turn for the worse, and finally, the heavy south wind gifted us with a cold, wet night. There was an interesting piece of news on the radio tonight-the newspaper Presencia announced one dead and another wounded on the army's side during the clash on Saturday. This is very good and almost certainly true, which means we are maintaining a tempo of clashes with deaths. Another broadcast announces three more deaths, among them Inti, one of the guerrilla chiefs. They also announce the foreign composition of the guerrilla: 17 Cubans, 14 Brazilians, 4 Argentinians, 3 Peruvians. It is necessary to find out where they got the information; the number of Cubans and Peruvians is correct. h=900 [13] WE WALKED ONLY AN HOUR, until we reached the next watering place, as the chaqueadores reached neither the Rosita nor the river. It is very cold. They may arrive tomorrow. We have barely enough food for five days.
The interesting thing is the political upheaval in the country, fabulous numbers of pacts and counterpacts that are in the air. Seldom has the possibility of catalyzing the guerrilla been seen so clearly h=840 [14] CELITA (42)
We spent the day in the cold watering place, next to the fire, waiting for news from Miguel and Urbano, who were the chaqueadores. The time set for moving was 15, but Urbano arrived late, believing the Rio Grande could be reached because they had reached a creek and had seen some trail marks. We stayed there, eating the last of the stew; the only thing we have left is a ration of peanuts and three of mote.
[15] WE WALKED FOR A little less than three hours in order to reach the edge of the Rio Grande, to a place familiar to us. I calculate it to be about two hours from the Rosita Nicolas, the peasant, said three kilometers. He was given $150 and the opportunity to leave, and he took off in a flash. We stayed in the very place where we arrived; Aniceto made an exploration and said that the river can be crossed. We ate peanut soup and a little boiled palmito de totai fried in lard. We only have mote left for three days.
h=610 [16] WE HAD WALKED A KILOMETER When we saw the men of the vanguard on the other side. Pacho had found the ford and had crossed it while exploring. We crossed with the icy water up to our waists and with some current-without mishap. We arrived at the Rosita an hour later, where we noticed some old footprints, apparently the army's. We then became aware that the Rosita was deeper than we had foreseen and that there are no traces of the trail marked on the map. We walked for an hour in the icy water and then decided to camp so as to take advantage of the palmito de totai and to try to find a beehive that Miguel had seen while exploring yesterday; we did not find it, and ate only mote and palmito with lard. There is still food for tomorrow and the day after (mote). We walked for three kilometers down the Rosita and another three down the Rio Grande. h = 610 [17] WE WALKED 15 KILOMETERS down the Rosita in five and a half hours, crossing four creeks, even though the Abapocito was the only one marked on the map. Many signs were found indicating recent transit. Ricardo killed a hochi and this plus some mote was our food for the day. There is some mote left for tomorrow, but we shall probably find something while hunting.
[18] MANY OF US BURNED OUr BRIDges by eating all the mote for breakfast. At 11, after a two and a half hour march, we arrived at a chaco which had yuca, cane—with a mill to grind it—jocos and rice. We prepared a protein-free meal and sent Benigno and Pablo out to explore. They arrived two hours later with the news that they had come across a peasant whose bouse was 500 meters away and that there were others coming farther back, who were apprehended when they arrived.
At night we changed our campsite, sleeping at the boy's ranch, which was located close to the beginning of the road which comes from Abapo, seven leagues from here. Their houses are 10-15 kilo peters away from the juncture of the Mosquera and Oscura Rivers, situated on the latter. h=680 [19] WE WALKED SOME 15 kilometers in order to reach a ranch that was made up of three houses containing the same number of families. The Galvez family lives two kilometers away, right near the junction of the Mosquera and the Oscuro. It is necessary to hunt down the inhabitants to be able to talk with them, for they are just like little animals. In general, we were well-received, but Calixto, who had recently been named mayor by a military commission which had just passed through here a month ago, was reserved and reluctant to sell us a few little things. At dusk, three pork merchants with a revolver and mauser rifle arrived; the vanguard sentry let them pass. Inti, who interrogated them did not take their weapons away, and Antonio, who kept watch on them, did it carelessly. Calixto assured me that they were traders from Poster Valle and that he knew them. h=680 There is another river that flows into the Rosita on the left side, which is called Suspiro; nobody lives along its course.
