The Bolivian Diary (8 page)

1
.
Ciro Algarañaz Leigue was the owner of the Pincal farm, the nearest farm to the area used as the first guerrilla base.

2
.
This refers to Apolinar Aquino Quispe (Apolinario, Apolinar, or Polo); Serapio Aquino Tudela (Serapio or Serafín); and Antonio Domínguez Flores (Antonio or León).

3
.
Small insect, similar to a gnat.

4
.
Insect smaller than a mosquito, but with a more irritating bite.

5
.
A yellow insect with large wings.

6
.
Known also as the Ñacaguazu, which has various spellings throughout the diary, including Ñacahuasi, Ñacahuasu, Ñacahuazú, Ñancahuazu, and Ñancahuazú, Ñacahuasú, Ñancahuasú, and Ñacahuaso.

7
.
Not all documents referred to in the diary are included here.

8
.
Code used to refer to Cuba.

9
.
Aleida Guevara March, his second daughter.

10
.
Don Remberto Villa, owner of the Ñacahuazú farm, who sold it to Roberto Peredo (Coco).

The day passed uneventfully. Marcos and his compañeros returned at night, their trip having lasted longer than it should have, roaming around the hills. At 2:00, I was told that Coco arrived with a compañero;
¹
I will leave it for tomorrow.

Chino arrived early, quite effusive. We spent the day chatting. The substance is: he will go to Cuba to inform them in person of the situation, and that five Peruvians can join us in two months, after we see some action. Two will come now to stay for a while: a radio technician and a doctor. Chino asked for weapons and I agreed to give him a BZ, some Mausers, and grenades; and I will purchase an M-1 for them. I also decided to assist them in sending five Peruvians, who would establish the necessary connections for sending arms to a region near Puno, on the other side of the Titicaca. He told me about his troubles in Peru, including a daring plan to free Calixto,
²
which seems unrealistic to me. He thinks that some survivors of the guerrilla
movement are active in that area, but he is not certain because no one has been able to make it there to see.

The rest of the conversation was anecdotes. He said goodbye with the same enthusiasm he had when he arrived; he took some of our photos with him to La Paz. Coco has been instructed to organize the contacts with Sánchez
³
(whom I will see later) and to contact the head of the president's information office, who is Inti's brother-in-law and who has offered to help. The network is still in its infancy.

Uneventful. There were no scouting expeditions because it is Saturday. The three farmhands went to Lagunillas to run errands.

Uneventful. Everyone is quiet since it is Sunday. I give a little talk about our approach to the Bolivians who will be coming and about the war.

Uneventful. We were thinking of going out, but the day was a washout. There was a minor false alarm when Loro fired a few shots without warning.

We set out to begin work on the second cave at the first creek.
This was Apolinar, Inti, Urbano, Miguel, and me. Miguel came to replace Tuma, who has still not recovered from his fall. Apolinar has requested to join the guerrilla unit, but first he wants to straighten out some things in La Paz; I told him it was ok, but that he should wait a while. Around 11:00 we got to the creek, we made a camouflaged path, and searched for a suitable place for the cave; but it is all rock and the creek dries up at one point, continuing through steep banks of solid rock. We gave up the exploration until tomorrow; Inti and Urbano went off to hunt deer because our food supply is very limited and has to last until Friday.

Miguel and Apolinar found a suitable place and devoted themselves to digging the tunnel, but the tools are inadequate. Inti and Urbano returned empty-handed, but at nightfall Urbano shot a turkey with an M-1. As we already had food prepared, we have left it for tomorrow's breakfast. Today, in fact, completes our first month here, but for the sake of convenience I will give the summaries at the end of each month.

With Inti, we went to a ridge that overlooks the creek. Miguel and Urbano continued digging the shaft. In the afternoon, Apolinar relieved Miguel. Nightfall brought Marcos, Pombo, and Pacho, who was falling behind and very tired. Marcos asked me if I could remove him from the vanguard if he did not improve. I marked down the path to the cave that is drawn in Diagram No. 2. I left them with the most important tasks to
perform during their stay. Miguel will stay with them and we will return tomorrow.

We came back slowly in the morning, arriving close to 12:00. Pacho was given orders to stay behind when the group returns. We tried to make contact with Camp 2, but failed. There is no other news.

The day passed uneventfully, except for the first batch of bread baked in the house. I spoke with Jorge and Inti about some urgent tasks. No news from La Paz.

The day passed uneventfully, but at night Coco turned up with Papi. He brought Alejandro, Arturo, and Carlos, a Bolivian. As usual, the other jeep remained on the road. Later they brought the doctor, Moro; Benigno; and two Bolivians, both
Cambas
⁴
from the Caranavi farm.
⁵
We spent the night engaged in the usual conversation about the trip and talked about the absence of Antonio and Félix, who should have been here by now. A discussion with Papi led to the decision that he should make two more trips to bring Renán and Tania. We will dispose of the [safe] houses and empty the caches to give $1,000 to Sánchez,
who will keep the van. We will sell a jeep to Tania and keep the other one. We need to make an arms run; I gave the order that everything be transported in one jeep to avoid switching from one to another and being spotted doing so. Chino left for Cuba, apparently very enthusiastic, and wants to return here when he comes back. Coco stayed to get food in Camiri, and Papi left for La Paz. A dangerous incident occurred: the Vallegrandino,
⁶
a hunter, discovered some footprints; he saw our tracks, apparently spotted one of us, and found a glove Pombo had dropped. This changes our plans and we should be more careful. The Vallegrandino will go off tomorrow with Antonio to show him where he sets his traps to catch tapirs. Inti let me know his reservations about the student Carlos, who began to talk about Cuba's participation as soon as he arrived, and he had already said he would not take up arms if the party did not participate. Inti said that Rodolfo had sent him here, but that there had been a misunderstanding.

