Lauren Sapp

Dr. Finney
Historical Feature
11 October 2016

GUEVARA'S HISTORICAL CAPTURE PAVES WAY FOR STUDENTS'

EMORY, Va.-- At dusk on the evening of October 9, 1967, the wounded body of Cuban leader,
revolutionist, and idealist Che Guevara landed on a dusty Bolivian airstrip. A waiting car
whisked Guevara's body away, where he was dressed, hair trimmed and combed, and
photographed for proof that one of the most prolific leaders of the Cuban Revolution was dead.

Guevara was captured the previous day, October 8, by a special sect of the Bolivian army after
he and his guerilla force's attempts to bring about a revolution in Bolivia. According to a
declassified memorandum released by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United
States, Guevara's capture and death aided to, "the shift in Cuban foreign policy which has been
en train since 1964, [which] now is confirmed with Guevara's fall."

Today, relations between the U.S. and Cuba are continuing along that shift. The two countries are
working to retract a trade embargo established in the early 1960s, as well as reconsider travel
restraints to allow for increased tourism, trade, and diplomacy. A group of students and faculty
from Emory & Henry College will be direct recipients of these new policies. The group will
travel to Cuba for approximately 15 days to plan, record and edit a documentary-style film
exploring what Spanish professor Dr. Mary Boltwood summarizes as, "What do we Americans
know about Cuba?"

"The topics we're interested in are things that just nobody knows, like what the heck's going on
in Cuba? . . . Can you own a house? What's up with the health insurance? What's the education
system like?" Boltwood explained.

To aid their project, the students will be taking daily Spanish classes and participate in various
cultural activities, such as salsa dancing. They will spend the first week in Havana, the Cuban
capital, and the second week traveling to other locales in the country. They will have the
opportunity to study much of the Cuban culture by interviewing locals and staying with host
families for the duration of the trip.

"It's such a great immersion experience," Boltwood said. "We're very excited about it."
 Plaza de la Revolucin in Havana, Cuba. Photo courtesy of the Pulitzer Center.

Political theorist Walt Rostow remarked in a memorandum to then-President Lyndon B.

The group from E&H, however, are going against the grain in international travel in their own
way with this unique opportunity. They will be among some of the first young adults of their
generation and others that will be allowed to travel to Cuba in this lifetime. E&H sophomore
Spencer Dillon is a prospective member of this group.

"Cuba has been a point of interest to me for quite some time. I love Cuban culture and its
complex history fascinates me," Dillon said "Through its hardships, from military coups to
Castro's communist Cuba, it's [an] awesome country to study."

"I think we're all going to learn so much, [and] I consider myself in their camp," Boltwood
remarked. "Every single thing is like a mystery because Americans haven't technically been
allowed to travel there for a long time."
 Guevara speaking at a meeting of the United Nations in 1964. Photo courtesy of Dossier Journal.

In the book Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life, author Jon Lee Anderson remarks, "I think that
Che does transcend his era, in that he serves as a visible reminder that history is full of surprises,
and that many of its most dramatic episodes have been spawned by individuals who, like him,
looked around them, did not like what they saw, and thereafter dedicated their lives in efforts to
change things."

Boltwood believes that the college's ability to provide this international education abroad will
help students to reconcile with Guevara's impact on Cuban history, as well as make some
observations of their own.

"[Before his death, Guevara] . . . traveled all over South America without a care in the world, and
[experts] say that was the moment when he was exposed to poverty and struggles," Boltwood
said. "He was given that freedom to go and explore and make his own opinions, and yet he
created a system in Cuba where none of that was allowed. People were not allowed to leave the
island. People were not allowed to have their own thoughts . . . that's what made him who he was
. . . I think he did a lot of good [but] there's no free lunch. There's always a payoff for whatever
you have . . . the negative is the repression that had to go on. What price is there to pay for that?"
 Guevara in wait upon his execution. Photo courtesy of Daily Mail.

Author Mary-Alice Waters remarks in her book Che Guevara Talks to Young People that "[Che]
sets an example as he urges young people to . . . absorb, and to make their own, the scientific and
cultural achievements not only of their own people but of all previous civilizations. To become a
different kind of human being as they strive together with working people of all lands to
transform the world." Boltwood hopes that students act similarly to this observation and will gain
adequate knowledge and experience with this seemingly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"What I hope to learn, which I think is what we want [the group] to learn too, is what is life like
on a daily basis, and how does it feel to be on this island that's 90 miles away from the United
States?" Boltwood said. "You're standing on the shore and you know Florida is right there, but
it's so different."

On that October afternoon, Guevara and his forces attempted to defeat their Bolivian foes in the
village of Quebrada del Yuro. After being shot multiple times in the leg, Guevara was captured
and transported to La Higuera, where he was later executed. Guevara's controversial death
rocked the international sphere, drawing a rift in him and Castro's plan for the future of Cuba.
While their original ideas may be somewhat intact -- Cuba is still a communist country today --
his capture allowed for change to be brought forth into the country and the world. Johnson
remarked that, "[Guevara] stands out as a latter-day mythological hero, admired for . . . trying to
achieve the impossible." For this group of young millennials, they are achieving a similar goal by
traveling to a country that few will have the opportunity to visit in their lifetime. Boltwood hopes
that this trip abroad will encourage them to be not so unlike Guevara and look at the world a
little differently.

"I just think that you have to go out in order to turn back and look at the lens of your own culture
and government to appreciate it."