Original subtitles

October the 8th, 1967, Juro Ravine, Central Bolivia, mid -afternoon.

Government forces are closing in on a small group of guerrillas led by Che

Guevara, one of the 20th century's most iconic revolutionaries.

Later, in a nearby village, six shots ring out.

Has the world's most wanted terrorist been assassinated?

By the autumn of 1967, 39 -year -old Che Guevara has become a legend, fame

spreading far beyond his native Argentina.

But during his short life as probably the world's best -known and charismatic

revolutionary, he has made a great many enemies.

Chief among them is the Bolivian military government, outraged because

is attempting to overthrow their harsh regime.

Others include the U .S. Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA, which has

regarded him as a highly dangerous and disruptive mutant.

Guevara first comes to the agents' attention in June 1954, when he joins

resistance against a CIA -backed attempt to seize control of Guatemala, Central

America.

Worried that the country is leaning towards communism, U .S. President

Eisenhower gives the CIA the go -ahead to support a group of rebels seeking to

overthrow the Guatemalan government, led by hardline Marxist President Jacobo

Abens Guzman.

They succeed, forcing a great many counter -revolutionaries, including

to flee the country.

He's now on a CIA list of people to be eliminated, imprisoned.

or deported.

Guevara, a qualified doctor, makes his way to Mexico City, where he eventually

lands a post at the city's general hospital.

During his spare time, he reads widely, devouring the works of Marx and Lenin.

He also takes a keen interest in revolutionary military strategy, paying

particular attention to the Spanish Civil War, fought out 20 years earlier.

Having experienced at first hand in Guatemala how an organization like the

could play a key role in helping to depose a democratically elected

Guevara is now convinced that the only way for socialism, or for that matter

communism, to succeed is through armed resistance.

In the summer of 1955, while still in Mexico, Guevara meets a man who would

change his life for a... His name?

Fidel Castro.

Castro is in self -imposed exile from his home country, Cuba, following his

early release from prison after failing in his attempt to overthrow President

Fulgencio Batista in July 1953.

But he's determined to try again, getting together a group of like -minded

exiles and forming what's known as the 26th of July Revolutionary Movement.

It was on this day two years earlier that Castro, leading 160 men, had

an ill -fated assault on the Moncada barracks in Santiago.

The attack was repulsed. More than 100 of the rebels were either killed or

captured. The rest, including Castro, escaped into the nearby countryside, but

were quickly rounded up.

At first, Castro is sentenced to death.

This is then commuted to 15 years in prison.

In May 1955, he's released in a general amnesty and heads for Mexico City.

He now intends to make a second attempt to get rid of President Batista and his

corrupt regime.

Guevara is deeply impressed with Castro's radical idealism and joins

him.

But in teaming up with Castro, little could he have known that he would once

again come to the attention of the CIA.

The agency will keep a close eye on him for the rest of his life.

Born June 14, 1928, in Rosario, Argentina, to liberal middle -class

Guevara is the eldest of five children.

He's named Ernesto.

It will not be until 25 years later that he drops his real name and calls

himself Che, the Argentine word for comrade.

In 1947, after doing well at school, Guevara begins studying medicine at

Aires University.

He spends much of his vacation time motorbiking throughout South America

close friend and fellow student, Alberto Granados.

As he travels throughout the vast continent, Guevara meets a great many

poor and underprivileged people.

The injustice and prejudice he comes across convinces Guevara that true

can be achieved only through socialism and, if necessary, violent revolution.

In March 1953, Guevara qualifies as a doctor.

But much to the disappointment of his father...

He has no intention of pursuing a long -term career in medicine, not unless

to help in some revolutionary cause.

Later that year, Guevara makes his way to Bolivia, where, 12 months earlier,

military junta had been overthrown by a revolution.

Now the country is run by one of South America's few democratically elected

leaders, President Victor Paz Estensoron.

As Guevara travels throughout Bolivia, he doesn't feel that Denzoro is doing

enough to help the poorer members of society, particularly the native

But there's nothing he can do, at least for the time being.

When, in 1955, Guevara meets Castro for the first time, he feels, at last, that

he can put his idealism into action.

Castro is still determined to invade Cuba and depose President Batista.

But all he has is a handful of men, and they have to be ready to take on

Batista's government forces.

Castro employs a tough ex -Spanish Republican army officer called Alberto

to instruct his men in the art of guerrilla warfare.

They rent a ranch.

set in remote countryside to the south of Mexico City.

Guevara soon becomes Bayo's star pupil, excelling in every task setting.

It's obvious to both Bayo and Castro that he's a natural leader.

It will not be long before he's put to the test.

November the 24th, 1956, Mexico.

Castro and around 80 men, including Guevara, are heading for the small river

port of Tuxpan on the east coast.

They're just six hours ahead of the police, who, suspicious of their

at the ranch, are now in hot pursuit.

The next day, the revolutionaries set sail for the east coast of Cuba in a

boat named Granmar.

The voyage, during which most of the men suffer from violent bouts of

seasickness, It takes six days.

December 2nd, 1956, Los Caiuelos, Cuba.

