Overview

The Fall of Che Guevara tells the story of Guevara's last campaign, in the backwoods of Bolivia, where he hoped to ignite a revolution that would spread throughout South America. For the first time, this book shows in detail the strategy of the U.S. and Bolivian governments to foil his efforts. Based on numerous interviews and on secret documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act from the CIA, the State Department, the Pentagon, and the National Security Archive, this work casts new light on the roles of a Green Beret detachment sent to train the Bolivians and of the CIA and other U.S. agencies in bringing Guevara down. Ryan's shows that Guevara was an agent of Cuban foreign policy from the time he met Fidel Castro in 1955 until his death--not a mere independent revolutionary, as many scholars have claimed. Guevara's attempted insurgency in Bolivia was in reality a Cuban attempt to achieve another badly-needed revolutionary success. This dramatic account of the last days of Che Guevara will appeal to scholars and students of United States foreign policy and Latin American history, and to all those interested in this revolutionary's remarkable life.

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9780195118797

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Henry Butterfield Ryan is both a historian and a former United States Foreign Services Officer, and his book combines sound traditional scholarship with readability and a sense of identification and drama. Drawing on a wide range of conventional scholarly sources and recently declassified documents, he focuses on the US government's response to Che Guevara during his insurgency in Bolivia in 1966-7. Indeed, his insights into the role of the US in Guevara's capture represent the book's main value ... Butterfield Ryan's comprehensive study firmly puts paid both to the idea that the CIA was Guevara's main opponent and to the myth that it was responsible for his death. Philip Swanson, TLS

Henry Butterfield Ryan is both a historian and a former United States Foreign Services Officer, and his book combines sound traditional scholarship with readability and a sense of identification and drama. Drawing on a wide range of conventional scholarly sources and recently declassified documents, he focuses on the US government's response to Che Guevara during his insurgency in Bolivia in 1966-7. Indeed, his insights into the role of the US in Guevara's capture represent the book's main value ... Butterfield Ryan's comprehensive study firmly puts paid both to the idea that the CIA was Guevara's main opponent and to the myth that it was responsible for his death. Philip Swanson, TLS

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Henry Butterfield Ryan is a retired United States Foreign Service officer.

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