I spoke to the whole group, taking them to task about the reality of war. I emphasized the importance of a united command and discipline, and I warned the Bolivians of the responsibility they would bear in violating the discipline of the party's line by adopting another one. I made the following assignments: Joaquín as military second in command; Rolando and Inti as political commissars; Alejandro as head of operations; Pombo, services; Inti, finances; Ñato, provisions and armaments; and Moro, medical services, for the moment.

Rolando and Braulio went off to tell the group either to stay put while waiting until the Vallegrandino had set his traps, or to go exploring with Antonio. At night they returned; the traps are not too far from here. They got the Vallegrandino drunk, and he was very happy with a bottle of
singani
⁷
inside of him when he left for the night. Coco returned from Caranavi where he had bought the necessary food, but some people from Lagunillas saw him and were surprised by the quantity he had purchased.

Later on, Marcos arrived with Pombo. Marcos had a gash above his eyebrow received while cutting a stick; he was given two stitches.

Joaquín, Carlos, and El Médico [Ernesto] left to meet up with Rolando and Braulio. Pombo went with them but with instructions to return today. I gave the order to cover the path and to make another that, branching off from the first, will end at the river. This tactic was so successful that when Pombo, Miguel, and Pacho tried to return, they got lost.

I spoke with Apolinar, who will go to his house in Viacha for a few days, giving him money for his family and advising him to maintain absolute secrecy. Coco departed at nightfall, but three hours later the alarm was sounded when whistles, noises, and a dog barking were heard—it turned out to be him, lost in the woods.

An uneventful day. The Vallegrandino came by the house to check his traps, which he had set yesterday, contrary to what he had said before. Antonio was shown the path we had cleared in the woods so he could take the Vallegrandino that way in order to avoid suspicion.

Nothing new. Preparations were made to leave (eight men) and to move permanently to Camp 2.
⁸

Pombo, Urbano, Tuma, Alejandro, Moro, Arturo, Inti, and I started out in the morning, heavily loaded down; it took us three hours to get there.

Rolando stayed with us, and Joaquín, Braulio, Carlos, and El Médico
⁹
returned. Carlos has shown himself to be a good hiker and a good worker. Moro and Tuma discovered a cave by the river with very large fish in it; they caught 17, plenty for a good meal. Moro hurt his hand on a catfish. We looked for a place to dig the second cave, as we have finished the first one, and then stopped work until tomorrow. Moro and Inti tried to hunt tapir by spending the night lying in wait.

Moro and Inti only caught a turkey. We—Tuma, Rolando,
and I—devoted ourselves to digging the second cave, which should be ready by tomorrow. Arturo and Pombo searched for a place to position the radio and then worked on clearing the access path, which is pretty rough. At night it began to rain and continued until the morning.

It rained all day but we still worked on the cave, which needs only a little more digging to be two and a half meters deep. We inspected a hill to find a place to install the radio. It seems good enough, but the tests will tell.

Today was also rainy, so a hike not appealing; at about 1:00 Braulio and Ñato arrived with the news that the river could be crossed even though it was deep. As we were leaving, we ran into Marcos and his vanguard, who had come to establish themselves. He will remain in command, and was ordered to send over three to five men, if he could. We completed the hike in just over three hours.

At 12:00 tonight, Ricardo and Coco arrived bringing Antonio and Rubio (they could not get tickets last Thursday) and Apolinar, who has come to stay with us permanently. In addition, Iván came along to discuss a range of matters.

We stayed up practically all night.

We continued to discuss various points and were organizing everything when a group led by Alejandro turned up from Camp 2. They said that on a path near the camp a deer had
been shot and a string had been tied on its leg. Joaquín had passed by there an hour earlier but had not mentioned anything. We presumed that the Vallegrandino had taken it there, and then for some unknown reason, left it and ran off. A guard was posted at the rear and two men were stationed to catch the hunter if he came by. Later we learned that the deer had been dead for quite some time and was full of worms, and when Joaquín returned, he confirmed that he had seen it. Coco and Loro took the Vallegrandino to the little animal where he verified that he had wounded it several days before. The matter was thus settled.

We resolved to speed up communication with our Information Office contact, whom Coco had neglected, and to ask Megía to serve as a liaison between Iván and our Information contact. He will maintain communication with Megía, Sánchez, Tania, and someone from the party who has not yet been chosen. This may be someone from Villamontes, but this has not yet been finalized. A telegram came from Manila indicating that Monje will be coming from the south.

They set up a contact system, but I was not satisfied because it shows how truly suspicious of Monje his compañeros are.

At 1:00 in the morning La Paz will inform us if they have gone to collect Monje.

Iván has the opportunity to do some business but his poorly forged passport is preventing him; the next step is to improve the document and write to our friends in Manila to expedite it.

Tania will come soon to receive instructions; I will probably send her to Buenos Aires.

It is definitely decided that Ricardo, Iván, and Coco will leave Camiri by plane and the jeep will stay here. When they
return, they will call Lagunillas to tell them they have arrived. Jorge will go at night to check for any news and will pick them up when they come. At 1:00, we could not get a signal from La Paz. They left for Camiri at daybreak.