The Bolivian Diary (15 page)

Tania made her contacts and the people came, but, according to her, she had to drive them here in a jeep, and although she intended to stay only one day, things got complicated. Jozami could not stay the first time, and the second time no contact was made because Tania was here. She talked about Iván with considerable disdain—I do not know what is at the bottom of it all. We received Loyola's account balance up to February 9 ($1,500). (She also informed us she had left the leadership of the youth group.)

Two reports from Iván were received; one was of no interest, only containing information about a military school, with some photos attached, and the other reported on other matters, but also of no great importance.

The main thing is that he could not decode the written message (D. XIII). A report was received from Antonio (D. XII) where he tries to justify his position. We heard a radio broadcast in which a death was announced, followed by a retraction, which indicates that what Loro said was true.

At
[illegible in the original]
we set out, abandoning the
[illegible in the original]
camp, with some food precariously stored
[illegible
in the original].
Our group, consisting of 47 people, counting visitors and all, made it downstream by 12:00.

On arrival, Inti informed me of several disrespectful acts Marcos had committed; I exploded and told Marcos that if this were true, he would be thrown out of the guerrilla force; he answered he would rather be shot.

Orders were given to set up an ambush with five men ahead at the river and to dispatch a scouting expedition of three men: Miguel and Loro, with Antonio in charge. Pacho went to the observation post on the barren hill that overlooks Algarañaz's house, but he saw nothing. The scouts returned at night and I gave them a full blast. Olo reacted very emotionally and denied the charges. The meeting was explosive and ill-timed, with no good result. It is not clear what Marcos said. I sent for Rolando to resolve once and for all the problem of the new recruits in terms of their numbers and distribution, as there are now more than 30 of us in the center group who are hungry.

A day of military events. Pombo wanted to organize a
góndola
to get provisions, but I opposed it until we clarified the matter of Marcos's replacement. Just after 8:00, Coco rushed in to report that a section of the army had fallen into our ambush. At this point the outcome has been three 60-mm mortars, 16 Mausers, two BZs, three Uzis, one .30-caliber machine gun, two radios, boots, etc. There were seven dead, 14 healthy prisoners, and four wounded, but we could not secure any provisions. An operations plan was captured, which revealed a plan to advance from both directions along the Ñacahuazú, making contact mid-way. We rapidly moved our troops to one side, with
Marcos, and almost the entire vanguard at the end of the path of operations, while the center group and part of the rear guard remained in defensive positions; Braulio set up an ambush at the end of the other path of operations. We will spend the night this way to see if tomorrow the famous Rangers turn up. Two prisoners—a major
¹¹
and a captain
¹²
—talked like parrots.

We decoded the message sent with Chino. It describes Debray's trip, the sending of $60,000, Chino's requests, and explains why they had not written to Iván. I also received a communication from Sánchez, which reports on the possibilities for setting up Mito at various points.

The total haul is the following: 16 Mausers, three mortars with 64 shells, two BZs, 2,000 Mauser rounds, three Uzis with two clips each, and one .30-caliber machine gun with two cartridge belts. There are seven dead and 14 prisoners, including four wounded. Marcos was sent to explore but did not come up with anything; but planes are bombing close to our house.

I sent Inti to speak with the prisoners for the last time and to set them free, taking all the clothes we can use, but the two officers were questioned separately and went off with their clothes. We told the major that they had until 12:00 on the 27th to remove the dead bodies and offered a truce for the entire area of Lagunillas if he stayed here, but he said that he was retiring from the army.

The captain said he had just rejoined the army a year ago at the request of people from the party and that he had a brother
studying in Cuba; he gave us the names of two other officers who would be willing to collaborate. When the planes began bombing they got a terrible fright, and it also scared two of our men: Raúl and Wálter. The latter had also been cowardly in the ambush.

Marcos scouted the area but found nothing. Ñato and Coco went upstream with the “reject group”
¹³
to carry supplies, but the men had to be brought back because they did not want to walk. They must be discharged.

The day passed uneventfully. León, Urbano, and Arturo were sent to a point from which to observe access to the river from both sides. At 12:00 Marcos withdrew from his ambush position and the rest remained concentrated at the main ambush site. At 18:30 with nearly all personnel present, I made an analysis of our expedition and its significance, reviewing Marcos's errors and demoting him, and then named Miguel as head of the vanguard. At the same time I announced the discharge of Paco, Pepe, Chingolo, and Eusebio, telling them that they would not eat if they do not work; I suspended their tobacco ration and redistributed their personal things among other compañeros more in need. I referred to Kolle's plan to come here and hold discussions at the same time as those members of the youth organization who are here with us are being expelled, saying that we are interested in action—words are of no importance. I announced we would look for a cow and that study classes would be resumed.
¹⁴

I informed Pedro and El Médico [Ernesto] they have almost achieved full status as guerrilla fighters, and gave Apolinar some encouragement. I criticized Wálter for being too soft during the trip, for his attitude in combat, and for the fear he showed of the planes; he did not react well. I went over some details with Chino and Pelado, and gave the Frenchman a long oral report on the situation. In the course of the meeting, the group adopted the name National Liberation Army of Bolivia, and a public statement about the meeting will be made.

Inti set off early with Antonio, Raúl, and Pedro to look for a cow near Ticucha, but saw troops about three hours from here so they turned back, apparently without being seen. They reported that the soldiers had a sentry in a clearing and something like a house with a shiny roof from which they saw eight men leave. They were close to the river we used to call the Yaqui. I spoke with Marcos and sent him to the rear guard—but I do not expect his conduct to improve much.

