Here's our Che

A halo appeared over the wide valley of the Valle Grande. The sun seemed to be covered with a transparent plate - and a huge dark disk formed around it. "Do you want to see Che and his army?" - shouted the host of the rally dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the death of the most popular socialist in the world. Everyone, including Bolivian President Evo Morales, looked up and saw an eagle soaring inside the halo. Silence hung over the crowd. When Morales entered the podium, there were already two halos superimposed on each other in the sky, and under them - an unnatural, upturned rainbow.

On October 8, 1967, misunderstood by the local peasants, for whose happiness he fought, the terribly exhausted Che Guevara was captured by CIA agents in the foothills of the Andes near Valle Grande and executed the next day. 40 years later, the myth about him has grown far beyond the personality and political views of the Comandante, who kept boring diaries and tried to rebuild the world alone. His real human history and real views are only an unfortunate hindrance to the spread of the Chegevarian dogma. By and large, no one cares whether he turns over in his grave or not from the pandemonium around his name. A man with a funny squeal Che died - and a great prophet named Che was born.

In several countries of Latin America, his "deputies" rule, taking only anti-imperialism from his ideology. Anarchist movements and sects around the world go to the police barriers under his bright face. T-shirts with his portrait are worn by the golden youth of Western countries, very far from socialism and any struggle for justice. On the anniversary of his death, his nickname was the most frequently mentioned word all over the Internet. Even where Che was hated for his deeds and words, he has now become a pop icon, and the most important of all. And even real saints.

The same Bolivian peasants, with whose tacit consent he ascended his Golgotha, now, in all seriousness, put his portrait in the red corner next to the face of Jesus. The Che-prophet turned out to be much more powerful than the Che-warrior with his eternally failed partisanship: 40 years later, Bolivia is headed by Evo Morales, a commoner Indian who calls himself a Guevarist and socialist of the 21st century. Of course, it is unlikely that the Comandante would like to see such a revolution in Bolivia. But no one asks the prophets of ancient religions whether they like the current churches.

PHOTO FOR ETERNAL MEMORY

In Valle Grande, it seems that every second inhabitant over 40 played one role or another in the last hours of Che Guevara. Here is the woman who brought him his dying meal, which she is willing to tell anyone in detail for just $4. Here's a soldier standing in the cordon when the body was on display in the local hospital's laundry room - $2 rate. Here is a hospital nanny who washed a corpse - she does not take money, but it is difficult to negotiate.

In Valle Grande, we went to a hardware store, where a very old man was sitting in a wheelchair in the middle of the shelves lined with cans of paint and coils of rope, drinking a drink typical of the Andean countries - jelly. After talking, we found out that it was none other than Rene Kadima, who took the famous photograph of the dead Che Guevara, lying with open and, it seems, completely alive eyes. Convinced of our readiness to give him a "gift", he began to quietly tell how he came to the overcrowded laundry room of the Señor de Malta hospital and shot a whole film, which was immediately exposed to the military. The next day, he gave himself a fake accreditation from a local pro-government newspaper and started filming again.

In the middle of the laundry room stood a block of concrete resembling an altar, on which Che's body was laid. Don Rene climbed on it and photographed the Comandante, practically standing on him. He managed to do this before Che's hands were cut off, which they wanted to send to Argentina for identification, but a Bolivian journalist managed to steal them and they were taken to Cuba. Neither give nor take - a story of 2000 years ago with the relics of an early Christian saint.

SO LIKE JESUS

The walls of retired Callisto Cardenas' home are covered in layers of posters, pictures and magazine clippings. 70% of their surface is occupied by portraits, the rest is equally divided by the faces of saints and calendars with naked girls. Don Callisto's wife embarrassedly says that other posters are simply not available. In the red corner is an altar with two faces - Jesus and Che. In front of them are two candles.

In 1967, Don Callisto served in the army as a clerk. To look at Che's body he came as an escort to the Bolivian generals. Dead guerrillas, he says, were often brought up from the mountains, but usually on mules, which took several days to travel. Therefore, the bodies were often in a semi-decomposed state. Che was flown to Valle Grande tied to a helicopter rack just a few hours after his death.

“People came to watch because they hated the partisans; but when they saw him lying with open eyes and looking so much like Jesus, they began to approach him again and again,” says don Callisto. When the generals left, he, without knowing why, joined the queue that turned into a round dance.

"There is strong evidence that Che is indeed a saint," says German Erwin Comann, a former Christian missionary who has lived in Valle Grande for 20 years. True, when we ask for specifics, he is embarrassed and says that Che simply healed someone, and helped someone pass the exam, but he doesn’t know who exactly. A doctor by profession who taught French in his Bolivian detachment, Che became the Bolivian patron of everything related to knowledge and health. At mass in the main cathedral of Valle Grande, the Polish priest somewhat hastily but clearly mentions the name of Ernesto Che Guevara in the list of local saints and blessed.

True communists do not see this as a problem. “Christianity and communism have a lot in common. The main thing is that the Bolivians not only pray, but fight for his ideals,” says Martin Siqueira, commander of the San Martin Brigade, the Argentine Komsomol, who arrived for the anniversary.