The revolutionaries come ashore on the southeast coast and head inland.

Three days later, they run into Batista's government forces.

They're hopelessly outnumbered, and no more than 20, including Castro and

Guevara, who's wounded, survive the ensuing scourge.

Realizing that the situation is hopeless, the small band of defeated

revolutionaries now flees to the safety of the Sierra Maestra Mountains in the

south.

They will remain hidden there for the next 18 months.

Their cause meets with the approval of a great many Cubans, especially the

poorer ones who are completely disaffected by Batista's brutal and

regime.

Inspired by Castro's cause, they flock to his banner, and his army of eager

revolutionaries eventually swells to more than 3 ,000.

With Guevara now one of his most trusted commanders, Castro is ready to launch a

series of successful attacks on Batista's forces.

In 1958, the U .S. government, which wants to safeguard American investments

Cuba, grants Batista $1 million in military aid.

But it's too little, too late.

Even though they're still heavily outnumbered and outgunned by Batista's

Castro's revolutionaries are unstoppable and seemingly unbeatable.

Guevara proves himself time and time again in battle.

In doing so, he earns a reputation not only as an able and brave leader, but

also as a ruthless commander.

He would punish his own men harshly for the slightest infringement.

and would summarily execute anyone guilty of being an informer, a deserter,

spy.

By the end of December 1958, Castro and Guevara have fought their way through to

Havana, the capital of Cuba.

January 2nd, 1959, Havana, Cuba.

The revolutionary armies arrive in Havana.

as Batista, knowing his situation is hopeless, flees to safety in the

Republic.

But he doesn't go empty -handed, having looted a $300 million fortune from the

Cuban treasury.

February 7th, 1959, Havana, Cuba.

Castro's new government declares Guevara a citizen of Cuba and appoints him

commander of the Cabana Fortress Prison.

Here he oversees the trial and execution of a great many people, including ex

-Batista officials and members of Cuba's secret police, known as the Bureau for

the Repression of Communist Activities.

Guevara is then given a senior government job in the National Agrarian

Institute. To the fury of the U .S. authorities, this involved seizing and

nationalizing previously owned U .S. land and businesses.

Guevara argues that Cuba should completely distance itself from the U

instead ally itself closely with the Soviet Union, headed at the time by

Khrushchev.

In November 1959, Guevara is named president of Cuba's national bank and

signature begins appearing on the country's banknotes.

Early the following year, Cuba signs a trade agreement with the Soviet Union.

Cuba will now buy Soviet oil in return for sugar exports and $100 million in

credit.

This so infuriates the U .S. that within a few weeks the government bans all oil

sales to Cuba and prohibits sugar imports.

At the same time, the CIA begins to put together a paramilitary force of Cuban

exiles and begins planning an invasion of the island.

Cuba now establishes full diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.

This, together with the appropriation of more U .S. property, results in the U

.S. imposing a partial embargo on the island, banning the import and export of

everything except food and medicine.

January 3, 1961, Washington, D .C.

the US officially breaks off all diplomatic relations with Cuba.

There is a limit to what the United States in self -respect can endure.

That limit has now been reached.

April 17th, 1961, the Bay of Pigs, Cuba.

1 ,300 Cuban exiles, backed by the CIA, come ashore on the South Coast.

Their aim is to topple Castro.

It's assumed that as they forge inland, they'll be joined by other dissident

Cubans, weary of their increasingly harsh system of government.

They're wrong.

No one emerges to help them.

They're on their own.

The expedition is a total disaster.

Not least because US President John F. Kennedy, at the last minute, refuses to

sanction use of the US Air Force to support the landings.

Castro's troops repel the invaders without too much trouble.

Guevara plays no part in the main fighting.

Instead, Castro had dispatched him to Pina del Rio, in the west of the island,

to fend off a decoy force.

Meanwhile, in a humiliating defeat, 90 of the invaders are killed and the rest

captured.

The failed attempt is a major embarrassment for President Kennedy.

And Castro, firmly backed up by Guevara, resolves never to trust the US again.

October 22nd, 1962.

The Cuban Missile Crisis.

Fidel Castro now faces his greatest test, as President Kennedy demands that

Soviet Union abandon plans to install missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from the

US mainland.

Faced with the possibility of all -out nuclear war, Soviet leader Nikita

Khrushchev backs down, and the ships carrying the missiles to Cuba turn for

home.

Furious at the humiliation, Guevara later gives an interview to a communist

British newspaper, The Daily Worker, in which he states that had the missiles

been under Cuban control, they would have been launched against major

cities within range.

His aggressive remarks do not go unnoticed by the U .S. authorities, in

particular the CIA.

The following year, the U .S. imposes even tighter economic and social

on Cuba.

U .S. citizens are now forbidden to travel there, and all Cuban -owned

the U .S. are frozen.

Angered even more by the U .S. attitude, Guevara now determines to spread his

revolutionary message beyond Cuba, traveling to Africa, as well as other

of Latin America.

He also spends time in the Soviet Union.

December 11, 1964, New York.

After fighting his way through a group of Cuban nationalists outside the

building who accused him and Castro of bringing Cuba to its knees, Guevara

addresses the UN General Assembly.

