The Bolivian Diary (10 page)

The men arrived back from the camp with the news that Loro had not returned after dropping off Monje.

We worked on making a roof for the cave, but did not finish it. We will do it tomorrow. Only two men went to pick up a load and they brought back the news that everyone had left
last night. The rest of the compañeros devoted themselves to making the roof for the kitchen, which is ready now.

A day without major news; people went to get supplies. We finished the roof of the cave for the radio operator. We postponed target practice because of rain.

We continued transporting supplies. Several trips still have to be made. The cave was finished with all its additions (including a smaller cave for the generator). We tested the rear guard's rifles and some of those belonging to the center group; all are good except for Apolinario's rifle. The scouting parties have all returned. Inti and Carlos walked along the Ñacahuazú until they came across some people; they found several houses, among them those belonging to two landowners of medium-sized plots, one of whom has 150 cows and lives in Lagunillas. There is a small village called Iti from where there is a road from La Herradura to Lagunillas. From there they went to Ticucha, connected by a truck route to Vaca Guzmán. They returned by a trail that goes as far as the Iquira River, the one we call Yaqui. The point called Yuqui is a cattle ranch close to this camp, abandoned by its inhabitants because of an epidemic among the livestock. Joaquín and El Médico [Moro] followed the Iquira until they came to an impassable cliff; they did not meet anyone but saw tracks. Marcos, Miguel, and Benigno continued along the ridges until they reached an inaccessible point, cut off by a cliff.

We have a new recruit: a little turkey hen caught by Inti.

In the morning, Marcos, Joaquín, Alejandro, Inti, and I went along the bare ridge. At that point, I decided the following: Marcos, with Camba and Pacho, would try to reach the Ñacahuazú from the right, avoiding people; Miguel, with Braulio and Aniceto, would look for a way across the ridge to clear a main path; and Joaquín, with Benigno and Inti, would search for a track to the Frías River, which, according to the map, runs parallel to the Ñacahuazú, on the other side of the terrain that must be the Pampa del Tigre.

In the afternoon Loro arrived with two mules that he had bought for 2,000 pesos; a good buy as the animals are tame and strong. Braulio and Pacho were sent for so that they can leave tomorrow; Carlos and El Médico [Ernesto] will relieve them.

After the class, I launched into a little tirade about the qualities required of a guerrilla force and the need for greater discipline; I explained that our mission, above all else, was to become a model nucleus, one of steel. I explained the importance of study as indispensable for the future. Then I met with those who held responsibilities: Joaquín, Marcos, Alejandro, Inti, Rolando, Pombo, El Médico [Moro], Ñato, and Ricardo, explaining why I had chosen Joaquín as second in command, pointing out some of Marcos's repeated errors. I criticized Joaquín's attitude during the incident with Miguel on New Year's and I explained some of the tasks we needed to accomplish to improve our organization. At the end, Ricardo told me of an incident with Iván, where in the presence of Tania, they had insulted each other and Ricardo had ordered Iván out of the jeep. These disagreeable incidents between compañeros are hurting our work.

The scouts departed. The
góndola
⁵
consisted of only Alejandro and Ñato; the rest devoted themselves to tasks within the camp; the generator was installed along with all of Arturo's things; a small additional roof was made for the cave and a water supply was fixed up by making a little bridge across the creek.

Sunday. With eight people on the
góndola,
almost everything was brought over. Loro announced a trip to Santa Cruz that was not planned, apparently to find harnesses for the mules. There were no classes or activities of any kind. It was my turn for guard duty outside, in very inclement weather.

It rained; everything is wet. The flooded river is impassable, so we were unable to relieve the sentries at the old camp.

No other news today.

We changed the regular sentries at the old camp; Rubio and Apolinar relieved Carlos and El Médico [Ernesto]. The river is still flooded, but is going down. Loro went to Santa Cruz and has not returned.

