Ciro Bustos met Che Guevara in Cuba, when the young Argentine artist heard a radio interview in his native Mendoza, in the final days of the offensive against Dictator Fulgencio Batista. Ciro packed his bags and went to Cuba to help the revolution. There he met Che Guevara, who asked him to join a guerrilla campaign in Argentina. The adventure failed but Che Guevara did not give up. He decided to create a “foco” in Bolivia in 1967. Ciro joined him and became friends with Guevara. Just before Che was arrested and executed, Ciro and other guerrillas, including the Frenchman Regis Debray, were arrested by the Bolivian army and interrogated by the CIA. Both were tried and convicted, and on the day the verdict was read, the judge announced that Guevara had died. Ciro was released a few years later and after trying to seek refuge in Chile and his native Argentina, military coups in those countries forced him to flee to Sweden, where he now lives. In 2005, he wrote a book about his experience in the guerrilla and his friendship with Che Guevara: “El Ché Quiere Verte”. Ciro was in London in June to promote the English version of his book, published by Verso: Che Wants to See You”. Lab’s editor Javier Farje interviewed him for Hispan TV and wrote a blog about his encounter with this extraordinary and humble man. They are both in Spanish.
TV programme
Blog
http://lacomunidad.elpais.com/palabras-fugaces/2013/7/8/ciro-bustos-che-gema-y-recuerdos
Che wants to see you
Ciro Bustos met Che Guevara in Cuba, when the young Argentine artist heard a radio interview in his native Mendoza, in the final days of the offensive against Dictator Fulgencio Batista. Ciro packed his bags and went to Cuba to help the revolution. There he met Che Guevara, who asked him to join a guerrilla campaign in Argentina. The adventure failed but Che Guevara did not give up. He decided to create a “foco” in Bolivia in 1967. Ciro joined him and became friends with Guevara. Just before Che was arrested and executed, Ciro and other guerrillas, including the Frenchman Regis Debray, were arrested by the Bolivian army and interrogated by the CIA. Both were tried and convicted, and on the day the verdict was read, the judge announced that Guevara had died. Ciro was released a few years later and after trying to seek refuge in Chile and his native Argentina, military coups in those countries forced him to flee to Sweden, where he now lives. In 2005, he wrote a book about his experience in the guerrilla and his friendship with Che Guevara: “El Ché Quiere Verte”. Ciro was in London in June to promote the English version of his book, published by Verso: Che Wants to See You”. Lab’s editor Javier Farje interviewed him for Hispan TV and wrote a blog about his encounter with this extraordinary and humble man. They are both in Spanish.
TV programme
Blog
http://lacomunidad.elpais.com/palabras-fugaces/2013/7/8/ciro-bustos-che-gema-y-recuerdos