Che’s murderer, Operation Miracle and Cuban doctors
By
Salim Lamrani
Mario
Terán, a retired noncom notorious for having executed the
legendary guerrilla fighter Ernesto Che Guevara on Oct. 9, 1967, at a
little school in La Higuera in Bolivia, lived in the deepest
anonymity in Santa Cruz. Steeped in indigence, he lived on his
miserly pension as a former soldier and had lost his sight to
cataracts that he had been unable to cure, for lack of resources. (1)
In 2004,
Cuban President Fidel Castro launched a broad humanitarian campaign
throughout the continent, named Operation Miracle. Supported by
Venezuela, it consists in operating — at no cost — those low-income
Latin Americans who suffer from cataracts and other eye diseases. In
30 months, about 600,000 people from 28 countries, including U.S.
citizens, recovered their eyesight thanks to the altruism of the
Cuban doctors. The avowed objective is to operate 6 million people by
2016.
The
election of Evo Morales as President of the Republic of Bolivia in
December 2005 and his willingness to establish social policies that
will improve the wellbeing of some of the poorest people in the
continent have allowed Bolivians to gain access to the humanitarian
program launched by Cuba. About 110,000 Bolivians have regained their
eyesight without paying a single penny. (3)
By
Salim Lamrani Read Spanish Version
Mario
Terán, a retired noncom notorious for having executed the
legendary guerrilla fighter Ernesto Che Guevara on Oct. 9, 1967, at a
little school in La Higuera in Bolivia, lived in the deepest
anonymity in Santa Cruz. Steeped in indigence, he lived on his
miserly pension as a former soldier and had lost his sight to
cataracts that he had been unable to cure, for lack of resources. (1)
In 2004,
Cuban President Fidel Castro launched a broad humanitarian campaign
throughout the continent, named Operation Miracle. Supported by
Venezuela, it consists in operating — at no cost — those low-income
Latin Americans who suffer from cataracts and other eye diseases. In
30 months, about 600,000 people from 28 countries, including U.S.
citizens, recovered their eyesight thanks to the altruism of the
Cuban doctors. The avowed objective is to operate 6 million people by
2016.
The
election of Evo Morales as President of the Republic of Bolivia in
December 2005 and his willingness to establish social policies that
will improve the wellbeing of some of the poorest people in the
continent have allowed Bolivians to gain access to the humanitarian
program launched by Cuba. About 110,000 Bolivians have regained their
eyesight without paying a single penny. (3)
Among
them is Mario Terán, who was rid of his serious illness by the
Cuban doctors. Pablo Ortiz, a Bolivian journalist who works for the
newspaper El Deber of Santa Cruz, told the story: "Terán
had cataract problems and was cured in Operation Miracle by Cuban
doctors at absolutely no cost."
Then he
gave more details: "The fellow is a perfect unknown. Nobody
knows who he is. He is destitute and when he appeared at the hospital
hosting Operation Miracle nobody recognized him; he was then
operated. The story came from his own son, who came to the newspaper
to express his gratitude in public. […] It happened last August
[2006]." (4)
Sometimes,
history keeps some surprises in reserve. Thus, the murderer of Che
was cured by doctors sent by Fidel Castro, the most faithful and
intimate companion of "the heroic guerrilla." Terán
owes his eyesight to the emisaries of health that follow the
internationalist example of the man he killed.
According
to the former CIA agent Félix Rodríguez, who
participated in Che’s capture, Terán volunteered to execute
the rebel leader. Earlier, he had murdered in cold blood all the
other prisoners. (5) But his valor failed when he faced Che.
"When
I entered the classroom, Che was seated on a bench. When he saw me,
he said: ‘You’ve come to kill me.’ I felt inhibited and lowered my
head without answering.
"Then
he asked me: ‘What did the others say?’ I told him they had said
nothing, and he commented: ‘There were brave men!’
"I
didn’t dare to shoot. At that moment, I saw a big Che, very big,
enormous. His eyes shone with intensity. I felt that he was
overwhelming me and when he looked at me fixedly I felt woozy. I
thought that, if he moved quickly, Che could take away my weapon.
"’Stay
calm and aim carefully,’ he told me. ‘You are going to kill a man.’
"I
took a step backward, toward the door, closed my eyes and fired the
first burst. […] I regained my composure and fired the second
burst, which struck him in an arm, a shoulder and the heart. He was
already dead." (6)
On the
eve of the 40th anniversary of Che’s death and despite the execrable
media campaign designed to stain the image of one of the greatest
revolutionaries of the 20th Century, Che’s example remains "big,
very big, enormous" and continues to shine "with intensity"
thanks to the sacrifice of tens of thousands of Cuban doctors who,
from the anonymity of their heroic action everywhere, continue to
believe that another, less cruel world is possible.
Salim
Lamrani is a French professor, writer and journalist who specializes
on U.S.-Cuba relations. He has published the books Washington
contre Cuba (Pantin:
Le Temps des Cerises, 2005), Cuba
face à l’Empire (Genève:
Timeli, 2006) and Fidel
Castro, Cuba et les États-Unis (Pantin:
Le Temps des Cerises, 2006).
Caty
R., who translated this text into Spanish, is a staff member of the
publications Rebelión, Cubadebate and Tlaxcala. This article
may be reprinted at no cost, provided its integrity is respected and
the author, translator and source are given due credit.
Notes
(1)
Héctor Arturo, «Che wins another battle», Granma,
Sept. 29, 2007.
(2)
Operation Miracle, «Main Page», Sept. 28, 2007.
http://www.operacionmilagro.org.ar/ (site consulted on Sept. 30,
2007). U.S. citizens who benefited from the humanitarian program may
wish to read Prensa Latina, «U.S. ophthalmologist acknowledges
value of Operation Miracle,» Jan. 19, 2007.
(3)
Operation Miracle, «Bolivia. From darkness to light: Operation
Miracle restored the eyesight of more than 108,403 patients,»
Sept. 28, 2007. http://www.operacionmilagro.org.ar/ (site consulted
on Sept. 30, 2007).
(4) Juan
Pablo Meneses, «A world exclusive: An interview with Pablo
Ortiz,» Crónicas Argentinas, Oct. 11, 2006.
(5)
Claudia Márquez, «The warrior in the shadows. An
interview with Félix Rodríguez,» El Veraz, Aug.
19, 2005.
(6)
Mario Terán, «Extracts,» undated.
http://fotolog.terra.com.ar/desdelaterraza:26 (site consulted on
Sept. 30, 2007.)
