EAAF Annual Report

BOLIVIA

The Search For and Discovery of the Remains of
Ernesto “Che” Guevara and Other Guerrillas in

Vallegrande, Bolivia, 1995-1997

Argentine-Cuban revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara

In November 1995, while conducting research the Association of Families of the Disappeared and
for a biography of Argentine-Cuban Martyrs for the National Liberation of Bolivia
revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara, U.S. (ACOFADES), the commission invited EAAF to
journalist Jon Lee Anderson interviewed a participate in the search for the bodies of Guevara
retired Bolivian general, Mario Vargas Salinas. and his companions. EAAF conducted two missions
In the interview, the general claimed that he had to Bolivia in 1995 and 1996, working in the country for
witnessed the burial of Guevara’s remains under the a total of approximately six months. During these
landing strip of an airport at Vallegrande, a town in missions EAAF and a team of Cuban researchers
the interior of Bolivia. The general’s statements discovered the graves of other guerrillas who had
promised to resolve a longstanding mystery, for died during the same period, but not the one where
Guevara’s body had disappeared shortly after he was Guevara had been buried.
killed in October 1967 by Bolivian army troops.
In June 1997, after a year and a half of research, the
Almost immediately after General Vargas Salinas’ team of Cuban specialists working in Vallegrande
claims were made public the president of Bolivia at found a mass grave under the town’s landing strip.
the time, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, announced Evidence suggested that the grave contained the
that his government would create a special bodies of Guevara and other guerrillas who died in
commission to investigate the events surrounding combat or were summarily executed by the Bolivian
Che’s death and recover his remains. At the request of Army during the 1960s. The Cuban researchers
invited EAAF to return to Bolivia for a third time.
ANTHROPOLOGY TEAM Three EAAF members traveled to Vallegrande and
participated in the exhumation and analysis of the
remains of Guevara and six other individuals buried
with him.

31

1996-97 BIANNUAL REPORT its support. The rebel group was betrayed to the army
by suspicious peasants, and several key members
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND were captured and killed, while others deserted.
Combat losses, sickness, fatigue, and demoralization
Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara was born in Argentina, and took a heavy toll on the remaining revolutionaries. In
studied medicine in Buenos Aires, where he the meantime, Washington was alerted of the
graduated as a physician. In 1955 he joined a small, presence of Guevara in Bolivia, and sent Special
armed group in Mexico led by revolutionary Fidel Forces experts to train a Bolivian battalion in anti-
Castro, and took part in its struggle against Cuban guerrilla techniques. Several agents of the Central
dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara eventually Intelligence Agency were also sent to assist in
became the rebel army’s leading military commander,
and by January 1959, when Castro’s rebel movement intelligence-gathering.1
had taken power in Cuba, he was widely recognized On October 8th, 1967, Guevara’s guerilla army
as the second most powerful man in the country.
Guevara was passionate about what he perceived as was ambushed in a canyon known as the Quebrada
the need for Cuba to support guerrilla movements in del Yuro in the department of Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Latin America and Africa. He tried, unsuccessfully, to by the Bolivian Army. Four guerrillas were killed in
establish or assist international guerrilla movements: the incident, and Guevara and Simon Cuba Saravia, a
in Argentina in 1964, and in the Belgian Congo in Bolivian miner nicknamed “Willi,” were taken

Passport photo of Che in the guise of a Uruguayan Photo of Che taken shortly after he was captured by the
economist when he entered Bolivia in November 1966 Bolivian army on October 8, 1967

1965. He disappeared from public view shortly after prisoner and transported to La Higuera, a nearby
the failure of the insurgency in the Congo. He had not village. The following day General Rene Barrientos,
abandoned his support for revolutionary causes, then president of Bolivia, ordered Guevara’s death,
however. and Bolivian army troops executed the two captured
guerrillas in the village school. On October 10,
Shorn of his customary beard and beret and Guevara’s body was publicly displayed in the
disguised as a middle-aged Uruguayan economist, laundry house of a hospital in the neighboring town
Guevara entered Bolivia in November 1966 and was of Vallegrande. Hundreds of locals went to see him,
joined by 50 or so Cuban, Argentine, Peruvian, and and photographers took pictures.
Bolivian guerrillas at a base in southeastern Bolivia’s
desert. There he intended to train guerrillas from On the night of October 10, the military ended the
several countries to touch off a “continental public spectacle by sealing off the hospital. The
revolution.” But this project was troubled from its Bolivian government had decided to “disappear”
inception. Bolivia’s pro-Moscow Communist party, Guevara’s body, apparently to deny him a burial site
on which Guevara depended for backing, withdrew that could become a place of public homage. But first,