With El Médico (Moro), Tuma, and Antonio, who is to stay in charge of the camp, I climbed up to the Pampa del Tigre,
where I explained to Antonio his tasks for tomorrow, including the exploration of what could possibly be a creek located to the west of our camp. From there we looked for a junction with Marcos's old path, which we found with relative ease. At nightfall six of the scouts arrived: Miguel, with Braulio and Aniceto; Joaquín, with Benigno and Inti. Miguel and Braulio discovered a tributary to the river that cuts across the ridge and came across another one that could be the Ñacahuazú. Joaquín went down to the river that we think is the Frías and followed it for a while. It seems to be the same river that the other group followed, which tells us that our maps are very bad because they show the two rivers divided by a chain of hills and then flowing separately into the Río Grande. Marcos still has not returned.

A message arrived from Havana, announcing that Chino leaves on the 12th with the doctor, and the radio technician; Rhea
⁶
will leave on the 14th. It does not mention our two remaining compañeros.

Antonio left with Carlos and Arturo to explore the adjacent creek; he returned at night with the only concrete news that the creek fed into the Ñacahuazú in front of the cattle ranch where we hunt. Alejandro and Pombo devoted themselves to the preparation of maps in Arturo's cave. When they returned, they told me that my books had become wet, and some of them were ruined, and that the radio equipment was wet and
had rusted. On top of this, the two radios were broken—a sad reflection on Arturo's competence.

Marcos arrived during the night; he had followed the Ñacahuazú a long way downstream and still never reached where it joins with the supposed Frías. I am not at all sure about these maps, or about the identity of this last waterway.

We began the study of Quechua,
⁷
led by Aniceto and Pedro.

Day of the
boro.
⁸
Fly larvae were removed from Marcos, Carlos, Pombo, Antonio, Moro, and Joaquín.

The
góndola
was sent to retrieve the last items. Loro still has not returned. We did some practice exercises, climbing the hills by our creek, but it took us more than two hours to go up the sides and only seven minutes up through the center; that is the place to set up our defense.

Joaquín told me that Marcos's feelings were hurt during the meeting the other day when I mentioned the mistakes he had made. I should talk with him.

I spoke with Marcos; his complaint was that I had criticized him in front of the Bolivians. His argument had no basis; however, his emotional state deserves attention; the rest was unimportant.

He made reference to some disparaging remarks Alejandro
had made about him. We cleared this up with Alejandro, and apparently the comments were simply idle gossip. Marcos calmed down a bit.

Inti and Moro went off hunting but caught nothing. Some teams left to work on a cave in a place the mules can get to, but this did not work and we decided to build a little sunken hut instead. Alejandro and Pombo studied the defense of the entrance and marked the area for trenches; tomorrow they will continue the task.

Rubio and Apolinar returned and Braulio and Pedro went to the old camp. No news of Loro.

Marcos, with all the members of his vanguard, except Benigno, went downstream to build the hut; they were going to come back at night, but returned at noon due to rain, without finishing the hut.

Joaquín led a group that began digging trenches. Moro, Inti, Urbano, and I left to clear a path around the edge of our position along the terrain to the right of the creek, but we went the wrong way and had to pass along quite dangerous cliffs. At noon it began to rain and we suspended all activities.

No news of Loro.

I stayed at the camp, drawing up some instructions for the cadres in the city. Because it was Sunday, we worked only half a day. Marcos and the vanguard worked on the hut, and the rear guard and the center group dug the trenches. Ricardo, Urbano, and Antonio tried to improve the trail we started yesterday but
failed because there is a large rock face between the ridge and the hill beside the river.

No trip was made to the old camp.

Work continued on the trenches that are still not finished. Marcos almost completed his work, making a great little hut. El Médico [Ernesto] and Carlos relieved Braulio and Pedro, who brought news that Loro had arrived with mules, but he never showed up, although Aniceto went to meet him.

Alejandro is showing signs of malaria.

Not much activity today. The frontline trenches and the hut were finished.

Loro came to report on his trip; when I asked him why he had gone, he answered that he thought it was understood that he would go, although he confessed that he was visiting a woman there; he brought the harnesses for the mules, but could not make them cross the river.

No news of Coco; it is becoming quite alarming.