Komsomol members from Che's homeland seem terribly far from the working class. Even when they clench their left hand into a fist, posing in the main shrine of Valle Grande - the laundry, it's hard to get rid of the impression that they were at an audit company's corporate party. However, Che himself did not come out of the people.

PROBABLY LOVE

The Che Guevara World Gathering, as the celebrations in Valle Grande were officially called, attracted a diverse audience: from organized groups from Bolivia's allies Cuba and Venezuela to highly disorganized backpackers, leftists, anarchists, hippies and even punks from around the world.

Swiss Nadine Krausas wears a cap with a red star, military-style pants and almost never let go of a plump Cuban cigar. A bottle of HavanaClub protrudes from the pocket of her camouflage jacket. “I don’t know what happened between me and Che Guevara, probably love. Now we live together,” explains the former football journalist who has covered five World Cups. Three years ago, she came to Bolivia to the place where the Comandante died and realized who the man of her life was.

Nadine is the creator of the Che Center in the nearby town of Samaipata. Does she consider herself a communist? - "In no case! Che is above all ideologies. He's just a man of exemplary fate."

With the creation of the center, Nadine had big problems. According to her, Cuban doctors, whom Fidel sends to Bolivia at his own expense, put spokes in the wheels. In addition to their direct duties, they are engaged in the work of disseminating the ideas of the Cuban revolution. During the Che-gathering, people in white coats were in full view. They held a concert in La Higuera, the site of the capture of Che Guevara, and when President Morales spoke in Valle Grande, a medic with a Cuban flag stood behind him.

Later, everyone was waiting for the president to come to the laundry to lay flowers there. His motorcade really arrived at the place, but after a second stop it continued to move - the unpredictable Morales preferred to go to the hostel of Cuban doctors. The President of Bolivia always cites the "gratuitous" aid of the Island of Liberty as an alternative to "mercenary" Western loans. True, it is not known whether Fidel would have sent doctors to Bolivia if he had not received “free” oil from Venezuela. The ambassador of this country also attended the meeting in Valle Grande - he accompanies Morales on all trips.

Not everyone likes it. “I support Morales in everything except this. The dominance of Cubans and Venezuelans threatens our sovereignty,” says Angel Padilla, a student from Santa Cruz, the economic capital of Bolivia. The view is too nationalistic - not at all in the spirit of Che.

ROOT GAS AND COCA

All journalists know that President Morales has a habit of waking up at four in the morning, as he used to grow coca. Therefore, we were not surprised when we were told at that very hour to appear in front of the presidential palace in order to go with him on a tour of the country. He arranges such trips almost every day. Like a magician - albeit in a green, not a blue helicopter - the president visits the most remote corners of his country, bringing gifts, his favorite of which is a promise to build a stadium.

But at the appointed hour, the president was not there, and in the end they decided to send us ahead of Morales. The presidential guard's jeep climbed higher and higher into the mountains, and finally the Altiplano opened up before us, a plateau covered with yellow grass under a sky of such a light blue hue that you can only see in the Andes. Altitude - 4000 m, 20 km from us - Lake Titicaca. We were the first to arrive that day at the ruins of Tiwanaku, a mausoleum-like building from the pre-Inca period with a stone idol in the middle.

By nine o'clock festively dressed Indians began to come up from the slopes of the neighboring mountains: men in hats and crimson ponchos and women in multi-colored ponchos and comical bowlers on their heads with an indispensable bag for babies.

So that it would not be boring to wait, everyone was handed out bags of coca leaves. The president was the leader of coca producers and, having come to power, stopped all programs for its destruction, saying that the Bolivians themselves do not use cocaine, and that in the West people ruin themselves - this does not concern them.

Among the ruins, several orchestras and a group of shamans appeared, who immediately began to smoke the area with incense, expelling evil spirits. The flags of the association of indigenous peoples of Bolivia flew into the sky. Under this checkered flag, Morales came to power and even wanted to make it the state flag, but so far this has not been successful.

Morales didn't show up until eleven. The people enthusiastically met the first Indian in history to become the president of the country. The orchestras staged a terrible cacophony. The event was dedicated to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted a month ago. The most important of these rights is the right to land and resources. The United States voted against, while Russia abstained - Washington and Moscow are not yet ready to give the subsoil to the Seminoles or Evenks.

But the Indian Morales easily nationalized the country's gas industry - the main source of its income - in favor of the Indian majority. For which he was known as a hero. "Evo is the leader of the world's indigenous peoples," said a suspiciously white North American Comanche who spoke at Tiahuanaco. Meanwhile, local leaders, one by one, came out to thank the president for the new stadium - as without it.

When the word was given to the president himself, he branded the US for world dictatorship, and the Catholic Church for centuries of exploitation of indigenous peoples (he considers himself both a Catholic and a worshiper of Pachamama, the goddess of the land of the Aymara people). After thanking Venezuela and Cuba, the president headed to his helicopter, where Newsweek correspondents were already waiting for him. The neighbor of one of them turned out to be a pilot with a skull in his buttonhole, and the other - the indispensable ambassador of Venezuela. A conversation with the latter about Russian weapons supplied to his country put him in the most complacent mood.