1 Anderson, Jon Lee. “Where is Che Guevara Buried? A Bolivian Tells.” New York Times, November 21, 1995.

32 ARGENTINE FORENSIC

mindful of the lingering disbelief in Cuba and 1996-97 BIANNUAL REPORT
elsewhere at the reports of his death, steps were taken statements of retired General Vargas Salinas,”
to preserve evidence of his identity. General Vargas consisted of Lic. Hugo San Martin, National Secretary
Salinas said he witnessed the grisly events that of the Interior; Brigadier General Armando Balcázar,
followed: the making of a wax death mask of Inspector General of the Army; and Divisional
Guevara, the amputation of his hands by Argentinian General Remberto López Valle, Vice-Minister of
agents, and his nightime burial. 2 Defense.

Argentine agents checked fingerprints from the Soon after, the Association of Relatives of
corpse against those on file in his native Argentina Disappeared Persons of Bolivia (ASOFAM) requested
and confirmed the identification. The Bolivian EAAF’s assistance in searching for the remains of Che
soldiers then took Guevara’s remains to a secret Guevara and investigating the locations of
burial place. For years, the location of the site approximately 30 other guerrillas from Bolivia,
remained a mystery, and over time a number of Argentina, Peru, and Cuba whose bodies had been
stories about the revolutionary’s final resting place secretly buried. At ASOFAM’s recommendation, the
began to circulate. According to some accounts Bolivian Commission of Inquiry accepted EAAF
Guevara’s body had been dumped from a
helicopter into the Bolivian jungle; others Photo of Che taken shortly after his death
suggested that it had been cremated; while still
others claimed that it had been buried in one of members as its official forensic experts. EAAF
many sites around Vallegrande in an individual conducted three missions to Bolivia: the first from late
or a mass grave. November 1995 to April 1996, the second in June
1996, and the third from late June into July, 1997. The
The bodies of most of the other guerrilla Commission and EAAF sponsored EAAF’s work
soldiers killed in combat during the campaign during these missions.
Guevara led were also buried by the army in
unmarked graves, the locations of which had THE FIRST MISSION
remained a mystery. (NOVEMBER 1995-APRIL 1996)
Shortly after being contacted by ASOFAM, three
In 1995, Mario Vargas Salinas, a retired EAAF members traveled to Bolivia. By the end of
Bolivian Army general who had helped direct November 1995 excavations were underway at the
operations against Guevara’s guerrilla group, Vallegrande landing strip. EAAF supervised and
gave an interview to American journalist Jon
Anderson, who was doing research for a 3 Anderson, 1995
biography of Guevara. During the conversation
Vargas Salinas told Lee that he had been one of 33
the three military officers who participated in the
disposal of Che’s remains – a claim official
sources did not deny.

After 28 years of silence, Vargas Salinas had
decided to speak out. “Enough time has passed, and
it’s time the world knows,” he told Anderson. “He is
buried under the airstrip of Vallegrande.”3

Lee published excerpts from the interview with
Vargas Salinas, including the general’s statements
about the burial site, in the New York Times in
November 1995. The response was immediate. Lic.
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, president of Bolivia at
the time, addressed the country by television, and
announced that his administration would create a
Government Commission of Inquiry to investigate
these allegations. The special commission, which he
created through executive order “to corroborate the

2 Anderson, 1995.

ANTHROPOLOGY TEAM

1996-97 BIANNUAL REPORT

directed this initial research, while much of the work to which witnesses referred had changed
was carried out by Bolivian youths as part of their substantially. Eventually, by consulting aerial

obligatory military service. photographs from 1959 and 1984, some roads and

At the end of 1995, a group of Cuban scientists led other landmarks that no longer exist were

by Dr. Jorge González Pérez, Director of the Havana reconstructed. These alterations in the terrain allowed
Medical Legal Institute, joined the search. Dr. the investigating team to situate information

González Pérez represented the families of the Cuban provided by the witnesses more precisely.

guerrillas who disappeared in Bolivia. While conducting this historical research, EAAF
After his statements were published, General interviewed a local peasant, who recounted that on a

Vargas Salinas had accompanied members of the night in late 1967 Bolivian army troops had buried

special commission to the Vallegrande airstrip, and bodies on his land. On the basis of this information,

confirmed that the bodies were buried there. He did EAAF began another investigation on a farm in the
not specify precisely where the grave was located, Cañada de Arroyo area, about five kilometers from

however. The airstrip covered a large expanse of Vallegrande. On December 12th human remains were

terrain, and to excavate it all would have been found on the farm.

