Mario Teran, the Bolivian sergeant who went down in history for having fired the gunshots that killed Ernesto Che Guevara on 9 October 1967, died.
Teran, 80, had been ill for some time, his relatives announced his death.
“It was humanly finished - said former general Gary Prado, who commanded the platoon that captured the 'Che' alive in the jungle of southeastern Bolivia after nine months of guerrilla actions - and we accompanied him in his last hours. We had a good relationship. He was a responsible non-commissioned officer who carried out an order from above, and after that he always lived with a low profile. He simply did his duty ”.
Prado is one of the few survivors of the era of clashes with the guerrillas. A guerrilla war that, even if it lasted a few months, marked the history of the subcontinent and raised to the rank of myth Che Guevara.
Teran, who died in the eastern part of the province of Santa Cruz, leaves behind his wife and two children. Years ago in an interview he recounted the moments he lived before the shooting: “It was the worst moment of my life, I saw 'Che' big, very big, huge. His eyes were shining bright and I felt that he was towering over me when he stared at me, making me dizzy, ”she said.
Then I shot him: “I thought that with one quick movement he could take my gun off. He told me 'keep calm and aim well, you are going to kill a man'. I took a step back, closed my eyes and fired. "
(Unioneonline / L)