[20] IN THE MORNING, Paulino, one of the boys from the ranch down below, informed us that the three individuals were not traders either: one was a lieutenant and the other two did not belong to that trade. The information was obtained from Calixto's daughter, who is his girlfriend. Inti went with several men and gave them until 9 to make the officer come out. If not, all would be shot. The officer came out immediately, crying. He is a second lieutenant of the police force who was sent with a carabineer and the Poster Valle teacher who came as a volunteer. They were sent by a colonel who is stationed in this town with 60 soldiers. Their mission included a long trip for which they were given four days, including other points along the way of the Oscura River. Killing them was considered, but 1 later decided to send them back after a severe warning about the rules of war. When investigating to see how they had passed, it was confirmed that Antonio had abandoned the watch to call Julio, and that during this lapse, they had gotten through. Also, Aniceto and Luis were found sleeping on sentry duty. They were sanctioned with count.
[21] MOTHER After two days of profuse dental extractions for which I became named Fernando Sacamuelas (alias) Chaco, I closed my consulting office and we left in the afternoon, walking a little more than an hour. I rode a mule for the first time in this war. The three prisoners were taken down the road of the Mosquera for an hour's journey or more and stripped of all their belongings, including watches and brogues. We intended to take Calixto, the mayor, as a guide, together with Paulino, but he was sick, or pretended to be, and we left him with a strict warning, but it probably won't be any good. Paulino has promised to go to Cochabamba with my message. A letter will be given to him to take to Inti's wife, plus a coded letter for Manila and the four communiques. The fourth explains the composition of the guerrilla and clears up the lie surrounding Inti's death; it is (text mutilated). We shall now see whether we can establish contact with the city. Paulino pretended to be our prisoner.
h=750 [22] WE MARCHED FOR THREE HOURS, leaving the Oscura or Morocos River in order to reach a watering place in a spot called Pasiones. We checked on the map and everything indicated that we were no less than six leagues from Florida or from the first place where there were houses, Piray, where one of Paulino's brothers-in-law lives, but he did not know the way. We intended to continue, taking advantage of the moon, but it was not worthwhile due to the distance.
h = 950 ms.
[23] WE ONLY WALKED AN HOUR EFFECTIVELY, as the trail had been lost and it took all morning and part of the afternoon to find it; we spent the rest of the day preparing it for tomorrow. St. John's Eve was not so cold as could be imagined according to its fame.
h = 1050 Asthma is threatening me seriously and there is very little medicine in reserve.
[24] WE WALKED ABOUT TWELVE KILOMETERS in all, four hours effectively. There were intervals where the way was clear and could be seen, but there were others where we had to guess. We descended an incredible cliff following the tracks of some cattlemen who were herding cattle. We camped near a brook on the slopes of the Cerro Duran. The radio brings news of the miners' struggle. My asthma is getting worse.
h=1200 [25] WE CONTINUED ALONG the path made by the cattlemen without reaching them. In the middle of the morning, there was a pasture on fire and a plane flew over the zone. We did not know what the relation was between the two facts, but we continued, and at 16 hours reached the residence of Paulino's sister in Piray. In this zone there are three houses; one was abandoned, nobody was at home in the other, and Paulino's sister with four children was in the third. Her husband had gone to Florida with Paniagua, the neighbor from the other house. Everything seemed to be in order. Paniagua's daughter lives one kilometer away and it was there where we decided to make camp, buying a calf, which was butchered immediately. Coco, together with Julio, Camba, and Leon were sent to Florida to do some purchasing, but they found out that the army was there, some 50 men. They were expecting another 70 or 80 to arrive. The owner is an old man, who is called Fenelon Coca.
The Argentine radio gives the news of 87 victims, the Bolivian news does not even mention the number (Siglo XX). My asthma continues getting worse and now I cannot sleep well. h=780 [26] A BLACK DAY FOR ME. It seemed that everything was going well and five men had been sent to replace the ones stationed in ambush on the road to Florida, when shots were heard. We went there rapidly on horseback and came across a strange sight: in the midst of silence, four dead little soldiers were lying in the sun on the sands of the river. We tall to take the guns. Miguel sent someone to warn that he had heard the sound of branches being broken on his left;
rapidly spread to both sides, and the order was given. to withdraw, as we were bound to lose under these conditions.
The withdrawal was slow and a report of two wounded was brought: Pombo wounded in the leg and Tuma in the abdomen. They were rapidly taken to the house to be operated on, with whatever we had. Pombo was only slightly years, loyal until the end, and whose absence I shall always feel like that of a son. When he fell in combat, he asked that I be given his watch, and as it was not taken so as to attend him, he took it off and gave it to Arturo. This gesture revealed his wish to have it given to his son, whom he has never seen. This I had done with the watches of the two other comrades who have also been killed. I shall carry it with me throughout the war. We carried his body and took it to be buried far from there.
We took two more spies as prisoners; a lieutenant of the carabineers and a carabineer. They were given a lecture and set free. Due to a misinterpretation, they left wearing only their undershorts, as I had said that they were to be stripped of everything that could be useful to us.
