Tania: Undercover with Che Guevara in Bolivia

For the first time, the story of “Tania the guerrilla” is told with tenderness and veracity by a key participant in the revolutionary movement in Latin America. Tania was born Haydée Tamara Bunke to German Jewish refugees in Argentina in 1937. Her family moved to East Germany after the war, but she was soon drawn to the Cuban Revolution. She became one of Cuba’s most successful spies in Latin America, penetrating Bolivia’s high society and even making contact with the country’s president and other members of the ruling circle. When her cover was blown she joined Che’s guerrilla group but was killed in an ambush in August 1967. She was only 30 years old. At the time of her death, the CIA suggested Tania had been romantically involved with Che, largely in order to discredit him. Most biographers consider this unlikely. When Patty Hearst was “kidnapped” by the Symbionese Liberation Army, she adopted the name “Tania” and appeared with a gun and a beret, mimicking the classic pose of the real Tania Tania, played by Franka Potente (Run Lola Run), will be a major character in the Steven Soderbergh/Benicio Del Toro forthcoming movie Che, which focuses on the Bolivia period Includes Ulises Estrada’s own personal photos and correspondence as well as testimonies from other guerrilla fighters. Appendices include recently declassified Cuban files on the “Bolivia mission.” About the Author Ulises Estrada was the principal organizer of Che Guevara’s guerrilla mission to Bolivia and also trained and ran Tania as the key undercover agent who was to be sent to Bolivia in advance of Guevara’s arrival. Although against the rules in such espionage operations, Tania and Ulises fell in love and planned to make a life together after Tania’s return from Bolivia.

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