Bolivian General Prado Salmon who captured Che Guevara dies

Prado Salmon led a military operation backed by the US that captured the Argentinian communist revolutionary.

Prado Salmon was left paralysed after being accidentally shot in the spine in 1981. He retired from the military in 1988.

Bolivian general Gary Prado Salmon, who captured communist revolutionary icon Ernesto “Che” Guevara in 1967, died on Saturday aged 84, his son revealed on social media.

“He was accompanied by his wife and children,” wrote Gary Prado Arauz on Facebook.

“He left us a legacy of love, honesty and mettle. He was an amazing person.”

Prado Salmon was in charge of a patrol in southwestern Bolivia on October 8, 1967, that captured the Argentinian revolutionary, who was injured during the military operation, backed by the United States, against the communist rebels.

A day later, the Bolivian military executed Guevara, who had made his name alongside Fidel Castro during the Cuban communist revolution.

The US acted against leftist activists and parties in Latin America as it feared the rising influence of the communist Soviet Union. Cuba still remains under US sanctions for its close ties to the erstwhile USSR.

Former US President Barack Obama established diplomatic ties with Cuba in 2015 after 50 years but the move was reversed by his successor Donald Trump.

Guevara had made his name alongside Fidel Castro during the Cuban communist revolution. [File: Prensa Latina/The Associated Press]Since mid-April, Prado Salmon had been suffering from health complications and was receiving hospital treatment.

Bolivia’s parliament declared him a national hero for his role in Guevara’s capture. The military ruled over the Latin American country at the time.

In 2017, thousands gathered to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the revolutionary’s death at the hands of the CIA-trained Bolivian military.

“To remember the 50th anniversary of Che’s death is to remember the struggle for dignity and national sovereignty, and against imperialism,” said Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia at the time.

Prado Salmon was left paralysed after being accidentally shot in the spine in 1981. He retired from the military in 1988.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES