Bolivian General Gary Prado Salmon, who became a “national hero” in his country for capturing Argentinian revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara in 1967, died on Saturday at the age of 84, his son announced on Sunday.
Since mid-April, the former officer’s health had deteriorated and he had been hospitalized. He died in Santa Cruz, southern Bolivia, “surrounded by his wife and children. He leaves us a legacy of love, honesty and courage. He was an extraordinary person,” wrote on Facebook his son Gary Prado Arauz.
On October 8, 1967, General Prado Salmon commanded a patrol that arrested Che Guevara, then wounded, in the village of La Higuera in southwestern Bolivia. The revolutionary had been executed the following day by the Bolivian army.
The same year, the Bolivian Congress promoted the officer to the rank of national hero, for defending the country against what the then military government called a “subversive foreign invasion”.
Wounded in the spine by an accidental shooting in 1981, General Prado Salmon had been in a wheelchair ever since. He retired from military life in 1988.
05/07/2023 17:13:22 – La Paz (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
