cHe: rEvolUTiONary... a fATheR

The last few days (before the Bolivian revolutionary expedition) had been emotional for everyone, but the most poignant were Che's final encounters with Aleida and his children, who were brought out to the finca to see him. But Che did not reveal himself as their father. Instead he was "Uncle Ramon." He told them he brought news of their father who had been away for such a long time, that he had recently seen him and was there to pass on his love, along with little pieces of advice for each of them. They ate lunch together, with Tio Ramon sitting at the head of the table, just like "Papa" Che used to do.

For Borrego*, Che's final visit with his three-year-old daughter, Celia brought separately to see him, was one of the most wrenching experiences he had ever witnessed. There was Che, with his child, but unable to tell her who he was or to touch her and hold her as a father would, for she could not be trusted to keep the secret. And of course, it was also the ultimate test of his disguise: If his own children could not recognize him, nobody would.**

The most Che could do was ask his children to give him a kiss so that he could pass it own to their father. During another visit, five-year-old Aliusha came up to give him a peck on the cheek and then ran back to Aleida's side to exclaim in a loud whisper: "Mama, I think that old man's in-love with me." Che overheard the comment, and at that instant tears welled up in Che's eyes. Aleida was devastated but managed to contain her own tears until she was out of sight of the children.

On their final visit, Tio Ramon waved goodbye to his wife and children. It was to be their last sight of one another, and, as he had once predicted in his farewell letter***, the youngest of them would retain no memory of him at all. (Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life, Part III, Chapter 28, Number X, Page 699-700)


* Orlando Borrego, Che's hardworking protege.
** Hildita, his child to his first wife Hilda Gadea, was the only one of his children Che did not see. She was ten years of age, old enough to see through his disguise.
*** Next blog