The Che Guevara Mausoleum (, officially ''Conjunto Escultórico Memorial Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara'') is a

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

Santa Clara, Cuba Santa Clara is the capital city of the Cuban province of Villa Clara. It is centrally located in the province and Cuba. Santa Clara is the fifth-most populous Cuban city, with a population of nearly 245,959. History Santa Clara was founde ...

, located in "Plaza Che Guevara" (Che Guevara Square). It houses the remains of the revolutionary

Ernesto "Che" Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

and 29 fellow combatants killed in 1967 during Guevara's attempt to spur an armed uprising in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. The full area, which contains a bronze 22-foot statue of Guevara, is referred to as the Ernesto Guevara Sculptural Complex. Interview with Cuban sculptor José Delarra.

History

Historical overview

Guevara was buried with full military honors on 17 October 1997 after his remains were discovered in Bolivia, exhumed and returned to Cuba. At the site, there is an

eternal flame An eternal flame is a flame, lamp or torch that burns for an indefinite time. Most eternal flames are ignited and tended intentionally, but some are natural phenomena caused by natural gas leaks, peat fires and coal seam fires, all of which ca ...

lit by

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

in his memory. The site also contains a museum dedicated to Guevara's life and displays artifacts from his childhood, such as his

asthma inhaler A metered-dose inhaler (MDI) is a device that delivers a specific amount of medication to the lungs in the form of a short burst of aerosolized medicine that is usually self-administered by the patient via inhalation. It is the most commonly used ...

and books he read in school. When a correspondent for '' Smithsonian'' visited the mausoleum in 2016, he saw women in green skirts (whom he likened to "Che

groupie A groupie is a fan of a particular musical group who follows the band around while they are on tour or who attends as many of their public appearances as possible, with the hope of meeting them. The term is used mostly describing young women, a ...

s") standing guard. Santa Clara was chosen as the location in remembrance of Guevara's troops taking the city on December 31, 1958, during the

Battle of Santa Clara The Battle of Santa Clara was a series of events in late December 1958 that led to the capture of the Cuban city of Santa Clara by rebel forces under the command of Che Guevara at the end of the Cuban Revolution. A decisive victory for the re ...

. The result of this final battle of the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

was Cuban dictator

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who played a dominant role in Cuban politics from his initial rise to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of t ...

fleeing into exile. Nearby, in another part of the city, a Fulgencio Batista military supply train derailed by Guevara during the battle also remains in its original location.

Return of remains

In October 1997, Guevara's remains, and those of six revolutionaries who died with him in Bolivia, arrived in a motorcade from

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Revolutionary's Remains are Returned to City of his Greatest Victory
by ''

The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are distributed to its members, major ...

'', October 15, 1997 As the remains were unloaded before a crowd of several hundred thousand people, a choir of schoolchildren sang Carlos Puebla's

elegy An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

to Guevara, "

Hasta Siempre "," ("Until Forever, Commander" in English) or simply "", is a 1965 song by Cuban composer Carlos Puebla. The song's lyrics are a reply to revolutionary Che Guevara's farewell letter when he left Cuba, in order to foster revolution in the Congo ...

" (Until Forever) and then Fidel Castro declared the following: His speech was followed by a coordinated 21-gun salute in both Santa Clara and Havana, while air raid sirens were set off across the length of the island. In addition to those of Che Guevara the remains of six other guerrillas who lost their lives in the 1966–1967 Bolivian Insurgency were also entombed in the mausoleum on October 17, 1997: * Carlos Coello (Tuma) – Cuban, killed in action at Rio Piraí on June 26, 1967. * Alberto Fernandez Montes de Oca (Pacho) – Cuban, killed in action at Quebrada del Yuro on October 8, 1967. * Orlando Pantoja Tamayo (Olo) – Cuban, killed in action at Quebrada del Yuro on October 8, 1967. * René Martínez Tamayo (Arturo) – Cuban, killed in action at Quebrada del Yuro on October 8, 1967. * Juan Pablo Navarro-Lévano Chang (El Chino) – Peruvian, captured and executed in La Higuera on October 9, 1967. * Simeon Cuba Sarabia (Willy) – Bolivian, captured and executed in La Higuera on October 9, 1967.

