Close to 40 years after his death, the revolutionary is more than ever a hero
Rory Carroll in Caracas and Lola Almudevar in Vallegrande
A boy in Vallegrande, Bolivia, holds a poster of Che Guevara. Photograph: Carlos Hugo Vaca/Reuters
When the haggard and broken figure was laid out on the slab and displayed to the world it was not just Che Guevara that had died. The dream of socialist revolution in South America was over.
His image and name would continue to inspire millions but on the continent he wanted to transform he was a political failure, a defeated guerrilla on the wrong side of history.
Bolivia's peasants spurned Che's rebellion, leaving the Bolivian army and the CIA to capture him on October 8 1967, kill him the following day, and rid South America of Cuba's revolutionary spirit. The soldiers reportedly drew straws to determine who would have the honour of shooting Che.
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