The CIA apparently played a key role in arranging the execution of Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara in Bolivia [40 years ago] in 1967. As The CIA And The Cult Of Intelligence by Victor Marchetti and John Marks noted in 1974:
“…Agency `advisers,’ including Cuban veterans of the Bay of Pigs adventure, were…dispatched to Bolivia to assist in the tracking down of Guevara…
“The Clandestine Services were obsessed with Guevara, and even somewhat fearful of him. He was…a reminder of their failure in the Cuban operation…Incapable of gaining direct retribution by destroying Fidel himself…the CIA’s Clandestine Services were left to brood over their failure—until Guevara exposed himself. In doing so he presented himself to the CIA as an inviting target: his capture or death would provide some measure of revenge…
“During the Summer of 1967…the agency’s special ops experts were assisting the Bolivian army in hunting down Guevara…
“…On Oct. 8 [1967], Guevara…was wounded and captured near the small mountain village of La Higuera…
“…The senior CIA operative at La Higuera…attempted to question Che. The revolutionary, however, would not cooperate…
“Antonio Arguedas…as Minister of the Interior, was in charge of the Bolivian intelligence service, with which the agency had many close connections. And Arguedas himself was an agent of the CIA…
“Arguedas…identified some of the agency’s contract officers who had assisted in the tracking down of Guevara: Jolio Gabriel Garcia [Cuban] and Eddie and Mario Gonzales [Bolivians]…”
The same book also noted that, after he identified some of the CIA contract officers who were involved in tracking down Che, “Antonio Arguedas…was shot to death in a street in La Paz…”
(Downtown 12/13/95)
Next: The Hoovergate Scandal: Hoover’s FBI and the King Assassination—Part 1