Monument

Work on the complex began in 1982, and it was inaugurated upon completion on December 28, 1988 with

Raúl Castro Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz ( ; ; born 3 June 1931) is a Cuban retired politician and general who served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the One-par ...

in attendance. The project was conceived by architects Jorge Cao Campos, Blanca Hernández and José Ramón Linares; along with sculptors and José de Lázaro Bencomo and José Delarra (its prime creator). Additionally 500,000 Santa Clara residents contributed more than 400,000 hours of volunteer work in the construction of the sculptural complex, who worked in unison with skilled artisans of the Eliseo Díaz Machado Foundry in

Guanabacoa Guanabacoa is a colonial township in eastern Havana, Cuba, and one of the 15 municipalities (or boroughs) of the city. It is famous for its historical Santería and is home to the first Afro-Cubans, African Cabildo (Cuba), Cabildo in Havana. Guanab ...

. Many different aspects of Guevara's life are represented throughout the complex. For example, his time in Guatemala and at the United Nations is sculpted, while his farewell letter to Fidel is inscribed in full. The adjacent decorative wall depicts him in the Sierra Maestra consulting with Fidel, beside

Camilo Cienfuegos Camilo Cienfuegos Gorriarán (; 6 February 1932 – 28 October 1959) was a Cuban revolutionary. One of the major figures of the Cuban Revolution, he was considered second only to Fidel Castro among the revolutionary leadership. The son of An ...

, and in the mountains on horseback. Another section shows Guevara as Minister of Industry performing his usual voluntary work. Lastly literacy tutors, children in schools, and young pioneers are depicted issuing the daily salute that all Cuban children recite each morning "We will be like Che." The structural complex rests on a rolling hilltop overlooking the city of Santa Clara, and contains a large tiled plaza.Cubans Still Embrace "El Che" as Hero
by Philip True, ''San Antonio Express News'', January 19, 1998 At the end of the plaza are two large billboards with quotes by Fidel Castro declaring "Che - it was a star that put you here and made you of this people", and "We want everyone to be like Che." Carved in stone underneath the statue is the well known declaration by Guevara that "One thing I learned in the

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

of Arbenz was that if I would be a revolutionary doctor, or just a revolutionary, first there must be a revolution."

Symbolism

A number of elements of the memorial contain a symbolic meaning. For instance, the monument is oriented 190 degrees pointing Che's figure directly towards

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, reflecting his focus and outlook for one united

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. Additionally, the 22 foot bronze statue of Che has him carrying his gun rather than aiming, symbolizing that he is "continuing onward". The sling which Guevara wore during the battle, the result of an earlier broken arm, is also etched into the statue but he is not wearing the sling to symbolize "a part of his personality, a man rebelling even against himself." At the base of the memorial is Guevara's motto, "''Hasta la Victoria Siempre''" (Until the Eternal Victory).

Visitor totals

From October 1997 to October 2009 over 3 million people visited the memorial site from over 100 countries. In 2008, more than 247,700 Cubans and foreigners visited the sculptural complex.Cubans, Foreigners Visit Che Monument
''Prensa Latina'', April 11, 2009

Additional interments at the site

Between 1997 and 2000 ongoing efforts by

forensic anthropologists Forensic anthropology is the application of the anatomical science of anthropology and its various subfields, including forensic archaeology and forensic taphonomy, in a legal setting. A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification o ...

operating in southeast Bolivia yielded the recovery of 23 additional sets of remains belonging to other guerrillas who had perished during the Bolivian Insurgency. All of these were subsequently transferred to Cuba where they too were interred in the Che Guevara Mausoleum. The first of these burials took place on December 29, 1998, the 40th anniversary of Guevara's victory in the