[27] I CARRIED OUT the grievous task of badly burying Tuma.
We continued on the journey arriving in Tejeria by day.
The vanguard left on a 15 kilometer trek at 14 and we at 14:30. The trip was long for the latter, who were overtaken by the nightfall and had to wait for the moon, reaching Paliza's house-where the guides were from—at 2:30.
We returned two animals to the owner of the house in Tajeria who is a nephew of the old Lady Paniagua, so he would send them to her.
h=850 [28] A GUIDE WAS OBTAINED for $40 who offered to take us to the crossroads that led to Don Lucas' house; but we decided to stay in another house which had a watering hole.
We left late, and the last two, Moro and Ricardo, took an extremely long time so I could not hear the news. We averaged a kilometer an hour. According to the reports, the army, or some radio station, spoke of three deaths and two wounded in a clash with guerrillas in the zone of Mosquera;
it has to be a reference to our combat, but four corpses were seen with almost absolute certainty, unless one of them managed to pretend to be dead.
We found the house of a certain Zea, which was not inhabited, but it had several cows whose calves were closed in.
h=1150 [29] I HAD A SERIOUS CONVERSATION With Moro and Ricardo about the delay, especially with Ricardo. Coco and Dario, from the vanguard, left on horseback with their knapsacks, together with Moro. El Nato took his knapsack—as well as mine and Pombo's-on a mule, since he is in charge of the animals. Pombo was able to arrive with relative ease on a mare; we lodged him in Don Lucas house, who lives on the peak, 1800 high, and was there with two daughters; one of them had a goiter. There are two more houses; one of them belongs to a sporadic worker, who has almost aothing, and the other is well off. The night was cold and rainy.
The reports say that Barchelon is a half-day walk, but ac. cording to two peasants who came down the trail, the road is very bad; the owner of the house does not say the same and assured us that it can be repaired easily. The peasants came to visit the owner of the other house and were detained for being suspicious.
On the way, I had a conversation with our troop, now composed of 24 men. I pointed out Chino as an example among the men; I explained the meaning of the deaths and what the loss of Tuma meant to me personally, whom I considered almost my son. I criticized the lack of self-discipline and the slowness of the march and promised to give some basic instructions so that the same thing that happened in the ambush would not happen again, useless losses of life for not obeying rules.
[30] OLD LucAs gave some information about his neighbors, which shows that the army has already been making preparations out here. One of them, Andulfo Diaz, is the secretary general of the Farm Workers Union in the zone, in favor of Barrientos; the other is an old, talkative man who was let go because he was paralytic, and another is a coward who may talk so as not to have problems-according to his colleagues. The old man promised to accompany us and to help open the way to Barchelon; the two peasants will follow us. We spent the day resting, as it was rainy and disagreeable.
On the political side, the most important news is the official declaration by Ovando that I am here. Besides that, he said that the army was facing a perfectly trained guer rilla, which even included Viet Cong majors who had defeated the best North American regiments. It is based on Debray's declarations which, it seems, revealed more than necessary, though we do not know what implications this has, nor what the circumstances were under which he said what he did. It is also rumored that Loro was murdered. I am attributed to being the one who inspired the insurrectional plan in the mines, coordinating it with the one in Nancahuasu. Things are looking up; within a short time I shall stop being Fernando Sacamuelas. A message was received from Cuba, in which the slow development of the Peruvian situation was explained, wherein they barely have
The most important characteristics are:
1) The almost total lack of contacts continues, which reduces us to 24 men, with Pombo wounded and the mobility reduced.
2) We continue to feel the lack of peasant incorporation. It is a vicious circle: to obtain this incorporation we need to carry out permanent action in populated territory, and to do this we need more men.
3) The guerrilla legend grows and grows; we are now invincible supermen.
4) The lack of contacts extends to the party, although successful.
5) Debray continues being news, but now as related to my case, in which I appear as leader of this movement. We shall see the result of this step taken by the government and find out whether it is positive or negative.
6) The morale of the guerrilla continues to be solid, and the decision to fight is increasing. All the Cubans are examples in combat and there are only two or three weak Bolivians.
7) The army continues to be nil with respect to military tasks, but they are working on the peasants in a way that must not be underestimated, as they transform all the members of the community into informers, whether by fear or by deceiving them with respect to our objective.
8) The massacre in the mines has well cleared up the panorama for us and if the proclamations can be spread, it will help greatly to clear things up.