The day started out cloudy, so I did not inspect the trenches. Urbano, Ñato, El Médico (Moro), Inti, Aniceto, and Braulio left on the
góndola.
Alejandro did not work because he felt unwell.

A while later, it began to rain heavily. Loro came through the downpour to tell me Algarañaz had spoken with Antonio, saying he was skilled in many things and offering to collaborate with us, with cocaine or whatever. This shows that he now
suspects there is something more going on. I gave instructions to Loro to make a commitment to him, without offering too much—only payment for what he brings in his jeep—and to threaten to kill him if he betrays us. Due to the heavy downpour, Loro set out immediately to avoid being cut off by the river.

The
góndola
had not arrived by 8:00, so I gave them the go-ahead to eat the rations of those absent, and the food was devoured. A few minutes later, Braulio and Ñato arrived, reporting that the flooding had surprised them on the road; they had all tried to continue but Inti had fallen in the water, losing his rifle and getting bruised. The others decided to spend the night there, while the two returned with some difficulty.

The day began routinely, working on the defenses and improving the camp. Miguel came down with a high fever and has all the symptoms of malaria. I felt like I was coming down with something, but nothing developed.

At 8:00 in the morning the four stragglers showed up, bringing a good supply of
choclos
⁹
; they had spent the night huddled around a fire. We will wait for the river to go down before trying to recover the rifle.

Close to 4:00 in the afternoon, when Rubio and Pedro had already gone to relieve the pair of guards at the other camp, El Médico [Ernesto] showed up saying that there were police officers there. Lieutenant Fernández
¹⁰
and four police officers in civilian clothes had arrived in a rented jeep, looking for
the cocaine factory. They only searched the house and some unusual things caught their attention, such as the carbide for our lamps that we had not yet taken to the cave. They confiscated Loro's pistol but left him the Mauser and the .22; they made a big fuss about taking a .22 from Algarañaz, which they showed to Loro. They left after warning that they knew everything and that we had better take them into account. Loro could reclaim the pistol in Camiri, said Lieutenant Fernández, “if he did not make a fuss and came to talk to me.” He asked about the “Brazilian.” Loro was told not to get too friendly with the Vallegrandino and Algarañaz, who are probably the spies and the ones who tipped them off. He went to Camiri under the pretext of getting his pistol back, but in reality he was trying to connect with Coco (I doubt that he is at liberty). He should keep to the woods as much as possible.

I inspected the positions and gave orders to carry out the defense plan that had been explained the night before, a plan based on a quick defense of the area bordering the river. This area can also be used as a base for a counterattack by the vanguard group, along the paths that run parallel to the river and that lead to the rear guard.

We were thinking of making several practice runs but the situation in the old camp is still compromised, and now a
gringo
¹¹
has appeared, shooting rounds with an M-2; he is Algarañaz's “friend” and will spend a 10-day vacation at his
place. Scouting parties will be sent out to explore and to move the camp to a point closer to Algarañaz's house; if the situation blows up, we will make our presence known to that person before leaving the area.

Miguel still has a high fever.

We conducted the drill, which fell short in some things, but in general went well. We need to practice the withdrawal, which was the weakest aspect of the exercise. Afterwards, teams were dispatched: one, with Braulio in charge, to clear a path parallel to the river to the west, and another, led by Rolando, to do the same to the east. Pacho went to the barren hill to try the two-way radios and Marcos left with Aniceto to try to find a path that would allow us to watch Algarañaz closely. Everyone should return before 2:00, except Marcos. Clearing the paths and testing the radios turned out well. Marcos returned early because the rain blocked all visibility. Pedro arrived in the rain, bringing Coco and three new recruits: Benjamín, Eusebio, and Wálter. The first, who is from Cuba, will become part of the vanguard because he has knowledge of weapons; the other two will be in the rear guard. Mario Monje spoke to three others coming from Cuba, dissuading them from joining the guerrillas. Not only did he not resign from the party leadership, but he also sent a document to Fidel, attachment D. IV. I received a note from Tania about her departure and Iván's illness, and another note from Iván, which is attachment D. V.