It should have been one of the greatest moments of his life.

But his long, rambling speech about Cuba's non -alignment impresses neither

capitalists nor communists.

Three months later, Guevara suddenly disappears from public life.

No one, seemingly not even Castro, knows his whereabouts.

He eventually turns up in war -torn Congo, where, together with a group of

mercenaries, he joins forces with communist rebels fighting the Belgian

rulers.

But he gets little local support, and the rebellion soon peters out.

Guevara now starts globe -trotting again, keeping a low profile in places

apart as Tanzania and Czechoslovakia.

By now, he has effectively declared war on the US, describing the country as the

world's greatest enemy to mankind.

October 5, 1965, Havana, Cuba.

Guevara eventually returns home, but he's given the cold shoulder by Castro

the airport.

A short time later, he resigns all his official position, as well as his Cuban

nationality. Before long, Guevara is traveling widely again.

November the 3rd, 1966, El Alto, Bolivia.

Having severed all ties with Cuba in order to devote himself to the cause of

world revolution, Guevara now arrives in Bolivia.

to help overthrow the country's military junta headed by President René

Barrientos.

He enters the country disguised as a Uruguayan businessman.

Guevara then spends the next few months trying to put a proper fighting force

together. But with little support from the local populace, his guerrillas never

number more than 50.

Nonetheless, this small but highly trained and motivated band still manages

inflict several humiliating defeats on Bolivian troops, especially when

operating in the mountainous Camry region.

This infuriates Barrientos, who vows to have Guevara's head displayed on a pike

in downtown La Paz.

He urges his troops to redouble their efforts to capture Guevara, dead or

October the 8th, 1967,

Juro Ravine, Central Bolivia, dawn.

Following a tip -off from an informer, around 1 ,800 U .S.-trained and heavily

armed Bolivian troops, assisted by CIA advisors, are relentlessly closing in on

Guevara's latest hiding place.

By noon, the small group of guerrillas are completely surrounded.

The ensuing battle will last all day.

By the time it's over, seven of the guerrillas are dead.

Five manage to escape.

But Guevara himself has been shot in the legs and is unable to move.

He's quickly taken prisoner and carried two miles southwest to the small village

of La Higuera, where he's held in a dilapidated schoolhouse.

October the 9th, 1967.

La Higuera, Bolivia.

When he hears of Guevara's capture, Barrientos orders his immediate

This is much against the wishes of both the CIA and the US government.

They want Guevara flown to Panama for a full interrogation.

But when local CIA agent Felix Rodriguez conveys this to the Bolivian officer in

charge on the ground, he's told he has to obey the orders given by his

president, not comply with the wishes of the U .S.

October the 9th, 10 past 1 in the afternoon.

After drawing lots, the task of actually executing Guevara falls to Lieutenant

Mario Terra.

He shoots him six times.

Guevara, lying helpless on the floor, dies instantly.

His last words are reported to have been, I know you have come to kill me.

Shoot, coward. You are only going to kill a man.

The radio already have given the report that Che have died from combat wounds.

So at that point in time, I thought it was no more time to waste anyway. If

already have been given by radio, there was no changing orders.

So I came over into the room where he was, and he was sitting on the bench,

I looked at him straight and said, Commander, I'm sorry.

I tried my best.

That's all I said, and he understood.

He looked at me. He turned first white like a piece of paper. I'd never seen

person to lose the expression.

Actually, his face turned white completely.

But he kept his composure otherwise, and he looked at me and said, Well, it's

better this way.

I should have never been captured alive.

And I went to where Terán was and said, Sargentos, shoot from here down. Don't

shoot from here up. Because this man is supposed to die from combat wounds.

And he said, see me, Capitán, see me, Capitán. I understand that he borrowed

M2 Carabin from a Lieutenant Perez who was in the area.

And I left.

It was 1 o 'clock in the afternoon when I left there.

At 1 .10 p .m., Bolivian TIE heard the shot.

I looked at my watch and I took note that that was the time when Che was

Guevara's body is then lashed to the skids of a helicopter and flown to the

small town of Vallegrande, 20 miles away, where, after being cleaned up,

put on display in a hospital laundry room for all to see.

In a macabre gesture, Guevara's hands are cut off and sent to police HQ in La

Paz, Bolivia's capital, where fingerprinting establishes his identity

doubt.

He's then buried in a secret location near Valagrande Airport.

Later that month, U .S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk receives a report from

Bureau of Intelligence and Research predicting that Guevara will be

the model revolutionary who met a heroic death.

How right they were.

Within a few weeks of his death, the grisly pictures taken of Guevara's

-ridden corpse are circulating throughout the world.

In the summer of 1997, his body is exhumed and returned to Cuba, where he's

to rest with full military honors in a specially built mausoleum.

The service is attended by thousands.

In assassinating Che Guevara, the Bolivians unwittingly ensured his

Giant pictures of him are still publicly displayed in Havana and elsewhere in

Cuba.

The irony is that the ideology he espoused has now collapsed throughout

world, and his legacy remains simply as an iconic face of 1960s revolutionary

culture.