Our most urgent task is to re-establish contact with La Paz, to be resupplied with military equipment and medicine and to obtain the incorporation of 50-100 men from the city, even though the number of active combatants will be reduced to 10-25. where there was only the small house of an old widow. The vanguard did not carry this out as well as they could have, due to indecisions. The plan was to take a vehicle coming from Sumaipata to find out the prevailing conditions and to leave for there with the driver of the vehicle, take the DIC, do buying in the drugstore, raid the hospital, buy some canned goods and delicacies and then return.
The plan was changed because there were no vehicles coming from Sumaipata, and news was received that they were not detaining vehicles in that locality, which meant that the barrier had been lifted. Ricardo, Coco, Pacho, Aniceto, Julio and Chino were commissioned for the action. They stopped a truck that was coming from Santa Cruz without anything happening, but another was coming behind that stopped to offer help and so it was to be detained; there the give and take began with a lady who was traveling in the truck and who did not want to take her daughter out. A third truck stopped to see what was happening and then the road became obstructed, a fourth due to the indecision of the men. Things were settled and the four vehicles stayed on one side and a driver said he was resting when asked about it. The men left in a truck, arrived at Sumaipata, captured two carabineers, and then Lieutenant Vacaflor, chief of the post. We forced the sergeant to give the watchword, and they took the post with ten soldiers in a lightning action, after a good skirmish of cross-fire with a soldier who resisted. They succeeded in capturing five mausers and one Z-B-30 and placed the ten prisoners in a truck, leaving them naked one kilometer from Sumaipata.
In the order of events, the action was a failure; Chino allowed himself to be influenced by Pacho and Julio, and nothing useful was bought. They didn't buy the medicine that I needed, although they did buy the most indispensable for the guerrilla. The action was carried out in front of a large group of travelers and in front of the whole town so the word will travel like wildfire. By 2, we were walking back with the booty.
[7] WE WALKED WITHOUT any rest until we reached the same [12] WE SPENT THE WHOLE DAY waiting for word from Miguel, but it was not until dusk that Julio arrived with the news that the descent had been made to a creek running due south. We remained in the same place. My asthma gave me a hard time.
Now the radio is giving different news; the most important part seems to be true. A combat on the Iquira is mentioned, claiming one dead on our part, whose body they took to Lagunillas. The euphoria about the corpse shows that there is some truth in the matter.
[13] IN THE MORNING, considering how bad the weather was we went down a steep and slippery hill finding Miguel at 11:30. I had sent Camba and Pacho to explore a trail which turned away from the one following the course of the creek, and he came back an hour later with the news that chacos and houses could be seen, and they had entered an abandoned one. We moved there and then, by following the course of the little creek, we reached the first house where we spent the night. The owner of the house came later and told us that a woman, the mayor's mother, had seen us and must have already informed the soldiers who are in the rancho of El Filo itself, which is a league from here. A watch was kept all night.
[14] AFTER A NIGHT OF CONSTANT DRIZZLING, it continued the same way all day, but at 12 we went out with two guides, Pablo, the mayor's brother-in-law and Aurelio Mancilla, the man in the first house. The women were left weeping. We came to a point where the roads branch off; one goes to Florida and Moraco and the other one to Pampa. The guides proposed the one to Pampa so a recently opened trail to the Mosquera could be followed, and it was ac cepted. But when we had walked some 500 meters we ran across a little soldier and a peasant who were carrying a load of corn meal on a horse and a message for the 2nd
----- pull-quotes -----
with me, and therefore had not eaten anything all day. [13]
not there and wouldn't be back for another week. He gave us sufficiest precise information as far as the lower purt of
We spent the day waiting for them, and they returned, an- nouncing that the cliffs were the same type, impassable
gone out with Miguel and Loro. At 12 he reported this and asked to be relieved and to be able to communicate, so
because the army could advance along the river since the little plane had been circling around for three days. Negro
who hadn't arrived and to locate Chinchu who had fallen behind again. He returned with Ricardo, and Joaquin joined
way, we decided to reach the Oso camp, as it is now called, because one such animal had been killed there. We sent
THE EXPLORING PARTY LEFT. We settled down at one kilo- meter up the creek, on a mound with visibility reaching as
eaten, very scant; only one partridge was hunted and we gave it to the machetero (Benigno) and the two that were
were fired because they had not stopped when the signal for halting was given; naturally they didn't hear a thing.
way of acting wasn't good. It was improved by sending Antonio and a few others to the right hand side. The state-
could not take the weapons because the enemy position was unknown; it was 17 hours and we were waiting for night-
Antonio and Pacho went and the order was not to shoot without seeing. Almost immediately firing was heard, which
MoNTHLY ANaLYsIs: The negative points are: the impos- sibility to make contact with Joaquin and the gradual loss of men, each of which constitutes a serious defeat, although the army does not know it. We have had two small combats during the month, causing the army four deaths and three wounded, according to their own information.