Dr. Jorge González (Popi) explaining to the international press that those skeletal remains belong to Che and six of his guerrilla companions. Photo: Ismael Francisco/ Cubadebate.
For the Central Committee like this, in shorts, a T-shirt and flip-flops? Are you crazy?!, the young photographer from the Granma newspaper commented to the driver who found him that morning in Havana’s Vedado and who had the mission of taking him to Rolando Alfonso Borges (Alfonsito), then head of the ideological department of the PCC.
“Yes, yes, likewise,” the envoy answered definitively.
The news context of those first days of July 1997 and the urgency of the request made the photojournalist know very soon what it was about: the mission to bring back to Cuba the remains of Che and several of his found guerrillas recent days at the old airstrip in Vallegrande, Bolivia.
An intrepid assignment, not because of its professional complexity, but because of the conditions in which it would be carried out: a place totally unknown to him as a photographer, without the direct support of the Cuban ambassadors there, in addition to the strong political hostility characteristic of the Bolivian department of Santa Mountain Cross.
Such was the responsibility that Alfonsito placed on his shoulders, including that of preserving 3,000 dollars to guarantee journalistic coverage and avoid inconveniences, that the twenty-year-old began to run from the Plaza de la Revolución to his house, at 35 and Paseo.
The great disciple of the lens kept two cigars in his pocket, following the advice of a photography veteranwho some time ago had recommended this remedy to open paths in difficult times.
The tension increased when he and his colleague from the newspaper, Orlando Oramas, arrived at the José Martí airport, after 10 pm, the person in charge of the security of the place asked them the reason for their stay at the door of the VIP lounge, and After they answered that they were expecting a “special flight”, the officer told them that he was completely unaware of it.
As if the amalgamation of emotions and expectations were not enough, in the midst of that crowd they learned about the crash of a plane that day when leaving Santiago de Cuba…
The Commander of the Revolution, Ramiro Valdés (on the right) led the mission to return to Cuba the remains of Che and six of his guerrilla companions in Bolivia. Photo: Ismael Francisco/ Cubadebate.
In that, the reporters spotted a known aircraft on the runway. Then another one. The Commander of the Revolution, Ramiro Valdés; Major General Rogelio Acevedo and Cuza, the pilot who for years manned the IL 62 in which Fidel Castro was traveling. Everything was in order.
Ramiro, who is in charge of the mission, reminded them of the importance of what had been entrusted to them. by the highest political leadership of the country. Enough, coming from the man who has been in all the great epics of the Cuban Revolution.
Eight hours of flight. Few passengers, including canine technique and intelligence specialists, given the not inconsiderable probability of a sabotage attempt.
Beyond their own fears associated with not knowing the place, the reaction of the political opposition or the fear of not getting certain photos; The photojournalist’s biggest concern was not being able to return to Cuba with the guerrillas they went looking for.
“I could take the best photos, and in case they didn’t let me get on the plane, send the rolls with Popi or through the embassy; but I was not going to feel full, satisfied, because I wanted to return with Che and his comrades on that plane”, recalls Ismael Francisco, after almost thirty years.
***
A minute of silence in honor of Commander Guevara. Photo: Ismael Francisco/ Cubadebate.
They arrived on Andean land at dawn on July 12, 1997 through the Viru Viru airport, in the department of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The Bolivian defense minister himself boards the plane and reports that Only the photographer and the editor of the Granma newspaper can get off the aircraft.
They both get off and after passing the emigration gate, in an almost instinctive act, the one with the camera presents the two cigars, guaranteeing that he will not be delayed on his return to the plane.
Done deal. That first path has been opened for him. Now it is time to negotiate with the taxi driver. “How much do you charge me to take me to the Japanese Hospital, wait for me, and then bring me back?” asks the photojournalist. “30 dollars”, answers the driver. “I pay you 50, but you have to guarantee that we will arrive at the airport before the caravan with the remains of Che and other guerrillas,” negotiates the Cuban. And so they agree. He will pay you that sum at the end of the operation.
Once at the hospital, Orlando Oramas, who does know Dr. Jorge González (Popi), who directs the forensic investigation in question, introduces his colleague. “Great, nice to meet you, come with me”, he invites them both. And he takes them to the room where they have the skeletal remains of the Heroic Guerrilla Fighter organized, as dictated by human anatomy.
The young photographer is struck by a reality check. He does not take a photo of that scene. The impression before the crude truth that is death. That is not Che, the symbol of the communist youth, of the world’s revolutionaries. The stocky man who survived the Granma, the Sierra Maestra, the Invasion of Las Villas, so many reckless actions…
A team of forensic experts led by Jorge González (Popi) offer a press conference in which they explain the identity of the skeletal remains found under the runway of the old Vallegrande airport. Photo: Ismael Francisco/ Cubadebate.
