Che Guevara’s Last Campaign

Che Guevara entered Bolivia hoping that a guerrilla campaign could develop into a wider revolutionary struggle. Instead, his group faced problems of local support, communication, supplies and coordination. The campaign grew increasingly isolated as Bolivian forces closed in during 1967. This short documentary follows the movement toward the capture of Guevara on 8 October. Its focus is the failed campaign and the narrowing possibilities before his detention, rather than the separate story of his execution the following day. Intelligence records and contemporary reporting help reconstruct the sequence while also revealing the perspectives of those collecting the information. Statements attributed to Guevara near the moment of capture require the same caution as other battlefield recollections. The circumstances are documented more securely than every remembered sentence. Placing the episode within the campaign explains why revolutionary ambition, experience elsewhere and personal resolve did not translate into an effective movement in the Bolivian countryside. Music: Historium Soundtrack Library | Created by Flowmusic & Suno Sources and further reading: Che Guevara and the CIA in the Mountains of Bolivia https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/cuba-intelligence/2020-10-09/che-guevara-cia-mountains-bolivia CIA Field Report: Capture of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/24600-document-21-cia-intelligence-information-cable-field-report-capture-ernesto-che Memorandum: Capture and Execution of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v31/d171 Contemporary FBIS Reports on Che Guevara’s Death https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/documents/che-guevara-cia-mountains-bolivia/23.pdf