Historical information suggested that these
bodies belonged to three of four guerrilla

fighters from Guevara’s army. After Guevara

was captured on October 8th, 1967, the
guerrillas who survived divided into two

groups and fled in different directions. A few

days later, on October 12th, one of the groups

clashed with the Bolivian army at Cajones, at
the confluence of the Grande and Mizque

rivers. Sources differ as to what precisely

occurred: some sources stated that the guerrilla

were captured and executed, while military
sources suggested that they died in combat. The

names of these four guerrillas were Octavio

“Moro” Concepción de la Pedraja, a 32 year-old
Cuban military doctor; Jaime “Chapaco” Arana

Campero, a Bolivian and former Communist

First excavations at the landing strip of the Vallegrande airport, December 1995 Youth member; Lucio “Eustaquio” Galván, a

practically impossible. Peruvian guerrilla radio technician; and
Francisco “Pablito” Huanca, a young Bolivian

The team therefore decided to employ other student.

investigative strategies. It requested the assistance of In March 1996 EAAF and Cuban researchers

“Area Geofsica,” a private Argentine firm. This resumed excavations and found the fourth skeleton
company provided georadar equipment and close to where the first three bodies had been buried.

personnel, free of charge, to aid the investigation. A Anthropological analyses were conducted to

georadar is a high-resolution instrument capable of determine the identities and causes of death of the
four individuals whose bodies had been found. All
rapidly surveying the subsoil of an area. It is capable
four were adults males, and they exhibited bullet
of identifying the location of structures, tombs, pipes,
wells, and other natural and artificial discontinuities wounds in the head, thorax, upper limbs, and

beneath the surface of the earth. abdomen.
On the basis of premortem information provided
EAAF also conducted extensive interviews with
persons, including farmers, local residents, soldiers by his family, one of the four individuals was

formerly stationed at the local military barracks, and identified as the Bolivian youth Jaime Arana
Campero. His remains were returned to his family,
others, who might be able to provide information
who decided to re-inter them in the cemetery of
relevant to the investigation. Using the information
they provided was complicated by the fact that Tarija, Bolivia, his hometown.

during the three decades since the events under On the basis of the identification of Arana
Campero and the historical information, it was
investigation took place the landmarks in the terrain

34 ARGENTINE FORENSIC

hypothesized that the remaining skeletons 1996-97 BIANNUAL REPORT
corresponded to the three other guerrillas who died THE SECOND MISSION
in this incident. In the absence of significant
premortem data for any of the remaining three (JUNE 1996)
individuals, bone samples were taken for genetic During 1996, the ongoing historical research
analysis. These samples, together with blood samples resulted in the finding of the remains of another
from possible relatives of the two of the victims, were guerrilla fighter. According to the historical data
sent to Cuba. The family of the presumed third victim collected during the research, Carlos Coello or
has not yet been contacted. Until now, comparison of “Tuma,” a lieutenant in the Cuban army, arrived in
the genetic material extracted from the bones of the Bolivia in November 1966. He was fatally wounded in
victims and the blood samples from the presumed an ambush at a site known as “La Poza” on June 26,
relatives has not been completed. 1967, near the Piray river in the department of Santa

The Argentine and Cuban investigators Detail of a map of the landing strip at the Vallegrande airport
continued work at the Vallegrande airstrip
through March 1996. By April it had become Cruz de la Sierra. Coello was wounded in the
evident that the researchers were very abdomen and died while being operated on in a
unlikely to find the grave without additional peasant’s house.
information. Accordingly, excavations at the
airstrip were suspended. The Cuban team Coello’s body was buried the next day by his
then intensified the ongoing historical companions. It was later discovered by soldiers of the
investigation of the circumstances of Bolivian Army, who were unable to identify it. They
Guevara’s burial, as well as the broader subsequently reburied it in a nearby place known as
investigation into the fates of the bodies of all Laguna Seca, or Rio Seco, approximately 100 miles
the guerrillas who had been associated with from Vallegrande.
Guevara in Bolivia. The EAAF members
returned to Argentina, but they and the Cuban Between March and June 1996, the committee in
team agreed that EAAF would be asked to 35
return as soon as new remains were found.