, and consisted of 10 separate sets of remains: * Haydée Tamara Bunke Bider (Tania)- Argentine-East German, killed in action at Vado del Yeso on August 31, 1967. * Manuel Hernández Osorio (Miguel)- Cuban, killed in action at Quebrada de Batan on September 26, 1967. * Mario Gutierrez Ardaya (Julio)- Bolivian, killed in action at Quebrada de Batan on September 26, 1967. * Roberto Peredo Leigue (Coco)- Bolivian, killed in action at Quebrada de Batan on September 26, 1967. * Aniceto Reinaga Cordillo (Aniceto)- Bolivian, killed in action at Quebrada del Yuro on October 8, 1967. * Francisco Huanca Flores (Pablito)- Bolivian, killed in action at Los Cajones on October 12, 1967. * Garvan Edilverto Lucio Hidalgo (Eustace)- Peruvian, killed in action at Los Cajones on October 12, 1967. * Jaime Arana Campero (Chapaco)- Bolivian, killed in action at Los Cajones on October 12, 1967. * Octavio de la Concepcion Pedraja (Moro)- Cuban, killed in action at Los Cajones on October 12, 1967. * Julio César Méndez Korné (Nato)- Bolivian, shot by fellow guerrillas after being gravely wounded in Mataral on November 15, 1967. A second series of burials was carried out on October 8, 1999 in which the remains of 7 more guerillas recovered in Bolivia were placed in the mausoleum: * Apolinar Aguirre Quispe (Polo)-Bolivian, killed in action at Vado del Yeso on August 31, 1967. * Freddy Maymura (also Maemura) Hurtado ( ja) (Ernesto)- Bolivian, captured and executed at Vado del Yeso on August 31, 1967. * Gustavo Manchin Hoed de Beche (Alejandro)- Cuban, killed in action at Vado del Yeso on August 31, 1967. * Israel Reyes Sayas (Braulio)- Cuban, killed in action at Vado del Yeso on August 31, 1967. * Juan Vitalio Acuña Nuñez (Joaquin)- Cuban, killed in action at Vado del Yeso on August 31, 1967. * Moises Guevara Rodriguez (Moses)- Bolivian, killed in action at Vado del Yeso on August 31, 1967. * Walter Arencibia Ayala (Abel)- Bolivian, killed in action at Vado del Yeso on August 31, 1967. A final round of 6 interments took place exactly one year later on October 8, 2000 bringing the total number of guerrillas entombed at the site to 30: * Eliseo Reyes Rodriguez (Rolando)- Cuban, killed in action at El Meson on April 25, 1967. * Antonio Sanchez Diaz (Marcos)- Cuban, killed in action at Peña Colorada on June 2, 1967. * Serapio Aquino Tudela (Serafin)- Bolivian, killed in action at Iquira on July 9, 1967. * Condori Casildo Varga (Victor)- Bolivian, killed in action at Rio Rosita on July 30, 1967. * Jose Maria Martinez Tamayo (Papi)- Cuban, killed in action at Rio Rosita on July 30, 1967. * Restituto José Cabrera Flores (El Negro)-Peruvian, captured and executed in Rio Palmarito on September 4, 1967.

References

External links

Monument Pays Tribute to Che Guevara
by John Moore, ''Toronto Star'', December 6, 2008
Ecuador President Correa Visits Che Guevara's Mausoleum in Cuba
''Latin American Herald Tribune'', January 12, 2009 {{Che Guevara Che Guevara Guevara, Mausoleo Che Buildings and structures in Santa Clara, Cuba Museums in Cuba Monuments and memorials in Cuba Tourist attractions in Santa Clara, Cuba 1997 establishments in Cuba Museums established in 1997 20th-century architecture in Cuba