When I was very young, I loved to read romantic literature. Among the books I read was the novel Headless Angel by the Austrian author Vicki Baum and it awoke in me an urge to know more about the history of Latin America. My thirst for this knowledge led me to ask my friends for books about the Mexican revolution. This might seem insignificant now, but with the passing of time memories of one’s youth seem to become more vivid. I think in a way my life parallels that of the protagonist of the story in that book.
I have never fancied myself as a writer, probably because when it comes to writing my standards have always been set high, and I feel I can’t meet that standard. Nevertheless, I have written what could be considered the brief story of my life. Writing about my own life also provided an opportunity to narrate some of my memories of Che.
In this short account, I don’t want to highlight some moments over others. If I were to do so, I might run the risk of making mistakes or letting myself be swayed by subjective factors, and this would divert me from my original purpose.
It is quite a daunting task to describe my personal experiences with a man who, well before he was my partner, was already recognized as a remarkable individual. Of course my perspective is colored by our shared experiences and our shared political commitment. I made that commitment willingly and, as I have stressed, in many ways I had to abandon my individuality to become less of an “I” and more of a “we.” I have never regretted this.
The story begins with my first encounter with Commander Ernesto Che Guevara in the Escambray Mountains during the revolutionary war in Cuba. My first contact with the guerrillas occurred when Che and his column moved west, down from the Sierra Maestra in the former province of Oriente, into central Cuba. Che, an Argentine, with an already well-deserved reputation, was the leader of the Eighth Column. I was active in the urban underground movement and was sent on a mission by local leaders of the July 26 Movement. Our province (formerly known as Las Villas) was surrounded and closely monitored by repressive forces of the Batista dictatorship.1 My mission was to act as a courier, delivering money and documents to the rebels when they reached the Escambray Mountains.
It was a dangerous mission and this was my first chance to have direct contact with the guerrilla movement. On reaching the rebels’ camp, I found they were observing me as much as I observed them. Some of the guerrillas couldn’t figure me out at all, wondering what on earth I was doing there. This wasn’t particularly surprising because I hardly looked like a tough guerrilla fighter. I was quite a pretty young woman, looking anything but a battle-ready combatant.
My famous “first encounter” with Che has been somewhat embellished by many writers and journalists. In reality, it had nothing to do with fairy tales and Prince Charmings. Even though the Escambray Mountains are incredibly beautiful and the ideal setting for enchantment, those of us there at that time weren’t able to focus on the surrounding natural beauty.
Some years had to pass before I learned what Che had thought of our first encounter. In a letter he sent from the Congo in 1965, a letter full of nostalgia, he revealed what he had thought when he saw me the first time and in the days that followed. He described how he felt torn between his role as a strictly disciplined revolutionary and as an ordinary man with emotional and other needs. He remembered me as a “little blonde, slightly chubby teacher.” When he saw the marks left by the adhesive tape around my waist,2 he “felt an internal struggle between the (almost) irreproachable revolutionary and the other—the real one—overcome by shyness, while pretending to be the untouchable revolutionary.”
It was some time before we were able to acknowledge and then express our feelings for each other. Before doing that, we had to endure some terrifying moments and a few misunderstandings...
1. Fulgencio Batista y Zalivar (1901–1973) participated in the military coup that took place September 4, 1933.. The conservatives used him as a US stooge in the overthrow of the Grau-Guiteras government in 1934. He then ruled Cuba until 1944. On March 10, 1952, he organized another coup and initiated a bloody dictatorship. He fled Cuba along with a group of cronies in the early hours of January 1, 1959.
2. Aleida had brought a package containing money to the guerrilla camp in a pouch strapped around her waist with adhesive tape.