[NYTr] Lamrani on Che's Posthumousn Gift
 
Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2007 10:40:16 -0500 (CDT)

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
RebeliC3n via ZNet - Oct 2, 2007
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=20&ItemID=13930

Chebs Posthumous Gift:

Cuban Doctors Restore The Sight Of His Bolivian Executioner

by Salim Lamrani
Revised by Caty R. and 
translated by Supriyo Chatterjee

Mario TerC!n, a retired former non-commissioned officer sadly famous for
having executed the legendary guerrilla, Ernesto Che Guevara, on
October 9, 1967, in the tiny school of La Higuera in Bolivia, lives in
complete anonymity in Santa Cruz. Mired in poverty, he lives only on
his miserable pension of a former soldier and had lost his sight,
victim of a cataract that he could not treat lacking resources.

In 2004, the Cuban President, Fidel Castro, launched a broad and
continental humanitarian campaign bearing the name of Operation Milagro
(Miracle), supported by Venezuela, which consisted in operating for
free on the poor of Latin American suffering from cataract and other
eye diseases. In 30 months, close to 600,000 people of 28 countries,
including citizens of the United States, recovered their sight thanks
to the altruism of the Cuban doctors. The stated objective is to
operate on six million people by 2016. The election of Evo Morales as
President of the Republic of Bolivia in December 2005b& has allowed
Bolivians to access the humanitarian programme that Cuba started. Close
to 110,000 Bolivians have been able to regain their sight without
paying a single centavo.

Among these is one Mario TerC!n, who could shake off his grave illness
thanks to the Cuban doctors. Pablo Oritz, who works for the daily El
Deber of Santa Cruz, tells the story: bTerC!n had a problem of cataracts
and was curedb& by Cuban doctors for freeb& The fellow is a complete
stranger. Nobody knows him. He is a wreck and turned up in the
Operation Milagro hospital. Nobody recognised him and he was operated
upon. His son, who went to the newspaper to make an act of public
gratitude, told us the story b& It was in last August (2006).b

At times the story holds some surprises like that Chebs assassin was
cured by doctors sent by Fidel Castro, the most loyal and intimate
companion of the bheroic guerrillab. TerC!n owes his sight to the health
emissaries who follow the internationalist example of the man he
killed. According to the former CIA agent, FC)lix RodrC-guez, who
participated in Chebs capture, TerC!n volunteered to execute the rebel
leader. Before that he had killed in cold blood all the other
prisoners. But facing Che, his courage failed him.

bWhen I reached the classroom, Che was seated on a bench. On seeing me,
he said, bYou have come to kill meb.

bI felt inhibited and lowered my head without answering. Then he asked
me, bWhat have the others said?b

bI answered that they had said nothing and he commented, bThey were
brave!b

bI dared not fire. At that moment, I saw Che as big, very big,
enormous. His eyes shone intensely. I felt they were on me and when he
fixed his looks on me, it made me ill. I thought that with one rapid
movement Che could take away my weapon.

bbBe calm,b he told me, band aim well. You are going to kill a man.b

bThen I took a step back towards the threshold, closed my eyes and
fired the first volleyb&I regained my courage and fired the second
volley that got him in an arm, in the shoulder and in the heart. He was
dead.b

[Gerardo Arreola of La Jornada, Mexico, quotes Ortiz as saying, bTerC!n
does not want to be identified because he fears the bcurseb of Che,b a
popular legend which arose from the many violent deaths of those
directly linked to Guevarabs capture and execution.

The list is headed by Boliviabs President of that time, RenC)
Barrientos, burnt to death when his helicopter crashed in 1969, in an
incident that was never cleared up. Eduardo Huerta, the official who
took part in the capture (of Che) died in a car accidentb& Honorato
Rojas, who betrayed the guerrilla group, Colonel Roberto Quintanilla
and General Joaquin Zenteno were finished off in incidents claimed by
Guevarabs supporters. Captain Gary Prado was paralysed by a bullet.
Juan JosC) Torres was the chief of staff of the army that fought Che.
Years later, he came to power on a Left ticket and was deposed in a
military coup. An ultra-Right commando assassinated him in Argentina.]

On the eve of the fortieth anniversary of his end and despite the
execrable international media campaign destined to sully the image of
one of greatest revolutionaries of the 20th century, Chebs example
remains bbig, very big, enormousb and shines bintenselyb thanks to the
sacrifice of the tens of thousands of Cuban doctors whob& persist in the
faith that another world, less cruel, is possible.

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