A well-known Cuban historian, María del
Carmen Ariet, conducted much of the
historical part of the investigation. During this
research, dozens of persons connected to the
guerrilla activities of the 1960s, some of whom
had never before spoken publicly about their
experiences, were interviewed. In addition to
conducting the interviews, the researchers
assembled a large collection of materials –
including contemporary newspaper articles,
books, photographs, and other documents –
that contained information concerning the
location of the guerrillas’ bodies. These
materials were studied for evidence
concerning the theory that the remains of Che
and other guerrillas had been buried under the
landing strip of Vallegrande airport.

During this research, María del Carmen Ariet
interviewed Mario Vargas Salinas. The general
confirmed the statements he had given in the
interview with Anderson, and discounted other
accounts of the fate of Che’s body, such as the claims
that it had been cremated or removed from Bolivia.

ANTHROPOLOGY TEAM

1996-97 BIANNUAL REPORT used in this survey included photogrametry and
teledetection, optical-analogue interpretation of
charge of the historical research in La Paz located the photographs, studies of temporal change, digital
person who had led the army into the La Poza area. analysis of images.
After several visits, this witness was able to locate the
site of Coello’s second grave. Two EAAF members, Within this chosen area, the analysis identified 34
Patricia Bernardi and Dario Olmo, traveled again to disturbances in the soil where the burial site might be
Bolivia for several days in June 1996, and were located. One 60m by 300m site within the zone, where
authorized by the Governmental Commission to a number of disturbances were concentrated, seemed
exhume and identify the remains found at Laguna particularly promising.
Seca.
On June 19th the excavations resumed under the
By comparing pre-mortem information provided direction of the Cuban Dr. Jorge
González, according to a plan based
Sergio on the survey results. On Saturday,
Katabian of the June 28th, the excavation team
Argentine firm discovered human remains. The
Area Geofisica Bolivian Special Governmental
Commission and the Cuban team
and two immediately contacted EAAF, and
Bolivian EAAF members Patricia Bernardi,
soliders using Carlos Somigliana, and Alejandro
the georadar Inchaurregui traveled to Bolivia,
equipment where they participated in the
during the investigation for two weeks.
search for grave The exhumation was
undertaken using standard
sites archaeological techniques. Seven

by his family, EAAF members positively identified human skeletons were recovered. For security
Coello’s body. It was not possible, however, to reasons, the scientists slept beside the remains in the
determine cause and manner of death from the bone grave, at a depth of 1.9 meters, throughout the
remains or associated evidence. According to investigation.
historical data, Coello had been wounded in the
abdomen; his liver was damaged and his intestines On Saturday, July 5th, a week after the site was
were ruptured. The skeleton did not present any discovered, the seven skeletons were exhumed from
evidence that would confirm or deny this the site and transported to the Japanese Hospital of
information. If the location of the wound was Santa Cruz de la Sierra for analysis. Personal effects,
described correctly in the historical sources, it could including socks, clothes, and belts, were found with
well be that the gunshot wound did not affect skeletal the remains. In the inner pocket of a jacket that turned
remains. out to have belonged to Che, a small tobacco box was
discovered, still containing tobacco.
The remains of Carlos Coello were transported to
Cuba and returned to his family, his wife, and a son The remains were analyzed between July 6th and
whom he never knew. 11th. Once again, the scientists slept with the
remains, this time in the hospital morgue.
THE THIRD MISSION
(JUNE-JULY 1997) As a result of this laboratory work, the seven
skeletons were identified as belonging to Aniceto
Near the end of 1996, a large Cuban team of Reynaga Gordillo (Bolivian), Ernesto Che Guevara
specialists began a survey of the geographical and Lynch (Argentine-Cuban), René Martinez Tamayo
geological characteristics of the Vallegrande valley, (Cuban), Simenón Cuba Sarabia (Bolivian), Orlando
using information gathered through the historical Pantoja Tamayo (Cuban), Alberto Fernandez Montes
investigation to guide their efforts. The surveying de Oca (Cuban), and Juan Pablo Chang Navarro
team focused in particular on a 20-hectare area of the (Peruvian).
old landing strip that the historical information
suggested was the most likely burial site. Techniques The identifications were made through
comparisons of “pre-mortem” information with
36 information gained through analysis of the remains.

