The United States and the guerrillas

Abstract

That early October 1967, in Washington, when confirmation of Guevara's death reached the State Department, Walt Rostow - the prototype of the university professor disguised as a national security advisor - gathered his closest aides to celebrate: "Gentlemen, I have very important news." He waited a moment and said: "The Bolivians executed Che." And he added an epitaph of hatred: "Finally they caught the son of a bitch. The last of the romantic guerrillas."