HEIR THAT ON EARTH

Flying in the "Superpuma", periodically giving a frightening roll, is a fascinating thing, even if one of the most charismatic world leaders is not sitting next to you. We were unlucky with manifestations of charisma: after saying hello, the president withdrew into himself and no longer reacted to external stimuli.

We were warned that Morales is a man of moods and that an invitation to the trip does not guarantee the opportunity to talk with him about anything other than football and the weather. "Let the Uruguayans not be offended, but tomorrow we will do them - with the power of Pachamama" - this was the only significant statement that the president made in the next 15 hours spent with us. Answer our questions about Che Guevara's legacy and 21st century socialism. he refused, citing the fact that it was inconvenient to talk in flight, and on the ground he had continuous events. The impression was created that the president - this heir to Saint Che on earth - is embarrassed by us.

The helicopter landed at a high-altitude air base near La Paz, where a Chinese government delegation was waiting for Morales. We transferred to a small plane, which after an hour and a half took us to the city of Cobija on the border with Brazil - in the stuffy and humid Amazonian lowlands.

At the airport, Morales was met by a line of sailors in snow-white uniforms. Bolivia lost access to the sea in the 19th century war, but still considers itself a maritime power. "Good afternoon!" - the President addressed the sailors. "Good afternoon!" they bawled in response.

First of all, the cortege went to the football field. We were warned that the president had taken his uniform with him and was going to play. But it seems that he did not expect to see red clay leveled by a bulldozer instead of a green lawn. Therefore, Evo only performed the 11-meter - apparently, as a punishment for the host side for unpreparedness.

After that, he went to distribute gifts - this time microcredits to local brazil nut collectors. Embarrassed, the nut dealers went out to receive checks for $5,000–6,000 from various financial and government organizations, often Venezuelan. After distributing the money, Morales went to the restaurant "Crocodile Swamp", where he was shown the project of the next stadium. The president's eyes shone. After dinner with the meat of animals unknown to us, we went to the capital.

AS A RACIST TO A RACIST

Before the flight, the head of the administration and the chief of protocol assured us with an oath that now the president would no doubt talk to us. From our seats we saw how they reminded him of our presence. However, Morales only timidly turned in our direction, after which he leaned back in his chair, turned off the light and fell asleep.

Maybe he was upset by the Nobel Peace Prize lost to Al Gore, or maybe there were graffiti here and there in Cobiha with slogans from supporters of the autonomy of the lowland part of Bolivia, known as Medialuna - “crescent” (this is how this territory looks on the map of the country). It is in Medialuna that the gas fields are located, which fuel the economy of Bolivia much more than coca.

There are also outright separatists here. The eccentric architect Sergio Antela leads the local national movement Nacion Camba. Antela does not consider himself a Bolivian, but under the need to dismember Bolivia, he brings the following ideological base: the highlands were colonized by the Spaniards from Peru, who, having replaced the Incas (also colonialists), adopted their system of government, which boils down to the word "apartheid". On the contrary, the lowland was inhabited by the inhabitants of the Jesuit missions who came from Argentina, who mixed with the local Indians, as a result of which mestizos began to predominate here.

True, Antela himself seems to be a colonialist, which allows Morales' supporters to call him a racist and an enemy of the Indians. Antela calls Morales himself a racist, drawing attention to the privileges that the Indians receive as a result of his agrarian reform. “Morales is the man we need to break away from Bolivia. His radicalism helps our cause,” says Antela.

The fact that the president's radical policies reinforce separatism is evident to the naked eye. In the provincial capital of Santa Cruz, it is not easy to find the national flag, but all the streets are hung with white and green banners of autonomists. The most typical graffiti on the walls is "To arms against narco-communism!".

DRINK FOR THE REST OF THE SOUL

At the Che-gathering in Valle Grande, they brought the drink Cuba el Che, which turned out to be a variant of rum and cola with a chemical smell during the tasting. The creator of the brand, a resident of the separatist Santa Cruz, Fernando Porras, personally introduced the Chegevarian drink.

Production opened only three months ago, but the success is so great that Porras is already thinking about exporting to Argentina. “I am considered a supporter of Morales, but I don’t like him: he is a leftist, he has an awl in his back,” says Porras. Porras respects Che Guevara and - in order not to seem like a cynical capitalist - he assures that he gives 15% of his profits to the poor. One way or another, there is a subtle calculation behind everything: "Che is a very famous image that attracts people aged 15 to 21, just those who most often consume rum and cola."

What Porras does in the alcohol market, Morales does even more successfully in the political market. And hevarism isn't the only product that sells like hot cakes. “Latin America has three political exports: poverty, Indians, and colonial guilt. Morales sells all this more successfully than anyone else,” says separatist architect Antela.

However, the market instinct of the practical Morales may be the reason for the success of his revolution. And if he creates it in the name of Che, this does not mean at all that he must blindly follow all the precepts and commandments of the holy commander.