In the case of Che Guevara, the pre-mortem data

ARGENTINE FORENSIC

used in the process of comparison, in addition to 1996-97 BIANNUAL REPORT
general features, included orthodontic records,
plaster dental molds, radiographs of his teeth, THE CUBAN REBURIAL CEREMONIES
enlarged photographs of details of his teeth, photo-
cranial superimposition, records of old lesions, and In October 1997, 30 years after the guerrillas had
information from the autopsy of October 10th, 1967. been killed, the urns containing the remains of
The overwhelming abundance of pre-mortem Guevara, the three other Cubans, and the Peruvian
information made the application of other Juan Pablo Chang Navarro were displayed in the
identification techniques, such as genetic testing, Plaza de la Revolución in Havana. They were later
unnecessary. transported to the José Martí library in the city of
Santa Clara. More than four million Cubans waited
All the skeletons studied showed gunfire wounds. in line for hours to observe the guerrillas’ remains
The craniums of six of the skeletons — all but and pay tribute to them.
Guevara’s — had been shattered by gunshots.
On October 17th, in Plaza Che Guevara in the city
The results of the investigation were described in of Santa Clara, the remains of the guerrillas were
a report to the representative of the Public Ministry of entombed in a memorial during a public ceremony.
the Department of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The report
was written by Ceso Cuéllar (Bolivian); Patricia At the request of his family, the remains of
Bernardi, Alejandro Incháurregui and Carlos Simenón Cuba Sarabia were returned to Cuba after
Somigliana (EAAF); and Roberto Rodríguez Suárez, the ceremonies.
Héctor Soto Izquierdo, and Jorge González Pérez
(Cuban). At the invitation of the Cuban government three
EAAF members - Patricia Bernardi, Anahi Ginarte,
On the morning of July 12th, 1997, a press and Alejandro Inchaurregui - traveled to Cuba in
conference was held at the doors of the Japanese October to witness to the reburial ceremony of
Hospital of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, attended by the remains of Che Guevara and his companions. EAAF
Ministers of the Interior and Human Development of members were invited also by the local Institute of
the Republic of Bolivia. During the ceremony, the Legal Medicine to participate in the Annual
remains of the guerrilla fighters were deposited in International Meeting of Forensic Sciences in Havana.
wooden urns. The urns that contained the remains of EAAF members gave a presentation about the team’s
work with special emphasis on the forensic work
done in Bolivia.

Cuban geophysicists Beatriz
Rodriguez and Jose Prol with
EAAF members Anahi Ginarte

and Patricia Bernardi in
Vallegrande, Bolivia

the Cuban guerrillas were then immediately THE SEARCH CONTINUES
transported to the Viru-Viru airport at Santa Cruz de
la Sierra. From there they were taken on a special In 1998 the Cuban researchers discovered the body
flight to Cuba. of Tamara “Tania” Haydee Bunke Bider, an
Argentine-German who had been working in Bolivia
ANTHROPOLOGY TEAM for the Cuban government and assisting Guevara’s

37

1996-97 BIANNUAL REPORT The trench in which Che’s remains were discovered

revolutionary movement.
As of this writing, the work of

finding and identifying the remains of
the approximately 23 other guerrillas is
still underway in Vallegrande. These
persons include: Jesus Suarez Gayol,
Cuban; Eliseo Rodriguez Reyes,
Cuban; Antonio Sanchez Diaz, Cuban;
Jorge Vazquez Viana, Bolivian; Jose
Maria Martinez Tamayo, Cuban; Raul
Quispaya Choque, Bolivian; Antonio
Jimenez Tardio, Bolivian; Juan Vitalio
Acuna Nunez, Cuban; Israel Reyes
Zayas, Cuban; Apolinar Aquino
Quispe, Bolivian; Gustavo Machid
Hoed Beche, Cuban; Walter Arancibia
Rodriguez, Bolivian; Moises Guevara
Rodriguez, Golivian; Fredy Maimura
Hurtado, Bolivian; Jose Restituto Cabrera Flores,
Peruvian; Julio Velazco Montano, Bolivian; Roberto
Peredo Leigue, Bolivian; Manuel Hernandez Osoerio,
Cuban; Mario Guttierrez Ardaya, Bolivian; Octavio
Concepcion de la Pedraja, Cuban; Francisco Huanca
Flores, Bolivian; Lucio Galvan Hidalgo, Peruvian; and
Julio Luis Mendez Korne, Bolivian.

38 ARGENTINE FORENSIC

BOLIVIAPRESS - CLIPS 1996-97 BIANNUAL REPORT

ANTHROPOLOGY TEAM FROM
THE NEW YORK TIMES,

NOVEMBER 21 1995

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1996-97 BIANNUAL REPORT
40 ARGENTINE FORENSIC

1996-97 BIANNUAL REPORT

ANTHROPOLOGY TEAM 41