The time comes when Popi and other experts will demonstrate to international public opinion, through forensic evidence, that the skeleton belongs to Commander Guevara. and six other men from his guerrilla.
The morning light and the place chosen for the press conference (in one of the streets of the Japanese Hospital) favor graphic professionals, including ours. But there are hundreds of correspondents eager to get the best images. In front of a cordon of riot police with shields and in front, their patrol motorcycles linked with ropes.
The disciple of Fernando Lezcano, Liborio Noval, Emilio Argüelles and other references of Cuban photography manages and achieves a good position. However, he defends his territory as a fine rooster in the reporter’s pen.
“I don’t remember why exactly, but in the middle of that dispute, one of the Bolivian guards told me: ‘Calm down, Cuban, you have a good place, calm down,'” recalls the current photojournalist from Cubadebate.
As always, Popi is very professional and accurate in his statements. After the explanation offered by the team of experts from various countries, the finding is a public fact; the secret about Che’s grave has been blown to pieces.
In the midst of that world event, an unknown voice resounds among those present: “Please. A minute of silence in honor of Commander Guevara! And silence and respect reign. Then, the Cubans sing the notes of the Bayamo Anthem”.
As if possessed by San Guevara, Ismaelito and Oramita go out to the taxi, whose speed hands exceed 100 kilometers per hour. The Cuban photographer verifies it, since the car has its command controls on the passenger side; place he occupies.
As agreed, the emigration agent does not delay you at the exit to the runway. But Once inside the hangar, the impediment awaits him. Some officers question him: What are you doing here? Who are you? And they proceed to record it publicly. Until the Bolivian defense minister gives the Cuban the green light.
Forensic anthropologist Héctor Soto (on the right) participated in the identification of Che’s remains and also in depositing them in the wooden chest. Photo: Ismael Francisco/ Cubadebate.
There was no ceremony squad there. The initial crew plus Popi and other Cuban experts and press professionals who joined in the return, helped bring the skeletal remains on board; which were placed in the special section of the plane, in wooden chests and sheltered by the Cuban flag.
Mixed feelings. On the one hand, the satisfaction of having fulfilled a promise to so many families, to the people of Cuba, and on the other hand, the harsh reality of the physical death of the “most extraordinary of comrades,” according to Fidel Castro.
Before the journalists asked him anything, the Commander of the Revolution, Ramiro Valdés, asked that team of “rescuers” to allow him some time alone with Che. That later he would answer his questions.
When he returned, Orlando Oramas asked him what he had thought there. The Commander commented that he had recalled many personal experiences with the Argentine friend: Granma, the Sierra, the invasion of Las Villas… And that he had told Che what had happened to date.
Eight more hours of flight. Some beaten by the hustle and bustle of the day. Someone wakes up the young photographer. “Come so you can take a historical photo, which will be published one day”. She does. She goes back to her seat. Until an unusual landing sensation woke him up. They were landing at the San Antonio de Los Baños airport.
Fidel was there, along with relatives of the found guerrillas and the country’s highest leadership. The professional with the lens yearned to capture the images of the reception, but they reminded him of his responsibility to go immediately to the Granma newspaper to develop the photos taken in Bolivia, which would be published in Juventud Rebelde the next day.
Moment in which the Cuban delegation boards the remains of Che and six other guerrilla companions in Bolivia. Photo: Ismael Francisco/ Cubadebate.
Television broadcast the ceremony live. Years later, the press would describe it like this:
Ramiro Valdés, the man in charge of bringing the remains of Che and his fellow fighters from Bolivia, told Fidel Castro: “The mission has been accomplished.” Later, an Army bugler blew silence while a platoon unloaded three rifle salutes.
“Today their remains come to us, but they do not arrive defeated, they come turned into heroes, eternally young, brave, strong and audacious,” said Aleida Guevara March, daughter of the Heroic Guerrilla on behalf of the next of kin.
Fidel Castro did not speak. He limited himself to receiving with a somber and emotional gesture the remains of Che, of the Cuban internationalists: René Martínez Tamayo (Arturo), Alberto Fernández Montes de Oca (Pacho) and Orlando Pantoja Tamayo (Antonio); as well as those of the Bolivian guerrillas: Simeón Cuba (Willy) and Aniceto Reynaga (Aniceto), and the Peruvian combatant Juan Pablo Chang (El Chino).
Although Ismael Francisco could not capture these last memories with his lens, feel full of pride when thinking: “I returned with Che on that plane”.
Photographer Ismael Francisco with Dr. Jorge González during the return flight to Cuba of the remains of Che and other guerrillas. Photo: Orlando Oramas.
For several days, in the Plaza de la Revolución, the people paid tribute to Che and the other six guerrilla comrades, and then they were taken, in a caravan, to the Santa Clara Memorial. Photo: Ismael Francisco/ Cubadebate.
On video, Doctor Jorge González tells how they discovered the remains of Che
2023-07-12 20:00:08
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