GROWING EVIDENCE PUTS GUEVARA IN SOUTH AMERICA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP69B00369R000100210026-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 13, 2004
• Sequence Number: 26
• Publication Date: July 9, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2004/03/14: CIA-RDP69B003P9RG001-0824-0026-4
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, JULY 9, 1961
1' rowing Evidence Puts Guevara in South,merica
By BARNARD L. COLLIER
Special to The New York Times
BUENOS AIRES, July 8-Cir-
cumstantial evidence is piling
up that Maj. Ernesto Che
Guevara, the guerrilla warfare
theorist, is alive, probably
somewhere on the South Ameri-
can continent.
Most of the evidence is be-
ing collected by Latin-American
military intelligence services
with the help of United States
and British experts. What has
been gathered so far has all
but convinced many Latin-
American intelligence depart-
ments that Major Guevara,
who disappeared 28 months
ago from Cuba, was directing
the training of . Communist
guerrillas in South America.
As late as three months ago
the attitude of most American
intelligence experts was cau-
tious. One high-ranking United
States diplomat summed it up
a few days ago by saying,
"This ..r one of those produce-
the-b. for-us situations."
Skepticism Now
Bolivian General Believessi;etcncs,? arawn oy ponce ex-
ports, were suggested by de-
Guerrilla Leader May Be . scriptions given by Bolivian
peasants.
Training Rebels Now Gereral Ovando has said that
the man who looks like Major
Guevara bears the code name
ica and the United States, now "Ram6ri" and that his accent,
feel that the guerrilla bands; general. physical appearance
known'to .be operating in thelasthe missing guerrilla leader.
Argentine intelligence offi-
cials are taking a special in-
The most vigorous proponent
of the theory that Major Gue-
vara is alive and has been, or
still is, in Bolivia is Gen. Al-
fredo Ovando, the commander
in chief of the Bolivian armed
forces. He has told. newsmen
that he is "absolutely sure"
that Major Guevara was in his
country in March and may he
there still. As proof, he has
shown newsmen a private book
of sketches of a beardless man
with a striking resemblance to
Major Guevara.
General Ovando ,. says the
B. r no body, the United
Staff tclligence agencies are
nor od deal less skeptical
,.a possibility that Ma-
jor Guevara is active. One Unit-
ed States diplomat with access. to such intelligence information
said recently that "there is bet
ter than a 50-50 chance, it
seems now, that Che is going
to pop up somewhere."
Major Guevara dropped out
of sight in March or April of
1965 after completing, a trip
through Africa' and Asia and to'
the United Nations in New
York. He was then Cuba's'Min-
ister of Industry.
Premier Fidel Castro has
said publicly on several occa-
sions since that Major Guevara
is alive and pursuing "revolu-
tionary tasks" somewhere in
the world.
The outbreak of guerrilla ac-
tivity in the jungles of south-
eastern Bolivia last April, along;
with previously. received word:
of movements of guerrilla bands
from Peru and Venezuela to-i.
ward South, America's rugged
interior, put, new emphasis on
the secret search for Major
Guevara. I
Diplomats and intelligence j
experts, both from Latin Amer- I
was born near Buenos Aires
and the Bolivian guerrillias are
operating close to the Argen-
tine frontier.
Argentine sources say that
the Argentine- State Intelli-
gence Service is convinced not,
only that Major Guevara has
been in Bolivia but also that
he passed through Buenos
Aires in April. There have been
reports from Uruguay that i
Guevara, who is 39 years old,
seen about the same time at!,
Carrasco Airport in Montevideo,1
with his dark hair dyed blond.
Approved For Release 2004/03/11 : CIA-RDP69B00369R000100210026-4