We ran a small
góndola
and placed lookouts at the usual posts; from the observation point at Algarañaz's house, 30 to 40 soldiers were seen, as well as a helicopter landing.

Today there was a spate of broadcasts filling the airwaves, producing a flurry of press announcements, including a press conference with Barrientos.
¹⁵
The official report includes one more death than we account for and states that men were
wounded and later shot. They said that we suffered 15 dead and four prisoners, two of them foreigners; they also mention a foreigner who shot himself and discuss the composition of the guerrilla force. It is obvious that either the deserters or the prisoner spoke, but we do not know exactly how much they said and how they said it. Everything seems to indicate that Tania has been identified, which means we have lost two years of good and patient work. The departure of the people is very difficult now, and when I told Dantón this, he did not seem very amused. We will see in the future.

Benigno, Loro, and Julio set out to find a trail to Pirirenda; this should take them two or three days, and their instructions are to get there without being seen and then to move on to Gutiérrez. The reconnaissance plane dropped some paratroopers that the sentry reported had landed in our hunting ground; Antonio and two others were sent to investigate and to try to take prisoners, but there was nothing.

We had a meeting of the general command during the evening where we worked out plans for the days ahead. Tomorrow we will send a
góndola
to the little house to pick up some corn, and then another to buy supplies in Gutiérrez; then we will stage a small diversionary attack, possibly in the woods against vehicles traveling between Pincal and Lagunillas.

Communiqué No. 1 was drafted, which we will try to send to journalists in Camiri (D XVII).

The radio continues to be saturated with news about the guerrillas; it is reported that we are surrounded by 2,000 men in a radius of 120 kilometers and that they are closing in and
bombing us with napalm; we supposedly have had 10 to 15 casualties.

I sent Braulio with nine men to try to look for some corn. They returned at night with a bunch of crazy reports:

They confiscated two horses from Algarañaz and then they returned, leaving Antonio, Rubio, and Aniceto where the animals could not go on; when they went looking for Coco, he showed up—apparently he had fallen asleep.

Still no news from Benigno.

The Frenchman made a statement, with too much vehemence, about how useful he could be abroad.

A day of little action but an extraordinary amount of news: the army provides a wide range of information that, if true,
could be very valuable. Radio Habana already reported the news, and the Bolivian government announced its support for Venezuela in presenting the case against Cuba before the OAS [Organization of American States]. There is one news item that disturbs me: there was a clash in the Tiraboy ravine in which two guerrillas were killed. That is the way to Pirirenda, where Benigno went to explore and he should have returned by now, but has not. The order was not to go through the ravine, but in recent days my orders have been repeatedly ignored.

Guevara has advanced very slowly in his work; he was given dynamite but all day they could not detonate it. A horse was killed and everyone ate lots of meat, although it has to last us four days; we will try to bring the other one here, but it might be difficult. To judge from the birds of prey, the corpses have not yet been burned. As soon as the cave is finished, we will move out of this camp, which is now uncomfortable and too well known. I informed Alejandro that he should stay here with El Médico [Moro] and Joaquín (probably at Oso Camp). Rolando is also really exhausted.

I spoke with Urbano and Tuma; I could not even get Tuma to understand the basis of my criticism.

Calm has returned: Benigno and his compañeros turned up mid-morning. They had, in fact, gone through the Tiraboy ravine, but all they encountered were two people's footprints. They reached their destination, but some peasants saw them, so they came back. They report that it takes about four hours to get to Pirirenda, and that apparently there is no danger. Aircraft are constantly strafing the small house.

I sent Antonio with two others to explore upstream and the report is that the guards are staying put, although there are tracks left by a scouting party along the river. They have dug trenches.

The mare we needed arrived, so in the worst-case scenario, we will have meat for four days. Tomorrow we will rest and the day after the vanguard will start out for the next two operations: to capture Gutiérrez and to set up an ambush along the road from Algarañaz's house to Lagunillas.

No major events. Guevara announced that the cave will be finished by tomorrow. Inti and Ricardo reported that the guards had returned to take over our little farm, following an offensive with artillery (mortars), aircraft, etc. This holds up our plans to go to Pirirenda for supplies; nevertheless, I instructed Manuel to advance with his troops toward the little house. If it is vacant, he should occupy it and send two men to let me know so we can mobilize the day after tomorrow. If it is occupied, and we cannot launch a surprise attack, he should return; then we will explore the possibility of flanking Algarañaz's place in order to set up an ambush between Pincal and Lagunillas. The radio continues its clamor, with commentaries on top of official combat reports. They have fixed our position with absolute precision between the Yaqui and the Ñacahuazú and I fear they will try to make a move to surround us. I spoke with Benigno about his mistake in not coming to find us, and I explained Marcos's situation; he took it well.

I spoke with Loro and Aniceto during the evening. The conversation went very badly; Loro went so far as to say we
were falling apart, and when I asked him to explain, he told me to ask Marcos and Benigno; Aniceto took Loro's side on a few issues, but later confessed to Coco that he was complicit in stealing some canned food and told Inti that he did not agree with what Loro said about Benigno and Pombo or about the “general disintegration” of the guerrilla force.

This month was full of events, but the general panorama is characterized as follows: